A guide to citizenship of St Kitts andNevis: terms, cost and risks

SISC is a non-refundable contribution to the state fund, $250 000 for an applicant or a family of up to four, and it carries no government option fees. The Public Benefit Option has the same threshold of $250 000 but with fees after approval, so the total is higher. Property from a developer is a share in an approved project from $325 000. A private house is from $600 000. The last two options are «refundable» in the sense that the property stays your asset and may be sold no earlier than 7 years.

Government payments from $261 041 under SISC: the contribution $250 000, due diligence $10 000, processing the application, the bank check, the certificate of registration, the passport and courier delivery. With property from a developer it is from $361 041, but $325 000 of that stays your asset, so $36 041 is spent for good. The BRIDGES GLOBAL fee, apostilles, translations and medical certificates are counted separately.

The contribution covers the main applicant and up to three dependants — up to four people in the application the total grows only through due diligence and duties. Beyond that, every dependant aged 18 and over adds $50 000 to the contribution and a child under 18 adds $25 000. Due diligence covers everyone aged 16 and over: $10 000 for the main applicant and $7 500 for each dependant. The calculator above shows the figure for your family.

For a single applicant the difference between SISC and a share in a developer’s project is $75 000 of investment. That is the price of keeping $325 000 as an asset rather than as an expense. With larger families the gap narrows: from the fifth person the SISC contribution grows by $50 000 for every dependant aged 18 and over, while the price of the property does not change. From seven applicants we cost both options and choose on the facts.

The investment is made after the letter of approval in principle, not when the application is filed. Before approval only the due diligence fees and the mandatory duties are paid. It is a matter of principle in this programme: first the state checks the applicant, and only then the main money moves.

No. The official procedure states plainly that the application is filed only through an agent from the list of licensed agents; the Citizenship by Investment Unit does not accept documents directly. The CIU website also publishes the list of agents whose licence has been withdrawn — the choice of agent is worth checking against the official list.

The main applicant and every person aged 16 and over included in the application. The fees are set officially: $10 000 for the main applicant and $7 500 for each dependant aged 16 and over. Children under 16 are not checked. What is examined: the background, the citizenships, tax residency, the source of funds and the source of wealth, banking relationships, corporate structures, court proceedings, sanctions and PEP factors, and publications in open sources.

Today the passport gives visa-free access to roughly 155 destinations, including the Schengen area for 90 days in 180 and the United Kingdom. At the same time the European Union’s position on Caribbean programmes is hardening, the mechanism for suspending visa-free travel has been strengthened, and visa-free access cannot be guaranteed for the whole life of the passport. We work through this risk before the agreement is signed and do not build the case on visa-free travel alone.

The requirements on attending in person, on the interview and on how biometrics are enrolled changed during 2026, and the CIU’s open material has no single description of the procedure. We do not publish claims of a fully remote process: we confirm the procedure in force in writing with the licensed agent before the work begins.

The Federation moved to biometric passports: since 14 April 2026 only these are issued. Everyone who obtained citizenship under the investment programme, children included, must complete biometric enrolment by 31 July 2027 — otherwise the passport stops being accepted for international travel. The separate biometrics fee agents speak about has not been published officially in open material, so we do not include it in the calculation.

The CIU states a processing time of 3-6 months. In BRIDGES practice the road from the first consultation to the passport takes 5-6 months: preparing the file, the checks and issuing the documents are added to the processing. That is longer than Vanuatu and Nauru, but St Kitts is the only one of those three programmes with the Schengen area, the United Kingdom and a refundable option through property.

No, since 2023 the programme has not accepted applications from citizens of Russia and Belarus. The practice on other citizenships has changed and continues to change, so we confirm in writing with the licensed agent that the programme is available on your passport before any documents are prepared and before any expense.

Yes, the citizenship is inherited: a child born after the status is obtained is registered by descent, without a new investment. The passport itself is a document with an expiry date and is replaced when it runs out — since April 2026 only with a biometric one.

The set depends on where the capital came from. Usually it is the contracts and documents for the sale of a stake or an asset, dividend resolutions and statements, income certificates and tax returns, documents on an inheritance or a gift, bank statements for the period required with explanations of large transactions, and evidence of the ownership structure of the business. The first consultation takes place without handing over any documents.