The sun may soon set on the Golden Passports days for Caribbean countries currently offering the programme.
Last week, the European Union passed legislation in Parliament where countries have been given two options on their CBI programs.
1. Do away with CBI to have continued Schengen Visa-Free status.
2. Continue with CBI and lose Visa-Free status to Schengen Region.
On the latest developments, Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne said if you don’t have Visa Free access into the Schengen region, it will undermine the viability of these programs.
“Many people who receive Antigua citizenship use it literally to gain visa-free access to the Schengen countries. Canada was part of it, but they have suspended Visa-free access for all countries, including Antigua. Of course, we were the final causality of that policy due to our CBI program”.
A new report calls for the EU to ban the sale of citizenship by investment schemes and to regulate residence by investment schemes.
The report says that the schemes can affect other EU countries because of the risks of corruption, money laundering, security threats, tax avoidance, pressure on the real estate sector and an erosion of the integrity of the internal market.
EU Parliament stresses that ‘citizenship by investment’ (CBI) schemes, under which third-country nationals obtain citizenship rights in exchange for a sum of money, undermine the essence of EU citizenship.
MEPs lament the lack of comprehensive security checks and vetting procedures in both schemes, adding that it should not be possible to file successive applications in different member states. Member states should not rely on checks carried out by non-state actors.
Parliament calls for an EU levy of a meaningful percentage on the investments made – until ‘golden passports’ are phased out and indefinitely for ‘golden visas’. It also asks the Commission to pressure third countries that benefit from visa-free travel to the EU to follow suit.
Noting that intermediaries in these schemes are neither transparent nor held accountable, Parliament calls for a ban on their involvement in CBIs and a “strict and binding regulation” for their role in RBIs, which should include sanctions.
Five Caribbean countries offer citizenship through investment programmes, namely Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and St Lucia.
