REAL ESTATE APPLICATIONS INCREASE UNDER GRENADA’S CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT PROGRAM
Grenada’s citizenship by investment program offers investors the opportunity to become a citizen of Grenada – a tropical Caribbean island, known as the “Island of Spice” for its production of nutmeg and mace crops and known for its unspoiled natural scenery. Among the advantages of citizenship in Grenada are universal health care, no personal income tax for non-residents or tax on worldwide income, visa-free travel to over 90 countries, and a treaty with the United States that can lead to obtaining a non-immigrant E-2 visa in the United States. The popularity of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program is evidenced by the recent increase in applications under the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program.
Based on information provided by the Grenada Ministry of Finance, 32 applications were received in the first quarter of 2019 under the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program. Such number marked a 1/3 increase from the 24 applications received in the fourth quarter of 2018 under the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program. It is believed that this increase in real estate applications may in part be explained by positive publicity from a change made earlier in 2019 to the rules regarding the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program. Specifically, under this change, an applicant can become a citizen under the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program by investing only $220,000 to purchase a fractional interest in “Section 11 Approved Projects in the Tourism Accommodation sector”. This $220,000 amount offers a “reduced price option” from the $350,000 investment otherwise required under the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program (for “[i]nvestments in Section 11 Approved Projects that are not in the Tourism Accommodation sector, or for those investors who prefer to achieve full ownership of a unit”). Both the $220,000 and the $350,000 “price options” under the real estate alternative of Grenada’s citizenship by investment program also require “the usual government contribution of at least” $50,000. Other changes in 2019 that may in part explain the increase in real estate applications under Grenada’s citizenship by investment program include the elimination of the requirement that dependent children between the ages of 18 and 30 be enrolled at an institution of higher learning, and the expansion of certain parents, grandparents, and siblings to qualify for citizenship.
Besides the above-described “real estate” option, there is also the alternative of an investor donating a non-refundable contribution of $150,000 ($200,000 for a family of up to 4 people) to the Grenada National Transformation Fund (without any requirement of a “government contribution of at least” $50,000).
Other information provided by the Grenada Ministry of Finance is that in the first quarter of year 2019, revenue from Grenada’s citizenship by investment program nearly doubled relative to the first quarter of year 2018, only 3 applications for citizenship under Grenada’s citizenship by investment program (all involving the above-described “Grenada National Transformation Fund donation” option) were rejected, and there were 184 “new citizens” in Grenada under its citizenship by investment program.
If you would like more information on Grenada’s residency by investment program, please contact CitizenMatch, at info@citizenmatch.com, or (773) 349-6693, for assistance.