ANGUILLA READY TO BEGIN SECOND PHASE OF RESIDENCY BY INVESTMENT PROGRAM
Would you like to live in an English-speaking, “zero-tax” Caribbean country, with a tropical climate and beautiful beaches? If so, you may be interested in Anguilla’s residency by investment program. In a May 27, 2019 interview with “The Anguillian”, Mrs. Shantelle Richardson, Director of Economic Planning (who has responsibility for Anguilla’s residency by investment program), spoke of the existing first phase and a new second phase of Anguilla’s residency by investment program.
With respect to the first phase of Anguilla’s residency by investment program, which was originally scheduled to run from November, 2018 to April 30, 2019, and then was extended to June 30, 2019, Mrs. Richardson stated, “We have had quite a few applications from mainly North Americans and Canadians. . . . To date, I think we have had about thirteen applications . . . They are persons who have a property in Anguilla valued at a minimum of 750,000 US dollars. . . . For phase one, the applicants were required to have owned property in Anguilla, by September 30, 2018, to be eligible under this programme. . . . Because phase one is retroactive, persons could have bought the property and then built – or they could have purchased outright, but it doesn’t really matter in this instance, once they have owned the property on or before September 30, 2018, and it meets the minimum value. . . . The applications are for permanent residency by investment. Once they have been approved, and have paid the permit fee, they will be issued a permit residency booklet . . . For a single applicant, the permit fee is five thousand US dollars; up to two or more persons the fee is ten thousand; and for each person, above the four, is a thousand US dollars per person”.
With respect to the second phase of Anguilla’s residency by investment program, which is scheduled to be first formally presented to the public at an “investment migration” conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in June, 2019, Mrs. Richardson stated, “In phase two of the residency programme is another component of Tax Residency. Under this part of the programme, persons are required to own property in Anguilla also, but the investment amount is less. It is 400,000 US dollars. If they buy (or build) a property valued at 400,000 dollars, they are required to spend a certain number of days in Anguilla. In addition to that, they will pay the Government an annual tax lump sum of 75,000 US dollars and will be issued a Tax Certificate. That says such a person is a tax resident of Anguilla and paying taxes on the island. For some countries that exempt persons from paying taxes in another country. That is mainly targeting persons who do not spend a lot of time in any one place. They move around the world – three months here and three there. They are the kind of persons who are targeted. . . . Once a person can prove that he or she is a tax resident somewhere else, then they are exempted from paying taxes in their home country. That programme is not in place yet. It is for phase two”.
Besides these two phases tied to real estate investment, another option under Anguilla’s residency by investment program is to invest $150,000 in a capital development fund established by the Anguillan government to finance public sector projects.
While Anguilla’s residency by investment program does not directly convey citizenship, by becoming a resident of Anguilla, you can eventually (if you lawfully reside in Anguilla for at least 9 months per year for a consecutive period of 5 years) become a British overseas territory citizen and then ultimately (subject to additional “British residency” requirements) a British citizen.
If you would like more information on Anguilla’s residency by investment program, please contact CitizenMatch, at info@citizenmatch.com, or (773) 349-6693, for assistance.