Caribbean CBI Eligibility Test

What the Caribbean CBI eligibility test does

This free tool is a fast, no-obligation way to see which of the five main Caribbean citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programmes — Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and Antigua & Barbuda — best fit your objectives, budget and timeline. Rather than reading five separate country pages and trying to hold the differences in your head, you answer six short multiple-choice questions and the tool shortlists the programmes whose features line up with your answers. It is built for anyone weighing a second passport for travel freedom, business access, family security or a Plan B, and it sits within our wider citizenship by investment hub, where each programme has a full country guide.

How the test works

The tool is a rule-based matcher, not a black-box score. It asks six questions: your primary objective (visa-free travel, a security backup, US E-2 treaty access, processing speed or lowest cost); your total budget bracket; how many family members you want to include; whether you have any criminal or sanctions history; how quickly you need the passport; and whether you prefer a straightforward government donation or a capital-preserving investment route. Each of the five programmes carries a short set of features and a matching rule. When your answers satisfy a programme’s rule, that programme joins your shortlist — so more than one can match, and the tool shows every programme that fits rather than forcing a single “winner”.

A handful of answers drive the outcome most strongly. Choosing US E-2 treaty access surfaces Grenada, the only Caribbean programme with a US E-2 investor-visa treaty. A need for speed or a tight budget points toward Dominica, the lowest-cost and fastest-processing option. A larger budget brings up St Kitts & Nevis, the oldest programme with one of the strongest Caribbean passports. Wanting to include a spouse, children and parents highlights Antigua & Barbuda’s family-friendly pricing, and preferring a capital-preserving route brings up St Lucia’s bond option, which returns your capital after a set holding period. If you disclose a criminal or sanctions history, the tool stops short of a match and routes you to a confidential adviser conversation, because background is assessed case by case under mandatory due diligence.

The five programmes at a glance

• Dominica — from around $200,000; positioned as the lowest-cost route with the fastest processing.
• Grenada — from around $235,000; the only Caribbean CBI programme qualifying for the US E-2 treaty visa.
• St Kitts & Nevis — from around $250,000; the longest-running programme and a premium, strong-passport option.
• St Lucia — donation from around $240,000, with a National Action Bond route from around $300,000 that returns capital after the holding period.
• Antigua & Barbuda — from around $230,000; competitive family pricing with a nominal five-days-in-five-years residency requirement.

These are indicative “from” figures drawn from each programme’s donation or investment minimum; a real budget also has to absorb government, due-diligence, agent and legal fees, all of which rise with family size. For a fuller side-by-side, see our Caribbean CBI comparison, and for the decision framework read how to choose a citizenship programme.

Assumptions and limitations

Treat the result as signposting, not a decision. The tool does not verify your identity, run any background check, or confirm the current programme rules — CBI minimums, fee structures and eligibility criteria are changed by governments from time to time, occasionally with little notice. It also simplifies genuine trade-offs: the “cheapest” headline figure rarely reflects the all-in cost once dependants and fees are added, and the “fastest” route depends on how quickly you can assemble a complete, well-evidenced file. Above all, every Caribbean programme requires a licensed authorised agent and passes each applicant through enhanced due diligence, so a clean, fully documented source of funds matters more to approval than any tool output.

How to read your result — a worked example

Suppose you select “US E-2 Treaty access” as your objective, a $250,000–$400,000 budget, a spouse and children, a clean record, a flexible timeline and no strong preference on structure. The tool will surface Grenada (because you chose E-2 access), St Kitts & Nevis (because your budget sits in its band) and Antigua & Barbuda (because you are including children). That is not a contradiction — it is telling you three programmes are plausible and that your priority order is the deciding factor. If the US E-2 route is genuinely central, Grenada leads; if long-term passport strength matters more, St Kitts & Nevis moves up; if optimising family cost is key, Antigua warrants a closer look. The donation-versus-investment choice then narrows it further: a capital-preserving preference pulls St Lucia’s bond and real-estate routes into view, explained in our guide to real-estate versus fund CBI.

Why it matters and what to do next

Choosing the wrong programme is expensive to unwind: contributions are largely non-refundable and application fees are sunk. A few minutes with this tool lets you walk into an adviser conversation already knowing which one or two programmes to pressure-test, instead of starting from a blank sheet. From there, confirm the current minimums and fees, gather your source-of-funds evidence, and get a formal eligibility assessment before committing anything. Remember too that a second citizenship is not the same as a change of tax residency — a Caribbean passport does not by itself move where you are taxed — so if relocation is part of the plan, factor that in early and take cross-border tax advice alongside the immigration work.