LONDON, Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An annual report ranked the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis as offering the best citizenship timeline under its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. The new CBI Index, published earlier this week by the Financial Times' Professional Wealth Management magazine, is the most reliable tool for comparing all of the world's active CBI programmes. The dual-island nation retained its high ranking from previous years and received perfect scores in five of the nine pillars: Mandatory Travel or Residence, Ease of Processing, Due Diligence, Citizenship Timeline, and Certainty of Product.
One of the areas that the Federation performed exceptionally well in was for its citizenship timeline, which evaluates the time taken for citizenship to be secured after submission of an application. St Kitts and Nevis was the only nation to receive top scores for the pillar. The Programme has an average processing time of three months but is the only one to offer a guaranteed fast-track process, called the Accelerated Application Process (AAP). Under the AAP, applicants who successfully undergo the relevant due diligence checks can receive citizenship within 60 days at an additional cost.
The twin-island nation also retained its perfect due diligence score as it has since the inception of the CBI Index. St Kitts and Nevis remains strict on who can become a citizen and only accepts individuals of the highest moral standing that have successfully passed the multi-tiered security procedure. The islands' stringent vetting is one of the reasons why the country is considered a Platinum Standard brand within the investor immigration industry.
Overall, the 2020 CBI Index noted: "St Kitts and Nevis maintained its percentage score of 89, preserving a commitment to stringent due diligence and demonstrating once again that it is the jurisdiction with the fastest citizenship timeline. The country also increased the number of visa-free and visa-on-arrival destinations for its citizens […] The country also fared well with the addition of the Certainty of Product Pillar, thanks to its reputation as the platinum standard of the industry."
Established in 1984, St Kitts and Nevis' CBI Programme is the industry's oldest. It offers foreign investors and their families an attractive route to second citizenship, after making an economic contribution to the Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF). The government uses the revenue generated from the SGF to support national development projects from infrastructure and job creation to poverty alleviation and debt repayment. Currently, there is a limited-time offer available under the SGF which enables families of up to four to acquire citizenship for US$150,000 instead of the previous US$195,000.
