What Antigua and Barbuda citizenship by investment costs

Four routes to one passport

The headline is a $230,000 contribution to the National Development Fund (NDF). The government's own fee schedule takes a family of four to $266,700. That is before an agent sends a single invoice. ^{1, 2}

Four investment routes lead to the same passport. The Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) publishes a minimum for each. Start with the table below. It works whether this is your only choice or one of several citizenship by investment countries you are weighing. ⁵

The program rests on a 2013 Act. It began after Parliament approved the 2014 Regulations, and the latest listed amendment is from 2024. The CIU presents it as one of several measures to support the economy. Others include a National Economic and Social Transformation Plan and a debt restructuring. Tourism generates around 60% of the country's income. ^{5, 9}

What does the published price cover?

The $230,000 is the first line of the bill. On the NDF route, the government adds three more. There is a processing fee, a due-diligence charge for each person over 11, and a $300 passport for everyone. Processing is $10,000 for one applicant and $20,000 for a family of up to four. Each person from the fifth adds $10,000. The property route charges the same fees. ^{1, 2}

Here is the whole bill for an example household. It has a principal applicant aged 42, a spouse aged 40, and children aged 15 and 10. The 10-year-old's due diligence is $0. Swap the contribution for a $300,000 property, and every other line stays the same. ^{2, 3}

The schedule covers the government's side. Your licensed agent's fee, legal work on a property, document costs and flights arrive on other invoices. MMT's guide to the real cost of citizenship by investment walks through headline and total costs across programs.

Which relatives can qualify?

One contribution covers the household. On the NDF route, your spouse, dependent children and dependent parents aged 55+ join for the same $230,000. Each person adds their own due-diligence and passport fees. The CIU's dependants page sets out who counts. ^{1, 11}

• A spouse.
• A child aged 0 to 30 who is financially dependent on the main applicant. ¹¹
• An adult child with a physical or mental disability, living with and fully supported by the main applicant.
• A parent or grandparent aged 55 or older who is financially dependent on the main applicant. ¹¹
• An unmarried brother or sister of the main applicant or of the spouse.

A child means a biological or legally adopted child of the main applicant, or of the applicant and spouse. Now add a dependent parent aged 55 to the example household. The NDF total rises by $14,300, to $281,000. That is $10,000 of processing for the fifth person, $4,000 of due diligence and a $300 passport. ^{11, 2}

Adding family after citizenship

Families grow after the application, and the rules price that too. A spouse the main applicant marries later costs $50,000 to add. A future child of a dependent child costs $10,000 under age 6, or $25,000 from 6 to 17. A dependent child's future spouse can join too, if that child is 35 or younger on the day the addition is filed. Ask your agent for that fee. ^{11, 2}

Should you choose the NDF or approved property?

The property route costs $70,000 more at the start, and $300,000 of it buys something you own. The NDF contribution is a one-time, non-refundable payment. The property is yours to hold for five years. Selling sooner works only if you buy another approved property. ^{1, 3, 5}

The purchase has to be in an approved project, and it comes first. The application needs a signed, binding purchase-and-sale agreement with the developer. On 13 September 2026, the CIU's approved list named 30 developers. ^{3, 12}

The CIU names nine approved areas on Antigua and two on Barbuda. ¹³

• Fort James to Blue Waters.
• Pillar Rock to Five Islands.
• Pearns Point to Johnson's Point.
• Falmouth Harbour to Galleon Bay.
• Willoughby Bay to Half Moon Bay.
• The Nonsuch Bay area.
• Guiana Island to Crabbs Peninsula to Indian Point.
• Blackman's Estate.
• Marble Hill.
• Barbuda: Low Bay to Palmetto Point and Coco Point.
• Barbuda: Coco Point, a separate entry on the CIU's list.

One approved project, Tamarind Hills, publishes starting prices. On 13 September 2026, fractional ownership there started at $300,000, and the lowest freehold price was $680,000, for a one-bedroom studio. At that project, the route's minimum buys a share, and the smallest whole unit costs more than twice as much. ¹⁴

Price the property as a property. Ask the developer for the full purchase costs and the management charges. Get the rental terms and resale rules in writing. Have someone outside the sale value it. Then weigh the extra cost against what the property is worth when you can sell. MMT's Caribbean citizenship programs compared sets Antigua and Barbuda beside its neighbors.

How do the routes compare for your household?

Count the people before you choose a route. Up to five people, the NDF costs the least in contribution and processing. At six, the UWI Fund opens. From there it stays $10,000 below the NDF at every size. Both routes add $10,000 of processing for each extra person. ^{1, 4, 2}

The UWI Fund pays for the University of the West Indies campus in Antigua. One family member receives a one-year, tuition-only scholarship. For a larger household with a student in it, that scholarship is worth pricing in. ⁴

The business route is a different scale of decision. A sole investor puts in at least $1.5 million. A joint investment needs at least $5 million from two or more people, with at least $400,000 each. The CIU's approved business list held 11 entries on 13 September 2026. Several are tied to the Nonsuch Bay estate, the Verandah Resort & Spa and Tamarind Hills. ^{5, 15}

A business investment is a business first. Ask who manages it while you live elsewhere. Ask how new funding gets approved, and what happens when one investor wants out. Get the answers in writing, from someone who is not selling you the stake.

Applying, step by step

Every application goes through a licensed agent, and the money moves in two stages. Here is the sequence, priced for the example household of four.

1. 01

   Choose the route, then the agent

   Settle the route that fits the household. Then choose an agent from the CIU's published list of Licensed Agents, which gives contact details for each. ¹⁶

2. 02

   Sign the property contract first, if you are buying

   The property route needs a signed, binding purchase-and-sale agreement with an approved developer. It has to be in place before the application goes in. ³

3. 03

   File and pay the first stage

   At submission, you pay the full due-diligence fees and 10% of the processing fee. For the example household, that is $17,500. It breaks down as $15,500 of due diligence and $2,000 of processing. ^{1, 2}

4. 04

   Pay the balance after approval

   The approval letter brings the rest of the processing fee, the passport fees and the contribution. The contribution must reach the Government Special Fund within 30 days. For the example household, the balance is $249,200: $18,000 of processing, $1,200 for four passports and the $230,000 contribution. ^{1, 2}

5. 05

   Take the oath

   Swear or affirm allegiance on your first visit to Antigua and Barbuda. You can also do it at one of its embassies, high commissions or consular offices. ¹

The CIU checks the family before approval. Its citizenship page lists these grounds that make an applicant ineligible.

• False information on the application.
• A contagious disease or serious health problem in any family member, found by a medical practitioner.
• A conviction for an offense with a maximum penalty over six months, or a current criminal investigation. ⁵
• A security risk, or conduct that brings the country into disrepute.
• An unresolved visa refusal from a country that has a visa-free treaty with Antigua and Barbuda.

Nationals of Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are on a restricted list. Cabinet set it on 26 February 2020. They can apply if they left before the age of majority. They can also apply after 10 years or more of permanent residence elsewhere, with no economic ties to the restricted country. ¹⁷

What does the five-day visit rule say?

The rules ask for five days in the country within five calendar years. The first trip can carry the oath of allegiance too. The CIU's country page lists direct flights to Antigua from London, New York, Miami and Toronto. ^{5, 1, 9}

Plan the visit like a proper trip. MMT's Antigua and Barbuda travel guides cover the islands themselves. Put the flights in the citizenship budget, since the visit is a condition of keeping citizenship. Keep the travel records from that trip with your citizenship papers.

Where do the passport and the program stand in 2026?

Since 1 January 2026, the United States has suspended entry for Antigua and Barbuda nationals on visitor, student and exchange visas. Presidential Proclamation 10998 of 16 December 2025 covers B-1, B-2, F, M and J visas, and entry as immigrants. Its section on the country gives one reason of its own: Antigua and Barbuda has historically had citizenship by investment without residency. ⁶

The dual-national exception matters to anyone who keeps another nationality, as long as that passport is from a country the Proclamation does not name. On 13 September 2026, the visa page of the US Embassy that covers Antigua and Barbuda still carried the Proclamation notice and the bond rule. ^{6, 7}

On 13 September 2026, the Henley Passport Index ranking page placed the passport 24th, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 154 destinations. ²⁰

By law, a report on the National Development Fund goes to Parliament every six months. On 13 September 2026, the newest one on the CIU's Reports page was posted 15 October 2024 and covered the period to 30 June 2024. ²¹

Choosing an agent, and the last check

Put the agent's work in writing before any money moves. The CIU's caution page says applications go only through Licensed Agents. It adds that advertising or promoting the program, online content included, needs the Unit's specific approval. Check the agent's name against the CIU's list before you sign. ^{22, 16}

The engagement letter should cover these points.

• The scope: eligibility review, document checks, the application and follow-up questions from the CIU.
• The agent's own fee, apart from the government charges, with any hourly or extra charges named up front.
• Who receives each payment and why, with bank details confirmed through a channel you already trust.
• Copies of everything submitted in your name, and how you get the whole file if the relationship ends.

Tax is a separate engagement. The CIU's country page says residents pay no personal income, capital gains or estate tax. ⁹ The word that matters is residents. MMT's guide to citizenship, residency and tax residency takes the three apart.

The last check before submitting

• The roster, ages and relationships on the application match the documents, name for name.
• Each fee on the agent's quote matches the CIU schedule on the filing date. ²
• The contribution sits in an account you can move within 30 days of approval. ¹
• The first visit is on the calendar, with a folder ready for the travel records.