Saint Lucia citizenship by investment: costs, route & status

How much does Saint Lucia citizenship by investment cost?

US$250,000 is the smallest total on Saint Lucia's schedule for one person. It adds up the US$240,000 fund investment, a US$2,000 processing fee and US$8,000 for due diligence, the background checks run on every applicant over 16. Only the two fees go in with the application. The investment falls due once the application is approved. Every other route adds up to more. ¹

The fund, real-estate and enterprise minimums come from Statutory Instrument No. 106 of 2024, in force since 1 July 2024. ⁶

Add the lines and the routes spread apart. For one applicant, the total runs from US$250,000 on the fund to US$360,000 on the bond. A spouse adds US$6,000 on the fund and the bond. On enterprise option 3 and real estate, the administration fee rises too. There, a spouse adds US$11,000 and US$21,000. ¹

To set these totals against other countries, start with how citizenship programs compare on total cost.

The four routes: fund, bond, property and enterprise

Each route sends the money somewhere different.

• Fund: the Board pays US$200,000 from the fund's minimum qualifying investment into the Saint Lucia National Economic Fund itself. ⁶
• Bond: US$300,000 buys National Action Government Bonds, which pay no interest and stay registered in the applicant's name for a five-year holding period from the date of first issue. ¹
• Real estate: US$300,000 goes into an approved high-end hotel, resort or boutique project, and the investor owns the title deed to the property. ¹
• Enterprise: the money funds an approved business project. Option 1 is US$3,500,000 and at least three permanent jobs, option 2 is a US$6,000,000 joint venture and at least six, and option 3 is US$250,000. ^{6, 1}

The bond costs time as well as money. On top of the non-refundable US$50,000 fee, the US$300,000 is held for five years. At simple interest, each percentage point a year it could earn elsewhere is worth US$15,000 over that time. ¹

Five Eastern Caribbean states run active citizenship by investment (CBI) programs. Saint Lucia's neighbors on that list are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis. ³ Five Caribbean programs compared sets their schedules side by side.

Property and enterprise routes: what else to know

Approved real estate means a specific kind of project. A branded hotel or resort needs 70 or more rooms, a 4- or 5-star rating and a recognized international brand. A boutique property needs 20 to 70 rooms and a high ratio of staff to guests. ⁷

On 13 September 2026, the investment page lists two projects. One is A'ILA Resorts Villas & Residences, from Atlas Caribbean Holdings Limited. The other is Canelles Resort, from Caribbean Galaxy, marked fully subscribed. ¹

Owning land takes its own license. A non-citizen needs an Alien Landholding License to buy, lease, acquire or hold land in Saint Lucia. The rule comes from the Alien Landholding (Licensing) Act No. 1 of 2020. The license is a separate process from citizenship approval, with its own fees. ⁸

Enterprise projects go through their own approval. A developer's proposal carries its own US$5,000 due-diligence fee. The program commits to update the developer within three weeks of receiving it. Sole-investor option 1 comes to US$3,550,000 with its administration fee, before per-person charges. ^{9, 1}

The categories that qualify include: ^{9, 1}

• Specialty restaurants
• Cruise ports and marinas
• Agro-processing plants and pharmaceutical products
• Infrastructure: ports, bridges, roads and highways
• Research institutions and offshore universities
• Housing and social-development projects

Where does the passport stand with the UK, the EU and the US?

A UK visit now takes a visa, and the European Commission has asked Antigua and Barbuda to phase out its program by 1 June 2028. Antigua and Barbuda's government says Saint Lucia received similar correspondence. ^{2, 3}

United Kingdom: a visit visa from 5 March 2026

The UK set out the change in an explanatory memorandum to HC 1691, dated 5 March 2026. It records that 360 Saint Lucian nationals claimed asylum in the UK between January 2022 and December 2025. It calls citizenship by investment 'a practice which is inherently high-risk', and it welcomes the steps Saint Lucia's government took over the previous year to reduce those risks. ²

The memorandum also cites Saint Lucia's own figures for a 423% annual rise in program applications, to around 5,642 in 2023-24. ² In March 2026, the St. Lucia Times reported the Saint Lucia government's reply: 'active diplomatic engagement with the United Kingdom is ongoing'. ¹⁰

European Union: the visa list and the 1 June 2028 request

On 13 September 2026, Saint Lucia is on the EU's list of countries whose nationals need no visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. ^{11, 12}

Regulation (EU) 2025/2441, published in the EU's Official Journal on 10 December 2025, lets the EU suspend that exemption for a country that operates 'an investor citizenship scheme'. It sets a first suspension at 12 months, extendable by a further 24 months. ¹³

The Commission's letter to Antigua and Barbuda offers a 24-month transition. The interim measures it proposes are the full exclusion of people subject to EU restrictive measures and reinforced vetting for all nationalities. ³

United States: two proclamations in 2025

Proclamation 10949 of 4 June 2025 and Proclamation 10998 of 16 December 2025 restricted entry to the United States. Saint Lucia is named in neither. The December proclamation names Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica. It says each 'has historically had CBI without residency'. For their nationals, it suspends immigrant entry and B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M and J visas. ^{14, 15}

In December 2025, Saint Lucia's own press reported a mid-2025 State Department cable to 36 countries, Saint Lucia among them. The paper said the cable warned of full or partial travel bans. ¹⁶

A State Department rule effective 3 August 2026 made its visa bond program permanent after a 12-month pilot. Consular officers can ask visitor-visa applicants from covered countries to post a bond of US$10,000, US$15,000 or US$20,000. The covered countries are listed at travel.state.gov. ¹⁷

The 2026 rule bases its country list on standards for overstays, information sharing, screening and vetting, civil, criminal and identity records, and document security. ¹⁷ The 2025 pilot had also counted CBI without a residency requirement, a criterion the 2026 rule does not repeat. ¹⁸

The neighbors named in December have their own pages: Antigua and Barbuda's citizenship by investment and Dominica's program.

Who qualifies as a family member in your application?

Seven kinds of relative qualify as dependants on a principal application. The program's FAQ page lists them on 13 September 2026. ⁴

• A spouse
• A child of either spouse aged 21 or under
• A child up to age 30 who is fully supported by the applicant
• A fully supported child of any age with a physical or mental disability
• A fully supported parent of either spouse over 55
• A fully supported parent of any age with a physical or mental disability
• An unmarried sibling under 18, with the consent of a parent or guardian

A child outside those categories applies separately, as a principal applicant, once 18 or older. Due diligence runs on every applicant over 16, at US$5,000 for each qualifying dependant on the investment page. ^{4, 1}

Past three dependants, the fund and enterprise option 3 charge for each extra person, and the bond's price covers any family size. Real estate charges for every dependant after a spouse, by age. The amounts for each route are in the dependant column of the six-option fee table above. ¹

Age and support decide each case. Before the agent files, gather proof of who pays each relative's everyday costs and check every birthday against the age limits.

Adding family members after you get citizenship

The program recognizes three kinds of later addition. After a principal applicant becomes a citizen, the Board considers applications for these relatives. ⁴

• A dependant who already qualified at the time of the original application, applying within five years of it
• A child born after the original application
• A spouse married after the original application

Name everyone who qualifies on the first application. On the fund route, a spouse named at the start adds US$1,000 in processing and US$5,000 in due diligence. That is US$6,000 in all, because the US$240,000 investment already covers up to three dependants. A spouse added later takes a US$35,000 fund investment before that filing's own charges. ¹

How long does the process take?

About 90 days, by the program's own measure, from acceptance to the grant. The clock starts when the Authorised Agent learns that the application is accepted for processing. The Citizenship by Investment Board 'holds the right to grant, deny or delay for cause'. ^{4, 1}

1. 01

   Appoint a licensed Authorised Agent

   Every application goes through one. Agents hold a Board license for January to December of each year and keep a place of business in Saint Lucia. ^{4, 19, 5}

2. 02

   Build the file in checklist order

   Documents follow the order of the program's document checklist, as originals or certified true copies. A document in another language needs an authenticated English translation and a copy of the translator's credentials. The form asks for certified copies of every valid passport, photographs and police certificates from past countries of residence. ^{5, 4}

3. 03

   File with the two fees

   Processing and due diligence are the only fees paid with the application, and both are non-refundable: US$10,000 for one applicant and US$16,000 for a couple. ¹

4. 04

   Clear due diligence and the interview

   Seven contracted firms carry out background checks on everyone over 16. Applications received since 4 September 2023 also go through an applicant interview and identity verification. ^{20, 1}

5. 05

   Wait for the Board

   Status updates go to the Authorised Agent alone, so agree in writing how and when the agent passes them on. ⁴

6. 06

   Make the investment and take the oath

   On the fund, real-estate and enterprise routes, the minimum investment falls due once the application is approved. The oath or affirmation of allegiance comes at the same stage, signed before an attorney-at-law, a notary royal or notary public, or a Saint Lucia consular officer or honorary consul. ^{1, 6, 4}

7. 07

   Collect the certificate, then apply for the passport

   The grant produces a Certificate of Registration. The agent or another authorized person then applies to the Immigration Department for the passport. ⁴

For the wider costs of a life split between countries, use the global life budget tools.

Who can market, file and approve an application?

Three kinds of license sit behind the people who market the program and file its applications. ⁴

• Authorised Agents submit applications.
• Promoters are licensed by the Board to market the program worldwide.
• Marketing Agents are licensed to market it through roadshows, conferences and similar events.

The program warns against unauthorized agents. It 'denounces the promotion, marketing and advertising of unauthorized agents' who claim a link to it, and asks the public to report suspected cases. Its blacklist page named four entities on 13 September 2026. ¹⁹

The program pays promoters a commission on every successful application: 10% to 20% on the fund route and 10% on the bond route. Ask anyone who markets the program to you whether they are paid on yours. ²¹

The Citizenship by Investment Board alone approves applications. Before a document or a payment leaves your hands, check the agent's name and license number. The program's authorised-agent directory listed 16 licensed agents on 13 September 2026. ^{5, 22}

Citizenship and relocation are separate decisions

A passport and a life on the island are two different plans. Write down, person by person, what the passport is for, whether a second home or a plan for the children. Then test each use against the UK, EU and US dates above.

For a life on the island, Saint Lucia covers 240.6 square miles, with Castries as its capital. It is the only Caribbean island with two Nobel laureates: Sir Arthur Lewis in economics and Derek Walcott in literature. ²³

Everyday prices run in Eastern Caribbean dollars, fixed at EC$2.70 to US$1.00 since 7 July 1976. The peg marked 50 years unchanged on 7 July 2026. ^{23, 24} For the island on the ground, start with what Saint Lucia is like to visit.

Living in Saint Lucia as a non-citizen landholder has its own track. An Alien Investor Entrance Permit is tied to a valid Alien Landholding License. It grants the right to enter and remain in Saint Lucia indefinitely, under the license's conditions. ⁸ Tax residence is a question of its own, covered in the difference between citizenship, residency and tax residency.