Five Eastern Caribbean nations tighten citizenship programmes within six months
From Antigua's 30-day residency rule to Dominica's in-person passport pickup to Saint Vincent's residency-mandate launch, the OECS CBI playbook is being rebuilt under US and EU pressure.
Five Eastern Caribbean countries have moved within the past six months to tighten their Citizenship by Investment regimes in response to US visa-validity cuts, Ireland’s June 15 visa-free withdrawal, and a hardening EU stance on golden-passport vetting. Antigua and Barbuda enacted a 30-day mandatory physical residency requirement. Dominica now requires in-person passport collection for all applicants. Saint Kitts and Nevis has signalled residency for all future applicants. Saint Lucia continues to defend its programme against US reciprocity downgrades. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is preparing a mid-2026 launch with a residency mandate already baked in from day one.
For diaspora households and advisors with CBI clients in process, the practical action is uniform: every active file needs a residency-compliance and in-country-presence audit, and any remote-only assumption built into older marketing material should be revised before client travel is booked.
Source: IMI Daily CBI coverage February–June 2026; Travel and Tour World; St Lucia Times June 2026.