Eastern Caribbean citizenship-by-investment schemes
Passport-sale schemes of five Eastern Caribbean states that the EU wants closed by 2028.
Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia pressed Brussels in New York on 24 September for a slower wind-down of the region's passport sales, but the talks closed without a deal, leaving the EU's 1 June 2028 closure date intact.
Last refreshed: 3 October 2026
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Nomads & CommunitiesBackground
Five Eastern Caribbean states sell citizenship for a fixed donation or a qualifying property purchase: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia. Their passports carry Visa-free entry to the Schengen area, which turns each sale into a question for European border policy as well as a revenue line at home.
In June 2026 European Commissioner Magnus Brunner wrote to all five governments asking them to shut their programmes by 1 June 2028, citing the risk to Visa-free access. The same letter set two vetting safeguards with a September 2026 Deadline. Saint Lucia's prime minister puts the island's programme at about 10% of government revenue, which explains why the states want a transition rather than a cliff edge.
The 24 September meeting in New York produced no agreement on a longer timetable, and a technical TEAM from the region was due to meet EU officials in October 2026. Any revenue the five lose must come from elsewhere before mid-2028, so the schemes now stand as a test of how far Brussels can use Visa policy to close a small state's income stream.