2024 Report

STANDARD OF LIVING RANKINGS

Malta attains the highest ranking for Standard of Living with nine points. This score reflects the small island country’s strong performance right across the entire range of its pillars sub-indicators, particularly for Life Expectancy, Relative Safety, and Freedom, for which it achieves a perfect score. Austria follows in second position, with the Western European country boasting the highest GNI of all CBI countries, a factor closely linked to its high Life Expectancy, elevated Human Security, and societal Freedom. Grenada, Türkiye, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Dominica follow in third position.

The small Caribbean nations perform strongly in providing both Freedom and GDP Growth, with Antigua and Barbuda leading all CBI nations for the latter with (6.1 per cent), while Türkiye excels in Human Security and Expected Years of Schooling. Next comes Vanuatu, whose high Human Security and Freedom places it in fourth position. Jordan, Cambodia, Saint Lucia, and Egypt round off the rankings with five points.

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT RANKINGS

Both Austria and Malta lead the Freedom of Movement Pillar rankings with a perfect score of ten. This reflects both the high degree of global mobility and the right to live and work in all EU member states these passports allow under their Schengen and EU membership. The four Caribbean nations of St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and Grenada follow with a score of seven. Despite recent pressure from the US and UK authorities, these Caribbean nations have expanded their visa-free access globally and remain highly competitive passports among CBI nations.

Dominica follows in third position with a score of six, dropping one ranking following the new visa requirement introduced by Ireland. Still offering comparatively limited access to global business centres, Türkiye retains its score of three points. Cambodia and Vanuatu are in fifth position with a score of two, the latter in particular facing increased regulatory headwinds from the EU due to the perceived risks of their CBI programme. Egypt and Jordan round up the rankings with a score of one.

INVESTMENT OPTIONS AND THRESHOLD RANKINGS

Antigua and Barbuda, Egypt, and Saint Lucia attain the highest score for the Investment Options and Threshold pillar with a score of nine which reflects both the value and investment diversity offered to applicants. Despite the increased minimum investment threshold for the Caribbean nations following the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), Caribbean programmes remain comparatively competitive, and combined with their broad selection of investment options secures their top ranking. Egypt has further built on its diverse investment options which include refundable deposits, business investments and government contributions by liberalising real estate options to also include non-government-approved housing units.

St. Kitts and Nevis follows with a score of eight, with the longest-standing CBI programme retaining its investment threshold competitiveness while offering a varied number of real estate, development fund, and philanthropic options.

Türkiye and Vanuatu follow in third place with a score of seven. While the former boasts the largest number of options of all active CBI programmes, Vanuatu’s recent implementation of a Coconut Oil Fund (CNO Future Fund) option provides an interesting avenue to invest in the Island’s sustainable future.

With a score of six, Cambodia, Dominica and Grenada follow in fourth position. While Cambodia offers two distinct avenues for philanthropic investment, Dominica and Grenada offer slightly more competitive investment thresholds. Jordan follows in fifth with a score of five, which reflects the Middle Eastern country’s comparatively high investment threshold and lack of philanthropic options for investment, with the latter point being an aspect it shares with Malta which follows in sixth position with a score of four. Austria takes the final spot with a single point, with entrepreneurial and philanthropic investment options not enough to offset its considerable investment threshold.

MANDATORY TRAVEL OR RESIDENCE RANKINGS

The Mandatory Travel or Residence Pillar scores remain unchanged from 2023. The Caribbean jurisdictions of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Jordan have no travel or minimum residency requirements, and all achieve the maximum score of ten. Austria, Cambodia, Egypt, Türkiye, and Vanuatu follow with a score of eight. These countries require an applicant to make a single trip to their new country of citizenship, often to obtain a National ID card or to swear an oath of allegiance. While Vanuatu continues to allow applicants to complete the Oath of Allegiance via videoconference, they have introduced an in-person visit for the collection of biometric and facial recognition data before being issued with a passport. Antigua and Barbuda maintains its score of six, as it requires applicants to spend a minimum of five days in the country within five years after the acquisition of citizenship, and to travel to the country (or one of its embassies) to swear the oath of allegiance. Malta retains its place at the bottom of the rankings with a score of two. This is due to the 12–36 month minimum residency requirement (depending on the investment outlay) before acquiring citizenship.

CITIZENSHIP TIMELINE RANKINGS

The diverse range of countries of Dominica, Jordan, and Vanuatu rank in first position for the Citizenship Timeline Pillar, all of which have programme applications that can be completed in less than four months. Cambodia, Egypt, and Türkiye follow in second position with a score of eight points, with all programmes quoting end-to-end processing times of under five months. Following in third position is St. Kitts and Nevis, with the Caribbean country’s programme taking between four and six months to complete in line with its increased vetting procedures. Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia follow in fourth position, the latter having dropped from first in the rankings due to an increase in its estimated processing time from three to six months as part of efforts to address the ongoing application backlog. Grenada maintains its score of four points for fifth in the rankings and Malta maintains its score of three due to its best-case scenario minimum timeline for acquiring citizenship in 13 months. Austria again rounds off the Citizenship Timeline Pillar with a score of two points with an estimated timeframe of 12–36 months.

EASE OF PROCESSING RANKINGS

The three Caribbean jurisdictions of Dominica, Grenada, and St. Kitts and Nevis share the top rank with Malta for the Ease of Processing Pillar. Their maximum points score is a testament to the programme’s successful balancing of vetting and due diligence procedures with efficient processing workflows. Grenada joins this top-ranked group for 2024 having extended its passport validity from five years to ten as of July 2024. The diverse countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Egypt, Saint Lucia, Türkiye, and Vanuatu all share second position with a score of eight points. While Türkiye and Vanuatu enjoy ten-year validity for their respective passports, the lack of a dedicated CBI programme website prevents them from achieving a maximum score, however, the reverse is true for the other three jurisdictions in this group. Austria and Jordan follow in third position with a score of seven points. Austria, Cambodia, and Jordan take the third and final rank. While none of these three countries provide dedicated, official information for their CBI programmes online, Austria’s ranking reflects the requirement to demonstrate a minimum level of business experience whereas Cambodia’s is hampered by its language and culture testing requirement. Jordan’s score of seven is weighed down by its poor passport validity.

DUE DILIGENCE RANKING

St. Kitts and Nevis retains its top position from 2023 which reflects both an implementation of the ‘Six Principles’ and the tighter enhanced due diligence standards set by the MoA, as reflected by the introduction of the ‘Continuing Due Diligence’ Unit. Dominica and Grenada follow with nine points. Although both countries already have comprehensive due diligence measures in place, we again expect these requirements to further tighten as a result of MoA provisions. Antigua and Barbuda, Malta, and Saint Lucia place in third with a score of seven points. While both Malta and Saint Lucia’s scores remain unchanged from the previous year, Antigua and Barbuda joins this third-ranked group of countries owing to the introduction of mandatory interviews in November 2023. While Malta does have a four-tier due diligence process in place, the ongoing lawsuit by the European Commission (EC) suggests that mandatory interviews and additional investor protections and vetting measures may be required to change perceptions that the programme remains a threat to European Union (EU) citizenship integrity. Austria again scores five points in fifth position and we maintain our view that it would benefit from extra due diligence checks on applicants from sanctioned countries supported by independent agencies. Sharing the fifth position with four points are Vanuatu and Egypt. Vanuatu’s programme remains in a period of transition, with the Polynesian island nation’s efforts to improve the reputation of its due diligence credentials in need of further development. Egypt requires clean police certificates from an applicant’s country of residence and citizenship as well as corroborated evidence of employment or business ownership – but without external support. Cambodia and Türkiye follow in sixth position with three points and Jordan’s programme rounds off the due diligence rankings with two points.

FAMILY RANKINGS

With a highly accommodating application structure that allows for siblings, parents, and grandparents of both the main applicant or their spouse, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada again have the most family- friendly programmes for the 2024 CBI Index. In addition to increasing the age limit for main applicant dependents from under 18 years to up to 30 years, Antigua and Barbuda has now also removed age restrictions for physically or mentally incapacitated dependents as of August 2024. In second position with nine points are Saint Lucia and Malta. While Saint Lucia misses out on a perfect score due to its exclusion of grandparents in an application, Malta’s CBI excludes the main applicant’s siblings. Dominica follows in third place with eight points, its lower score reflecting the tightening of requirements for evidencing the degree of dependency of children 18 or over.

St. Kitts and Nevis maintains its joint fourth rank with Vanuatu with seven points. Egypt and Türkiye retain a score of five. While Türkiye allows a spouse to obtain citizenship with the main applicant, children 18 or over can only be included based on a medical condition. Conversely, Egypt allows those 18 or over to be included with few restrictions, but a spouse only receives their citizenship two years after the main applicant. Austria and Jordan remain on four, with stringent dependency requirements for the eligibility of certain family members. Cambodia ranks last as it only allows the applicant’s spouse and children under 18 to be included in an application.

CERTAINTY OF PRODUCT RANKINGS

As the only country to attain a score of 10ten in the Certainty of Product Pillar, St. Kitts and Nevis’ performance reflects its swift response to the recent unprecedented international pressure imposed on all Caribbean Citizenship by Investment programmes. Dominica occupies the second rank with a score of eight points, its improved score reflecting continued strong application volumes as well as its stronger performance for ‘Reputation’, owing to the effective adoption of tighter vetting and compliance standards. Occupying joint third position with seven points are Grenada, Türkiye, and Antigua and Barbuda, with the Caribbean nation improving by a point following the adoption of the MoA. Saint Lucia and Egypt follow in fourth position with six points. While Saint Lucia’s score is unchanged from the previous year, Egypt achieved a two-point increase through improved performance in Popularity and Renown as well as its improved Adaptability as shown in the decision to broaden the scope for investment properties in the country.

Malta attains the fifth rank with a score of five points. The one-point improvement over the previous year comes by virtue of its Longevity, having first opened up its economy to CBI back in 2014. Austria, Cambodia, Jordan, and Vanuatu round out the rankings in sixth position, all with a score of four points and remaining largely unchanged. Despite the comparative lack of formal structure around Austrian CBI, it remains one of the region’s most stable, particularly seen in the context of Malta, whose ‘MEIN’ programme continues to face European Commission legal action over its perceived undermining of EU citizenship integrity. Vanuatu’s programme remains in a state of flux due to the looming threat of a full suspension of the country from the Schengen area’s visa-free agreement, the current efforts being made to stabilise the Programme through improved due diligence requirements in conjunction with economic diversification initiatives have muted prior calls to end the Programme.