Antigua and Barbuda prices plummet once more

Earlier this week, in yet another series of changes to the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Programme, amendments to the University of the West Indies Fund option entered into force, making the option significantly cheaper for larger family structures. The changes follow the introduction of a reduced investment amount under the programme’s real estate option and reduced processing fees under the programme’s real estate and business options that became applicable on 1 April 2020.

The price reductions are a blatant attempt by Antigua and Barbuda to make its citizenship by investment programme more attractive to potential applicants, but instead they reveal a stark misunderstanding of investor priorities. In reality, for investors seeking a second citizenship, a programme’s international standing and overall reliability often carries greater value than a lower investment threshold.

Unfortunately for Antigua and Barbuda, the country’s citizenship by investment programme lost credibility when, in 2018, the then-Investment and Trade Minister, Asot Michael, was stripped of his ministerial responsibilities following involvement in a major bribery scandal. Named in a UK court hearing, Michael allegedly demanded large amounts of money, a car, and campaign financing from a British investor.

The resignation came only seven months after Michael was arrested in London while on his way to a conference in France, in a separate incident.

Following the recent price reductions, the team at WIC News caught up with a local Agent to discuss investor priorities.

The Agent, who wishes to remain unnamed, explained that given the high degree of global scrutiny surrounding citizenship by investment programmes, investors want to be certain that they are receiving well-respected second citizenship from a reliable source. “Constantly dropping minimum investment thresholds is certainly not an effective form of programme promotion,” the Agent says. According to the Agent, price plummets can often have the opposite effect – more indicative of desperation than dominance.

Indeed, Antigua and Barbuda’s incessant price drops ultimately suggest that the programme is underperforming compared to its Caribbean counterparts.

In recent years, citizenship by investment industry stakeholders have seen industry standards raised significantly across the board, particularly in the Caribbean nations of Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis. In Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis, however, the investment thresholds of the countries’ citizenship by investment programmes have remained largely unchanged for years, yet continue to attract the largest number of interested applicants. This demonstrates that reputation, integrity, and consistency stand at the forefront of investor priorities.

It is time that the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Programme focused more on repairing its damaged reputation than competing for the lowest price. After all, a BMW will always be more attractive than a Ford, no matter the price of the Ford.