Grenada citizenship by investment – from US$ 35,000

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However, if you have not made the ultimate decision yet but you are thinking of acquiring a second citizenship anyway, this article will let you learn a bit more about a very attractive opportunity: the Grenadian citizenship-by-investment program.

This guide to acquiring economic citizenship of Grenada uses a simple language to describe the process of obtaining a second passport of this Caribbean country via making a donation to the state fund or via purchasing real estate in Grenada. You do not have to immigrate to Grenada and actually live there to be considered a full citizen of the country. Besides, Grenada allows dual citizenship so you will not have to renounce your home country citizenship if you do not wish to do that. We discuss the main advantages of acquiring citizenship of Grenada. Besides, we supply some general information about this sweet little country.

Grenadian citizenship by investment: Nothing is new under the sun

Many people probably do not know where the island of Grenada is found on the world map. Grenada is a Caribbean state consisting of three islands. The name of the largest of them is used to refer to the country as a whole. 

A few years ago, wealthy people from all parts of the world regained the opportunity to obtain Grenadian citizenship in exchange for investment. The immigration program was closed for 12 years (from 2001 to 2013) but now it is functional again.

Currently, the Grenadian citizenship-by-investment program is regarded as one of the most reliable, most rapid, and most affordable such programs in the world. Since it was reopened, several hundreds of investors have bought Grenadian passports thus improving their lifestyles drastically.

Grenada citizenship by investment: History of the ‘Spice Island’ in brief

The residents of the West Indies have nicknamed Grenada the ‘Spice Island’. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498. Because if its likeness to Andalusia, the Spaniards named the island Granada. Of course, this piece of land in the middle of the ocean used to have a different name before, but we are never going to know it as the European settlers wiped out the local population completely.

In 1650, French pioneers purchased some land from the native people and founded the first settlement on the island called St. George’s, which is now the capital of the country. In 1651, the Indians attacked the settlers killing a large number of them. However, taking advantage of their more advanced weapons, the Europeans suppressed the uprising quickly and drove the native islanders to the northern edge of the island.

Pushed into a corner, the Indians preferred to commit a collective suicide rather than surrender to the French. There is a monument at the cliff where this sad event happened. (See the photograph below).

Soon after it was discovered, Grenada became a point of contention between France and Great Britain just like all other islands in the Wes Indies region. Ultimately, in accordance with the Versailles Treaty of 1783, Grenada became a British colony. Slaves from western Africa were brought to the island to work on the sugar cane plantations. Slavery continued in Grenada until 1834.  

The year of 1843 was especially important in the history of Grenada as it was when the first sprouts of the nutmeg were planted on the island. Today, Grenada is the second largest importer of nutmegs in the world and this industry is an important part of the contemporary Grenadian economy.

Grenada was the first of the small West Indies island countries to gain independence from Great Britain in 1974. In five-year’s time, a coup brought Morris Bishop to power and the new Government started building friendly relationships with the USSR and Cuba.   

The USA did not like that and as a result, they invaded the islands with the support of the OECS countries in 1983. This invasion was condemned even by the US closest allies. However, national elections took place a year after, which restored democracy in the country. Since that time, the political situation in Grenada has been stable and life peaceful.

The state of Grenada is located not too far away from Venezuela and it consists of three islands. The capital of the country is found on the largest of them.  

The island of Grenada has the area of 310 square kilometers (120 sq. miles). The second largest island – Carriacou – is 33 square kilometers (13 sq. miles) in size while the third island of Petite Martinique is petite indeed: only 2 square kilometers (0.8 sq. miles).

The population of the country mainly consists of the descendants of the African slaves. Its total number is 106,000 people.   

Speaking about the sights to see in Grenada, we must say that one third of the country territory is occupied by natural reserves and national parks. You can find most beautiful waterfalls on the islands as well as fantastic beaches with white and black sand.

Off the coasts of Grenada, there is an 800-square-meter (8,600 sq. ft.) underwater sculpture park that was the first such park to appear on the planet. The park is extremely popular with the divers who come to the islands from different places of the world. Apart from the park, divers enjoy swimming by the coral riffs and the sunken ships.

Grenada citizenship by investment: The requirements

The Government of Grenada wishes to protect the people and the country’s international reputation and thus it grants citizenship only to the individuals who deserve it indeed. Your application for citizenship of Grenada may be rejected for one of the following reasons:

• You supply false data in the application documents;
• You have been convicted of a crime that entails imprisonment of more than six months, according to the Grenadian laws (with the exception of a pardon);
• You are involved in a case that is under investigation at the moment of application;
• You are considered potentially dangerous for Grenada or any other country;
• You are participating in any kind of activities that can do harm to the reputation of Grenada;
• You have been denied a visa to one of the countries with which Grenada has visa-free arrangements, and you have not been granted a visa to this country ever since;
• You have been denied citizenship of any other Caribbean state that runs citizenship-by-investment programs.

In addition to these requirements, the main applicant for Grenada citizenship has to meet the following criteria:

• He or she has to be over 18 year of age;
• He or she has to be in good health;
• He or she has to have enough money to make the required donation/ investment while the source where this money comes from must be legal.

Grenada citizenship by investment: the required documents

In order to ensure that all the above-mentioned requirements are met the Government of Grenada puts every applicant for its citizenship to strict tests and due diligence checks. Besides, quite a large number of documents (their originals or notarized copies) have to be submitted when applying for citizenship of Grenada. The most important documents are listed below: 

• Notarized color copies of all applicants’ foreign passports. The bank where you will make the donation or transfer the payments for the property that you purchase requires that ALL passport pages should be copied.
• Photographs of all applicant family members 3.5 x 4.5 centimeters in size, 20 photographs per each applicant.
• Military service cards for all applicants who hold such cards. The cards also need to be notarized and apostilled if necessary.
• Medical certificates for all applicants. The certificates have to contain negative HIV test results as well as confirm absence of other infectious diseases. They have to confirm that the applicants are generally in good health.
• Police clearances for all adult applicants.

Grenada citizenship by investment: Financial options

In September 2013, the Grenadian authorities resumed granting citizenship to foreign investors. Today, they offer a competitive citizenship-by-investment program that allows obtaining a second passport of Grenada in a fast manner and at a relatively low price.  

The Grenadian Law on Citizenship permits foreign nationals to use two routes to acquiring the Grenadian passport. The first of them is a donation to the National Transformation Fund (NTF) and the second one is an investment into a Government-approved development project.

The applicant has to provide evidence of the donation or the investment within five days since the date of application approval. This evidence will serve as legal grounds for the issuance of naturalization certificates and the passports of Grenada to foreign nationals. Thus, the investors will be well advised to have the required sum at hand when filing the application for Grenadian citizenship.

We would like to stress that co-owners of real property in Grenada can apply for citizenship of the country. The important condition is that the estate has to be approved for participation in the immigration program.

The following three development projects should look as the most attractive investment options:

The Point at Petite Calivigny estate is located at the southern tip of the island of Grenada. It is a resort that is still under construction. It consists of spacious villas whose owners will be able to appreciate all the luxuries of life or vacation in a tropical paradise. 

Premium-class resort Kawana Bay in the southwestern part if Grenada is another attractive option. Currently, it is being refurbished by Kimpton, a world-renown hotel brand.

Boutique-hotel Mount Cinnamon Resort & Beach Club is located at the most popular Grenadian beach of Grand’Anse in the northern part of the main island of the country. This popular resort is placed between the Caribbean Sea and the picturesque hills. 

Below please find a comparative table that provides information about the required investment amounts in five Caribbean countries that implement citizenship-by-investment programs.

Additional costs of acquiring Grenada citizenship

In addition to the required investment amounts that all the three abovementioned options involve, you will have to cover some additional costs when you apply for citizenship of Grenada. These costs do not look extravagant at all if compared to the main investment that you have to make in order to obtain a second passport of the Caribbean state. These costs include the application submission and processing fees and due diligence fees as well.

You will have to make an additional payment of US$ 50,000 for each dependent parent under the age of 55 if they are included in the application. If your parents are older than 55, no additional payment is due.

It should be noted that this requirement is not specified in the Grenadian legislation. It is contained in the recommendation letter from the country’s Citizenship by Investment Committee (CBIC) that has been sent to the local immigration agents.  

If the main applicant’s spouse does not intend to apply for Grenadian citizenship, he or she will have to undergo the Due Diligence procedure anyway and pay US$ 5,000 for that plus US$ 3,000 more as application submission and processing fees.

If the main applicant and his or her dependent applicants are going to use sponsorship in order to obtain citizenship of Grenada, the sponsor will also have to go through the Due Diligence procedure and its cost of US$ 5,000 as well as application submission and processing fees of US$ 3,000 also need to be covered.

Grenada Citizenship by Investment Committee has made amendments to the relevant legislative acts in order to ensure that the capitals invested into citizenship of Grenada have legal origins. In this fashion the country authorities combat money laundering and terrorism financing practices.  

If a child is born to the main applicant within twelve months since the date of application submission, he or she can be added to the application. The Grenadian authorities need to be notified of the birth of the child within six months since the baby is born. A state duty of US$ 5,100 has to be paid in this case.

Thanks to the relatively low cost of the application processing and the due diligence checks in Grenada, this country should be especially suitable for large families and investors with children below 18 years of age.

The main advantages of acquiring Grenada citizenship by investment

You do not have to live in Grenada in order to become its citizen, neither prior to applying for citizenship nor after you ‘naturalize’ and obtain the passport. The normal application processing timeframe in Grenada is three to four months since the date the application for citizenship is filed with the country authorities. Currently, there are NO restrictions as to the country of the applicant’s origin. When investing into citizenship of Grenada, you gain access to the following benefits:

• A second passport of a respectable jurisdiction. Grenada is a member state of the British Commonwealth of Nations;
• The right to live and work in a peaceful neutral country with a growing economy and a stable political situation. Grenada has no armed forces and thus there is no tax burden associated with sustaining the military;
• Full citizenship of Grenada. The passport that economic citizens receive is identical to the one that native people hold; 
• A CARICOM passport that allows travelling freely, working, and studying in the Caribbean Community countries;
• The right to visit the EU countries, China, and most South American states without having to obtain a visa. Economic citizenship of Grenada gives visa-free (or visa-on-arrival) access to 117 jurisdictions in total;
• The possibility to acquire an E2 (long-term) visa to the United States of America;
• Brothers and sisters of the main applicant or his/ her spouse above 18 years of age are eligible to be included in the family application as dependent applicants on the condition that they are not married nor do they have children. This opportunity is unique as only Grenada offers it to foreign investors.
• A considerably lighter tax burden for those who become tax residents of Grenada. There is no capital gains tax, nor inheritance, nor gift, nor income tax on the income gained abroad, outside the geographical borders of Grenada. The property tax in the country varies between 0% and 0.5% depending on the use of the property (commercial or not).

Grenada citizenship by investment: the cost of making corrections to the documents issued to economic citizens  

If the need arises to make corrections to the new identification documents that you receive, the following payments will be due:

We should note that the applicants for economic citizenship of Grenada are allowed to change their personal names if two main conditions are fulfilled. First, you will have to pay the corresponding fee of US$ 3,000. Second, you will have to change your personal name in your country of origin prior to doing so in Grenada. All the documents confirming the change of name in the home country need to be supplied to the Grenadian authorities including the new passport and the driving license that carry the new name.  

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