St. John’s, Antigua – Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) has issued a formal public clarification reaffirming that it remains fully operational and continues to accept new citizenship applications, even as the nation awaits an official response from the European Commission to its request for an extended transition period to phase out its long-running investor citizenship scheme. The November 12, 2026, memorandum, signed by CIU Chief Executive Officer Charmaine Donovan, was crafted explicitly to resolve widespread uncertainty among global stakeholders, from prospective foreign investors to licensed immigration agents and local real estate development partners, following months of high-stakes bilateral and regional discussions between Caribbean governments and European Union regulatory officials. The announcement comes on the exact date that the EU had initially set for all Caribbean nations operating citizenship by investment (CBI) programmes to submit formal plans outlining the future of their respective schemes. Back in March 2026, the EU hosted a summit for heads of regional CBI units to lay out pending changes to European visa legislation, warning participating jurisdictions that to retain existing visa-free access to the 27-nation Schengen Area – a privilege that allows Antigua and Barbuda passport holders to travel for short business, tourism and personal trips across most of continental Europe without pre-approved visas – they would be required to fully wind down their CBI programmes by no later than June 1, 2028. Antigua and Barbuda, alongside four other Eastern Caribbean nations (Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia), has relied on its CBI programme for decades as a critical stream of public revenue, funding large-scale infrastructure projects, social welfare initiatives and post-natural disaster recovery efforts. European authorities have repeatedly raised public concerns that loosely regulated investor citizenship schemes could create national security vulnerabilities, enabling high-risk individuals who would normally face strict visa vetting to obtain second passports and unrestricted access to the Schengen zone. Following a follow-up technical working group meeting convened on October 20, 2026, with facilitation from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, regional CBI administrations agreed to submit their formal positions to the EU by the November 12 deadline. Antigua and Barbuda submitted its official proposal ahead of the cutoff, communicating to the European Commission that it intends to fully phase out its CBI programme, but is requesting an extended transition window that would push the final closure date to the end of 2030 – more than two years beyond the EU’s proposed 2028 deadline. The extended timeline is designed to allow the government to orderly wind down operations, process all pending applications, honour existing contractual agreements with investors and industry partners, and mitigate potential shocks to the national economy. The CIU’s latest guidance emphasizes that no changes to current operations will be implemented until formal written notification is received from the European Commission. The memorandum does not provide details on the status of the EU’s review of Antigua and Barbuda’s extension request, nor does it outline formal protocols for handling in-process applications, already approved investments or existing citizenship grants in the event of a final programme shutdown. The clarification is intended to eliminate misinformation circulating in global investment migration circles that the Antigua and Barbuda CBI scheme had already ceased accepting new submissions. The development is part of a broader regional push to negotiate favourable terms with the EU while implementing sweeping upgrades to due diligence protocols, transparency measures and regulatory oversight across all Caribbean CBI programmes, as governments balance the significant economic contributions of investor migration against the critical priority of preserving visa-free Schengen access for all local citizens.
Antigua and Barbuda citizenship by investment programme remains open, unit says
