For years, five Caribbean citizenship programs competed on price. At times, minimums dropped significantly, accompanied by seasonal discounts.
That race has ended. Five nations — Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, and St Lucia — have established a unified floor of $200,000.
To a buyer, this news might sound negative. In reality, it's more positive than negative.
Why the price war was a problem
Low prices sound attractive, but they created two consequences that buyers bore.
Pressure on vetting quality. When competing on price and speed, there's pressure to vet faster and more loosely. And vetting quality is what determines the long-term value of your passport.
Risk of losing visa-free access. The European Union, the UK, and the U.S. all monitor these programs. A program deemed to have loose vetting can lose its visa-free privileges — and when that happens, the passport a buyer paid for loses most of its value.
This isn't theoretical. The UK revoked Nauru's visa-free access because it didn't trust that country's citizenship vetting process. Buyers who purchased Nauru passports kept their citizenship, but lost exactly what they paid for.
What the unified floor solves
It eliminates the incentive to race to the bottom. When no country can undercut the floor, competition shifts to processing quality, speed, and reputation — things that benefit buyers long-term.
It's also a signal to the EU, UK, and U.S. that this group is self-regulating. That's a condition for maintaining visa-free access.
What to compare across the five programs
With minimums now equal, comparison should focus on other factors:
Which investment routes are accepted. Non-refundable contributions, real estate, government bonds, or business investment — each country has its own mix, and the same dollar amount creates different obligations depending on the route.
Who qualifies as a dependent. Age limits for children, inclusion of parents or siblings — these vary by program and significantly affect your actual total cost.
Residency requirements. Most don't require you to visit, but some require an oath or at least one visit.
Treaty with the U.S. This is the largest differentiator and the least discussed: Grenada has a trade treaty allowing E-2 investor visa applications to the U.S. Other Caribbean programs don't. For someone planning business in America, this matters more than any price difference.
Actual processing times, not advertised ones.
Common drawbacks across all five
Be clear about what applies to all five:
No right to live and work in the European Union. A Caribbean passport grants short-term visa-free entry to the Schengen area, typically 90 days within 180 days. It's not a residency right.
No visa-free entry to the U.S. No Caribbean passport is visa-free to America.
Travel access can change. Visa-free access is granted by other countries and can be revoked. Nauru is an example. Watch the EU's incoming ETIAS system, expected to launch in late 2026 and become mandatory from October 2027 — some in the industry worry it will become a separate screening tool specifically targeting investment-backed passports.
Non-refundable vetting fees. Calculated per person over 16.
How to compare correctly
Don't compare by minimum — they're now equal. Make a four-column table for your family:
True total cost accounting for your exact number of family members, including all non-refundable fees.
List of additional countries compared to your current passport, not a total number.
Post-acquisition obligations — how long you must hold assets, what ongoing duties apply.
Whether there's an E-2 treaty with the U.S., if America is part of your plan.
Those four columns give you a different answer than comparing four advertised numbers.