On March 10th, Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Unit had issued a circular prohibiting individuals with Russian and Belarussian citizenship from applying under the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Programme. In March of 2022, all of the five Caribbean countries precluded Russians and Belarussians from applying under the various citizenship programmes.
This week, the CEO of Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Unit, Ms Karline Purcell confirmed that the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians has been lifted and replaced by an enhanced scrutiny approach to individuals hailing from these countries. Grenada is therefore accepting only non-sanctioned individuals and is thoroughly checking applicants in view of the continuously updated sanctions list.
This approach was also followed by the citizenship by investment unit of Antigua & Barbuda which had also restricted applicants from Russia and Belarus in March on account of its inability to perform the necessary due diligence checks. This week, the Head of the Antigua Citizenship by Investment Unit, Ms Charmaine Quinland Donovan issued a letter informing that Antigua and Barbuda’s Cabinet of Ministers has authorised the citizenship unit to resume accepting applicants from citizens of Russia and Belarus only subject that such individuals are not targeted by any international sanctions or connected with any entity or person who are sanctioned internationally. The Antigua & Barbuda citizenship unit has so far still kept its restrictions on Ukrainian nationals as the unit doesn’t have the capability of conducting due diligence in Ukraine and hence processing of applicants hailing from Ukraine is currently still not being conducted.
The remaining Caribbean countries who are still enforcing the ban are Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts & Nevis. It is being reported that Dominica might be the next Caribbean country to uplift the ban and resume processing applications from Russian and Belarussian nationals.
On March 10th, Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Unit had issued a circular prohibiting individuals with Russian and Belarussian citizenship from applying under the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Programme. In March of 2022, all of the five Caribbean countries precluded Russians and Belarussians from applying under the various citizenship programmes.
This week, the CEO of Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Unit, Ms Karline Purcell confirmed that the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians has been lifted and replaced by an enhanced scrutiny approach to individuals hailing from these countries. Grenada is therefore accepting only non-sanctioned individuals and is thoroughly checking applicants in view of the continuously updated sanctions list.
This approach was also followed by the citizenship by investment unit of Antigua & Barbuda which had also restricted applicants from Russia and Belarus in March on account of its inability to perform the necessary due diligence checks. This week, the Head of the Antigua Citizenship by Investment Unit, Ms Charmaine Quinland Donovan issued a letter informing that Antigua and Barbuda’s Cabinet of Ministers has authorised the citizenship unit to resume accepting applicants from citizens of Russia and Belarus only subject that such individuals are not targeted by any international sanctions or connected with any entity or person who are sanctioned internationally. The Antigua & Barbuda citizenship unit has so far still kept its restrictions on Ukrainian nationals as the unit doesn’t have the capability of conducting due diligence in Ukraine and hence processing of applicants hailing from Ukraine is currently still not being conducted.
The remaining Caribbean countries who are still enforcing the ban are Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts & Nevis. It is being reported that Dominica might be the next Caribbean country to uplift the ban and resume processing applications from Russian and Belarussian nationals.