The Caribbean Five compared, one programme at a time

The five Eastern Caribbean citizenship-by-investment programmes are routinely sold as interchangeable. They are not. They share a price band, a roughly comparable passport mobility profile, and a similar 3-to-5-month file path. Beyond that they diverge sharply on cost structure, due-diligence behaviour, tax treatment, and political stability.

We file all five on a regular basis. Here is the working comparison from inside the office in mid-2026.

Antigua & Barbuda

Antigua is the workhorse for family files in our practice. The National Development Fund contribution route starts at USD 230,000 for a family of four, with the fifth dependant adding USD 15,000 plus an additional USD 4,000 in due-diligence cost. Beyond that, additions are USD 15,000 per dependant.

What works:

• The CIU’s outsourced due-diligence pipeline is the most consistent of the five. Files clear at predictable speed. We budget 16-22 weeks gate to gate.
• The contribution route accepts payment in tranches against the approval-in-principle milestone, which protects working capital for clients who would otherwise need to bridge.
• The passport itself sits in the low 20s on the Henley Index by the narrow definition (154 destinations), the strongest in the Caribbean Five.

What does not work:

• No US E-2 treaty.
• The University of the West Indies real-estate variant exists but is more administratively complex than it looks; we rarely recommend it.
• The five-year residency-renewal requirement for the passport is real (you need to spend at least five days in Antigua across the first five years).

Dominica

Dominica’s Economic Diversification Fund contribution starts at USD 200,000 for a single applicant, the lowest entry point in the Caribbean Five. Family of four lands at around USD 215,000 in contribution plus USD 30,000-40,000 in fees and our work.

What works:

• The price floor is the lowest. For genuinely single applicants or two-person families who want a Caribbean passport at the cheapest credible entry point, this is the programme.
• The file path is short. We have closed Dominica files in under four months when source of funds is clean.

What does not work:

• The passport mobility profile is slightly weaker than Antigua or St. Kitts; the UK shifted Dominica passport holders to a visa-required category in 2024 after the broader CBI policy review.
• The CIU went through a leadership transition in 2024-2025 that introduced administrative noise. The administrative side has stabilised but is still worth monitoring on any file opened in 2026.

Grenada

Grenada is the one Caribbean programme with a US E-2 treaty. For the right client, this single feature outweighs all other comparisons. The NTF contribution starts at USD 235,000 for a family of four.

What works:

• E-2 reachability. A Grenadian citizen with a substantive US business can apply for an E-2 investor visa. The visa is renewable indefinitely and brings spouse and dependants on derivative status. For founders building US operating presence, the Grenadian passport is the cheapest legitimate vehicle.
• File path is clean. We see 16-22 weeks consistently.
• The CBI Unit has been politically stable through multiple administrations.

What does not work:

• The E-2 itself requires substantive investment in the US. The treaty does not create automatic US residency; it creates a pathway. Clients who do not actually plan to open and run a US business get no benefit from the treaty premium they paid for.
• Without the E-2 reason, the Grenadian programme is roughly equivalent to Antigua at a comparable price and slightly weaker passport mobility.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia’s NEF contribution is USD 240,000 for a family of four, slightly above Antigua. The programme has the lowest filing volume of the Caribbean Five in our office.

What works:

• The CIU is small, accessible, and responsive. For files where direct engagement with the unit is part of the structuring strategy, this matters.
• Government bond and enterprise project options are available beyond the contribution route; the bond route can recover capital after five years.

What does not work:

• Volume is low for a reason. Most clients who would have filed Saint Lucia in 2017-2020 now file Antigua or Grenada for slightly better outcomes at similar cost.
• The UK shifted Saint Lucia to visa-required in 2024 alongside Dominica.

St. Kitts & Nevis

St. Kitts runs the Sustainable Island State Contribution at a single-applicant floor of USD 250,000. Family of four sits around USD 295,000 in contribution.

What works:

• The oldest and most institutionalised CBI in the world (operating since 1984). Files clear cleanly. The CIU has the most depth of institutional memory.
• The passport is one of the two strongest in the Caribbean Five (alongside Antigua), with broad visa-free reach.
• The 2024 SISC re-issue stabilised price floor expectations through 2027.

What does not work:

• Slightly more expensive than Antigua for an equivalent family size.
• The real-estate alternative route, while it exists, requires careful project selection. We currently shortlist three approved-developer projects in our intake conversations and decline files where the client comes in fixed on a property we cannot underwrite.

Comparison at a glance, 2026 pricing

| Programme | Contribution (family of 4) | DD per adult | Passport (Henley narrow) | US E-2 | UK access | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Antigua & Barbuda | USD 230K | USD 7.5K | Rank 22, 154 destinations | No | eTA | | Dominica | USD 215K | USD 7.5K | Rank 26, ~148 destinations | No | Visa required (2024+) | | Grenada | USD 235K | USD 7.5K | Rank 25, ~150 destinations | Yes | eTA | | Saint Lucia | USD 240K | USD 8.0K | Rank 27, ~147 destinations | No | Visa required (2024+) | | St. Kitts & Nevis | USD 295K | USD 10K | Rank 19, ~157 destinations | No | eTA |

DD per dependant under 18 is roughly USD 4,000 across all five.

How we send files

If you are a founder planning genuine US presence, we send you to Grenada. We will not send you to Grenada otherwise.

If you are a family of four or five looking for the cheapest credible Caribbean passport, we send you to Dominica. We will brief you on the UK visa step.

If you want the strongest single Caribbean passport and you are not particularly cost-sensitive, we send you to St. Kitts.

If you want a steady, predictable file path with the best DD throughput, we send you to Antigua. This is where most of our family files actually go.

Saint Lucia is the file we send when something specific about the client interacts with the smaller, more responsive CIU. That is a narrow case. Most clients should look at the other four first.