There are various benefits for an individual obtaining citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda. These include the fact that the acquired citizenship is transferable to descendants and that both citizenships can be retained as the government allows dual citizenship.

A new citizen of Antigua and Barbuda is exempt from taxation on foreign income, wealth, inheritance, gifts or capital gains and the country also has a very beneficial tax regime.

A very well sought-after benefit also includes visa free access to 140 countries including the Schengen area and the UK. Another benefit of the Antigua Citizenship Programme is that the processing time to obtain citizenship is minimal, being that of 3 months. The processing time for one to obtain an in-principle approval for the citizenship in Antigua is that of 2 months. The naturalisation certificate will be issued one month after the in-principle approval.

To apply for the Antigua  Citizenship  Programme, the main applicant must be at least 18 years of age and dependents can also be included within the application. Those which are eligible under the Citizenship by Investment programme include the spouse, financially dependent children under the age of 28 who are full time students at a recognised academic institution and parents and grandparents above the age of 58.

Another requirement for an individual to become a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, one also must go through a ‘fit and proper’ test to prove that the applicant is of outstanding character, is in good health and holds a clean criminal record.  

The applicant must also invest in one of the three following options offered by the Antigua  Citizenship Programme; a donation of US$ 100,000 to Antigua’s National Development Fund (NDF) for a single applicant or a family of 4 or less; an investment in real estate amounting to a minimum of US$ 400,000 and which must be kept for a minimum of 5 years, or an investment towards establishing a business of US$1,500,000 from a sole investor or US$5,000,000 for joint investors, provided that each individual invests a minimum of at least US$400,000. A Limited Time Offer (LTO) on real estate investment was also introduced in 2018, whereby the minimum investment of US$ 400,000 still holds, yet two parties can now make a joint investment of US$ 200,000 each. Both the donation and real estate offer options have been extended for periods of one year till October 2019.

A fourth investment option has also been introduced which entails an investment US$1,500,000 into the University of the West Indies, for a family of 4 or more, meaning no less than four people will be accepted for an application. Upon choosing this option, one family member will also be entitled a one-year, tuition-only scholarship at the University.

Together with any of the previously mentioned investment, there are also a number of government processing fees. The main applicant must pay a fee of US$ 50,000 plus an additional government processing fee of US$ 50,000 for the spouse, any dependent child of 18 to 25 years of age and any dependant parent over the age of 65 years. A fee of US$ 25,000 must also be paid for each dependent child under 18 years of age. Processing fees for the University fund option include a US$ 25,000 fee for a family of 4, and US$ 15,000 for each additional dependent. 

Due diligence fees of US$7,500 for the main applicant and USD 7,500 for the spouse, US$4,000 for any dependent child of 18 to 25 years of age as well as any dependent parent over the age of 65 years and US$2,000 for any dependent child of 12 to 17 years must also be paid for as part of the application.