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Pathway

Antigua Citizenship by Investment: Property

Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship
Pathway overview

At a glance

The real-estate option requires a qualifying USD $300,000 interest in a currently approved development, a five-year hold, full additional costs, due diligence, and CIU approval.

Minimum property value
USD $300,000 in a project approved by the Citizenship by Investment Unit
Holding period
Generally 5 years
Additional costs
Government, diligence, passport, agent, legal, and closing costs
Decision
Discretionary after full due diligence
Minimum investment
USD $300,000
Investment choices
Real estate approved by the Citizenship by Investment Unit

Summary

Antigua and Barbuda's Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) has a real-estate option for an adult main applicant who acquires at least USD $300,000 in a development approved by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU). The official project list is essential: an ordinary house, condominium, land parcel, or commercial property does not qualify merely because it is in Antigua and Barbuda or costs more than the minimum.

The property generally cannot be resold until five years after purchase. The CIU describes a limited alternative where the applicant buys another officially approved qualifying property. A binding sale and purchase agreement with an approved developer can support the citizenship application, but the agreement is made subject to the citizenship decision and the transaction is completed under the program's approval instructions.

USD $300,000 is only the qualifying purchase amount. Government processing, due-diligence, passport, licensed-agent, legal, registration, tax, stamp, financing, maintenance, and other project costs can be additional. Citizenship remains discretionary after review; neither the developer nor the agent can guarantee approval.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The main applicant must be at least 18, select a project that is currently approved, and be able to fund the purchase and the full additional cost. The CIU's published real-estate process says the application can be lodged after a binding agreement is signed with the approved developer. On submission, due-diligence charges and 10% of the processing charge are payable. After an approval letter, the remaining processing charge and sums due to the developer are paid so title can be registered and the qualifying investment implemented.

Under the current fee page, processing is USD $10,000 for one applicant or USD $20,000 for a family of up to four, plus USD $10,000 for each additional dependent beginning with the fifth. Due-diligence charges vary by age and relationship: the published table currently shows USD $8,500 for the main applicant, USD $5,000 for a spouse, no due-diligence fee for a child through age 11, USD $2,000 for a dependent aged 12–17, and USD $4,000 for an adult dependent or qualifying parent. Passport and other costs are additional, and the CIU says fees can change.

A family application may include the spouse; a financially dependent biological or adopted child through age 30; an older child meeting the program's disability, household, and support rule; a financially dependent parent or grandparent aged 55 or older; and an unmarried sibling of the main applicant or spouse. Later additions have separate rules and fees. Family labels alone do not qualify someone: dependency, age, marital status, legal parentage, and supporting records matter.

Every applicant is subject to due diligence. The CIU's official ineligibility list includes false information, specified convictions and investigations, national-security or reputational risks, certain health findings, and certain unresolved visa refusals. Its restricted-country policy currently names Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan, with a defined exception test for some applicants who left and established qualifying residence and no economic ties. The CIU or a properly licensed channel must assess the actual facts.

The applicant also needs a credible source-of-wealth and source-of-funds record. This commonly requires bank, employment, company, tax, sale, inheritance, or other evidence showing both how the overall wealth arose and where the particular purchase and fee money came from. A loan or company structure should never be assumed to qualify without written confirmation.

Policy watch 1 development we’re tracking
EU visa-free travel is under policy scrutiny
Announced — not currently law

EU visa-free travel is under policy scrutiny

Current official stage: Annual EU visa-suspension monitoring; no suspension decision announced

Antigua and Barbuda citizenship still carries the current EU short-stay treatment, but the Commission is monitoring its investor-citizenship program under a mechanism that can suspend visa-free access. No suspension has been announced.

Timing: The revised EU mechanism has applied since 31 December 2025, but it does not automatically suspend travel. The Commission has not announced a suspension for Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis or Saint Lucia. It continues annual monitoring and country engagement.

Current pathway rules still apply.

Last checked European Commission — Eighth Visa Suspension Mechanism ReportEuropean Union — Regulation 2025/2441 revising the visa-suspension mechanismCouncil of the EU — explanation of the revised suspension mechanismEuropean Commission — Eastern Caribbean follow-up and recommendations
Read the full briefing

What This Route Allows

After approval, completion of the approved purchase, payment of all required charges, and registration, the main applicant and approved dependents receive individual citizenship certificates. They can then make passport applications. Citizenship permits living in Antigua and Barbuda without a separate immigration status and carries the rights and responsibilities provided by local law.

The property remains an asset rather than a donation, so it may be capable of rental use, personal use, or later sale subject to the development contract, local property law, taxes, program rules, and the five-year restriction. The citizenship decision is separate from whether the property produces income or retains value.

The official page says the oath or affirmation of allegiance can be completed in Antigua and Barbuda or through an accepted embassy, high commission, or consular office. Citizens by investment must also meet the program's five-day presence obligation during the first five calendar years.

What This Route Is Not

This is not citizenship through any real-estate purchase. Only an interest that the CIU accepts in a currently approved project counts. A developer's old approval, a resale listing, or an agent's claim should be checked against the live official project list and confirmed in the contract.

It is not a guaranteed or government-insured property investment. Development, completion, title, management, rental, resale, currency, financing, and market risks remain. The CIU's approval of a project for program purposes should not be treated as a promise of construction quality, returns, liquidity, or capital preservation. Independent property and legal due diligence is distinct from citizenship due diligence.

It is not a USD $300,000 all-inclusive price, a residence-by-property program, or an automatic passport sale. The CIU decides the citizenship case after screening; a separate Passport Office process follows registration.

The five-year hold and five-day presence rules are also separate. Keeping the property does not satisfy the travel obligation. The CIU warns that citizenship may be taken away where a citizen by investment fails to spend at least five days in the country within the first five calendar years.

Next Steps

  1. Use the CIU's current approved-development list to identify possible projects. Record the exact developer, legal entity, project, unit or share structure, and approval basis.
  2. Engage a current licensed agent for the citizenship filing and an independent Antigua and Barbuda lawyer for the property transaction. Confirm who represents whom and how client money will be held.
  3. Obtain the full contract, title and encumbrance information, construction or completion status, management terms, recurring charges, rental limitations, exit terms, tax treatment, and the exact five-year resale restriction.
  4. Request a written family cost calculation covering the USD $300,000 qualifying amount, processing and due-diligence charges, passport fees, professional charges, stamp and registration costs, taxes, and project-specific payments.
  5. Pre-screen every applicant against the CIU's dependent, ineligibility, visa-refusal, and restricted-country rules before paying non-refundable amounts.
  6. Prepare official civil documents, passports, police and medical records, financial and tax evidence, and a clear source-of-wealth and source-of-funds file. Follow current certification and translation directions.
  7. Sign only a properly reviewed agreement that makes clear how the citizenship condition, escrow or deposit, rejection, delay, title transfer, and refund provisions work. A private promise should not replace the written contract.
  8. Let the licensed channel submit the citizenship application. Complete the purchase and remaining program payments only at the stages stated in the CIU approval instructions.
  9. After registration, complete the oath and passport steps, keep the qualifying interest for the required period, and retain evidence that each new citizen satisfied the five-day presence obligation.
Compare your options

Other citizenship-by-investment options in Antigua and Barbuda and other countries.

Sources