investors can now count children
aged up to 30 as their dependents
for the purposes of their application,
potentially making the program more
attractive to investors with children in
graduate school. Parents aged over 55
"...296
applications in
the first three
quarters of
2017..."
can also be included as dependents
at no additional cost. “Grenada is very
much a family-oriented program,”
Emmett says. “It’s in line with the way
adult dependents are relying on their
parents these days.”
CBI officials also recently announced
that investors rejected by other
Caribbean CBI programs would be
automatically ineligible for Grenada’s
program. That was already how the
program worked in practice, Emmett
says, but the official declaration is
part of the government’s push to
boost transparency and reinforce
the program’s reputation for diligent
oversight. The reduced cost for
individual investors shouldn't be
taken as a sign that further price
reductions are in the pipeline,
despite sharp cuts to CBI minimum
investments in Antigua and St. Lucia
in recent months, Newfield says.
“The prime minister is categorically
against discounting the prices — he
doesn’t want to get into a price war,”
Newfield says.
“He feels that the program, on its
merits and with these enhancements,
will be a premium offering.” The
bottom line, Newfield adds, is that
the Grenadian CBI program has now
proven its value and its viability, and
the government is working to ensure
it remains a premium offering in the
Caribbean CBI space.
That will include efforts to win visa-
free travel to additional countries
for citizens — the country recently
secured visa-free status for travel to
Russia and the United Arab Emirates
— and continuing efforts to ensure
that only reputable applicants are
granted citizenship.
“The government is looking right now
at how to enhance the program,”
Newfield says. “Now that it’s gaining
momentum, the government really
does see the opportunity of what this
could become for Grenada.”
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