Five Eastern Caribbean states enter 2026 with a unified Citizenship Programme rulebook and a new regional regulator beginning operations, months after the European Court of Justice closed the European Union’s last investor citizenship route.
The combined effect for United States investors is a single, established Caribbean route at a US$200,000 minimum, governed by a regulator that operates under direct dialogue with the United States Treasury, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission.
The European Court of Justice delivered its Commission v Malta judgment on 29 April 2025, ruling that Malta’s investor citizenship scheme breached EU law and ending the bloc’s role in the sector. Cyprus withdrew its programme in 2020.
By comparison, the Caribbean moved in the opposite direction. The five Citizenship Programme jurisdictions of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, signed a Memorandum of Agreement in March 2024 that took effect on 1 July 2024 and set a US$200,000 minimum investment threshold across the region.
The agreement ended some elements of the programmes that had drawn criticism from international partners.
In September 2025, the same five governments signed a 92-article agreement establishing the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority (ECCIRA), headquartered in Grenada.
All five jurisdictions have since enacted the agreement into national legislation. ECCIRA begins operations in late 2026 and will hold binding authority over agent licensing, applicant compliance, due diligence standards, and enforcement, including the power to impose fines and revoke licences.
United States engagement
The five OECS states agreed Six Principles with the United States Treasury in March 2023, covering interviews, applicant data sharing, and audit standards.
Four US-Caribbean Roundtables have followed, the most recent in Antigua and Barbuda on 1 December 2025. Timothy Antoine, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, and Warren Ryan, United States Treasury Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, co-chaired the December 2025 Roundtable.
Officials from the United States Departments of State and Homeland Security also attended, alongside representatives from the United Kingdom, the European Commission, and the CARICOM IMPACS Joint Regional Communications Centre.
The communiqué from the December 2025 Roundtable confirmed that ECCIRA will become operational in 2026 and that all five participating states have completed ratification.
Programme heritage
St. Kitts and Nevis launched its Citizenship Programme in 1984, making it the longest-running investor citizenship route in the world. Dominica followed in 1993.
Together, the two Programmes account for more than four decades of continuous operation, applicant vetting, and grant of citizenship.
“The Caribbean Citizenship Programmes are the only multi-decade investor citizenship route that remains open, regulated, and accountable to international partners,” said Micha-Rose Emmett, Chief Executive Officer of CS Global Partners.
“The five OECS states have completed work over the past two years that aligns the entire region with United States, United Kingdom, and European Commission expectations on transparency and compliance.
“For US wealth advisers and their clients, the regional framework now sets a clear outline with a unified due diligence regime, and a regulator with binding authority.”
Currency peg and state-led agendas
The Eastern Caribbean dollar has been pegged to the United States dollar at EC$2.70 to US$1.00 since 7 July 1976, giving the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union one of the longest-running fixed exchange rate arrangements in the world.
The peg removes currency conversion risk for United States investors making contributions denominated in the regional currency. Inflation across the currency union has averaged between 2% and 3% over the peg’s history.
The five Citizenship Programme jurisdictions are small island states running development agendas that exceed the scale of their domestic revenue base.
St. Kitts and Nevis is delivering its Sustainable Island State Agenda, with Citizenship Programme contributions directed into renewable energy, water security, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Dominica is pursuing its goal of becoming the world’s first climate-resilient nation, with Programme revenue supporting geothermal energy and hurricane-rated housing. Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda run comparable national infrastructure and resilience mandates.
For US investors and their advisers, the combination provides an unusual opportunity. A regional currency anchored to the US dollar, five states with active development pipelines, and a single Citizenship Programme framework that operates under direct dialogue with the United States Treasury.
About CS Global Partners
CS Global Partners is a London-based government advisory and marketing firm specialising in investor citizenship and residency.
The firm provides strategic counsel, market development, and content services to government clients across the Caribbean and represents the St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Programme and the Dominica Citizenship Programme.
Media Details:
CS Global Partners
Location: London, United Kingdom
+44 20 7318 4343
pr@csglobalpartners.com
Source: CS Global Partners
