Siblings of the Main Applicant and the Spouse can be included in a citizenship application
The Citizenship by Investment unit of Antigua & Barbuda has advised that the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday 11th November 2020, agreed to amend the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Act of 2013 by broadening the definition of dependents.
Within two weeks from the news that siblings were allowed to be added in the same application under the Saint Kitts & Nevis Citizenship programme, the Citizenship by Investment Unit of Antigua & Barbuda announced that the cabinet of ministers agreed to amend the Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Act of 2013 by expanding the definition of dependent to include siblings. By virtue of this amendment, all five Caribbean citizenship by investment programmes are now allowing the addition of brothers and sisters to the same application.
The term 'dependents' in Antigua & Barbuda now includes the following:
- Spouse of the Main Applicant
- Child of the Main Applicant or the Spouse up to the age of 30, if financially dependent on the Main Applicant
- Child of the Main Applicant or the Spouse (no age limit) with special needs
- Parent or Grandparent of the Main Applicant or the Spouse who is over the age of 55, if financially dependent on the Main Applicant
- A sibling of the Main Applicant or the Spouse, if unmarried
- A future spouse of the Main Applicant. A fee of USD $50,000 is payable upon application
- A future spouse of dependent children where the dependent child is financially dependent on the Main Applicant
- A future child of a dependent child. A fee of USD $10,000 is to be payable for children under 5 years of age and USD $20,000 for children between the ages of 6-17.
These amendments also made it possible for the Main Applicant's children to include future spouses and children.
The Cabinet also approved the following fees:
- The fee to add a child shall be USD $10,000 for children under 5 years of age and USD $20,000 for children between the ages of 6-17.
- The fees for the addition of adult dependents shall be reduced from USD $75,000 to USD $50,000.
The Antigua & Barbuda citizenship by investment programme becomes the fifth and thus last Caribbean country to allow the inclusion of siblings in a citizenship application. This follows the introduction of such policies in Grenada (2018), Saint Lucia and Dominica (2019) and Saint Kitts earlier this month.
