Published 28 May 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX RANKS ST. KITTS AND NEVIS’ PASSPORT AS THE BEST IN THE OECS REGION
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 28, 2018 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The good news stories for St. Kitts and Nevis continue under the Team Unity Government, as the twin island Federation was just ranked as having the best passport among Caribbean jurisdictions that offer Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes, according to the latest quality of passport index survey.
This was confirmed in the recently released 2018 Henley & Partners Passport Index, which saw St. Kitts and Nevis ranked 24th globally and third overall in the entire Caribbean. This marks a significant improvement over the country’s 2017 ranking, moving from 30th position last year to 24th position in 2018.
The Henley Passport Index, which includes detailed insights from leading regional specialists, researchers, and commentators on the major trends affecting travel, migration, and visa policy, is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and has recently been updated through extensive research to include eight new travel destinations.
St. Kitts and Nevis, which offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 151 destinations, trails only Barbados (20) and the Bahamas (22) in the Caribbean region.
The 2018 Henley Passport Index also ranked St. Kitts and Nevis’ economic citizenship programme as one of the top global Citizenship by Investment programmes, and highlighted that the US$150,000 minimum capital requirement for the Federation’s CBI programme remains higher than its OECS competitors including Antigua and Barbuda and St. Lucia.
Upon assuming office in 2015, The Team Unity-led Government has taken extensive steps to rebrand the country’s citizenship programme, which had suffered significant reputational damage under the former Denzil Douglas administration, which included losing its visa free access to Canada.
As a result of the government’s intervention, St. Kitts and Nevis’ CBI programme, the longest-running citizenship programme in the world, has over the last three years received several accolades including being recognized for offering the World’s Most Innovative Investment Immigration Programme at the 2017 Russian Global Citizen Awards Ceremony.
