Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 28, 2018 – Despite claims by St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris that the Federation’s Platinum Citizenship by Investment Programme is Number one in the OECS, the latest Henley & Partners profile indicates that claim is false.
Henley & Partners recently published Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) gives that accolade in the OECS to Antigua and Barbuda, which is continuing to prove its first class citizenship.
Antigua & Barbuda positioned itself as number one in the OECS Citizen by Investment (CIP) territories, securing the 56 positions in the world for its Quality of Citizenship.
Although Antigua and Barbuda scored 41.9% on the index, 1% less than in the previous year, Managing Partner for Henley & Partners Antigua, state that this is a great achievement for the CIP territory as it is an indication of the quality of investment prospective investors can expect when deciding on a CIP territory.
“Despite being a relatively new Programme in the citizenship arena, Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Programme has already proven to be one of the top choices for second citizenship in the Caribbean – This is primarily due to visa free access to 140 countries, efficient processing, robust due diligence and the quality of real estate offerings.
Antigua and Barbuda has one of the world’s most thriving luxury property markets which presents an attractive opportunity for the global investor, and gives the Programme a competitive advantage.
This new ranking will further solidify Antigua and Barbuda’s position, and strengthen investor confidence in our twin island nation,” explains Henley & Partners.
“The QNI looks beyond simple visa-free tourist or business travel and takes a number of other crucial factors into account: those that make one nationality a better legal status through which to develop your talents and business than another. The recent accomplishment is equally beneficial to the citizens of Antigua & Barbuda as it could mean increased financial contributions to its economy, resulting in improved quality of life,” said Henley & Partners.
Prof. Dr. Dimitry Kochenov, a leading constitutional and citizenship law professor and co-creator of the Index, says the key premise of the QNI is that it is possible to compare the relative worth of nationalities as opposed to simply that of states. “In today’s globalized world, the legal status of millions of nationals extends their opportunities and desires far beyond their countries of origin.”
Other OECS territories ranking on the QNI are the Grenadian nationality which scored 39.4%, 0.5% more than in the previous year; the St. Kitts and Nevis nationality which did not change in value, scoring 41.5% in 2017 and the St. Lucian nationality which scored 39.4%, 0.2% less than in the previous year.