BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, November 7, 2023 (SKNIS) – Prime Minister and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew said the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis will never waver in the protection of the country’s reputation, and as such will continue to find innovative ways to bolster the due diligence process of the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme.
“We have not laxed our security measures. As a matter of fact, we have strengthened them and we have added a new layer of security, a second layer, and we are going to add a third layer in short order,” Prime Minister Dr. Drew said during his Tuesday, November 7, 2023, Press Conference with Cabinet Ministers.
The third layer of security referenced by the prime minister entails the establishment of an international security office that will actively monitor the status of persons granted St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship.
“This Government has taken the decision to take all the necessary measures to protect our country and to protect our people,” Dr. Drew said.
The honourable prime minister said these added security measures will undoubtedly boost international investor confidence in the programme and strengthen the Federation’s reputation as a responsible member of the global community.
He added, “Our first thrust was to upgrade the programme, making sure all the necessary security measures are in there so that we say to our international partners in the UK [United Kingdom], the EU [European Union] or wherever they are that St. Kitts and Nevis is serious about that. As you can now see that St. Kitts and Nevis is the only Caribbean country that I know of that just recently got visa-free access to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is done after an assessment is done and it is determined that our country is safe to have that type of relation with, and that is a significant foreign policy win for St. Kitts and Nevis.”
In September of this year, St. Kitts and Nevis’ CBI programme scored high marks in the Financial Times’ seventh CBI Index, as it was ranked as the best option in the investment migration industry worldwide.
The Federation’s programme received the highest scores on four of the nine pillars used to rate the CBI programmes, with Due Diligence being one of those indicators.
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