The PWM (Professional Wealth Management) has released the CBI index for 2019 with the results showing that the top five citizenship by investment programs around the world are located in the Caribbean.
Dominica ranked highest, breaking records with the highest recorded score of 91%. St Kitts and Nevis followed closely alongside Grenada at 89% and 87% respectively. St Lucia ranked higher this year achieving 4th place with 84% compared to last year when it ranked 5th. Antigua and Barbuda dropped one place ranking 5th at 79%.
The CBI index reaches its total score by assessing the following pillars for each citizenship by Investment program:
- Freedom of Movement
- Standard of Living
- Minimum Investment Outlay
- Mandatory Travel or Residence
- Citizenship Timeline
- Ease of Processing
- Due Diligence
The CBI Index stated:
Overall, it was the combination of
extensive due diligence with efficiency, speed, affordability, and reliability
that brought Dominica to the top spot,
Adding “St Kitts and Nevis also maintained its upward trajectory regarding visa-free and visa-on-arrival offerings and continued to demonstrate its commitment to enhanced due diligence,” with the scoring of Citizenship Timeline particularly impressive due to its unique Accelerated Application Process (AAP).
The results revealed that St Lucia ranked higher that Antigua and Barbuda for the first time due to factors such as freedom of movement, speed, and due diligence playing vital roles.
On the whole, it is clear that important industry factors such as transparency, experience, and enhanced security ensured that the Caribbean nations carried the success from previous years into 2019 outranking other programs once again.
The rankings altogether included 13 countries that were assessed by researcher James McKay. The countries included are Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cyprus, Dominica, Grenada, Jordan, Malta, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Turkey, and Vanuatu.
The lowest scoring of all the countries is Jordan at 51% with Austria and Cambodia not far off with a joint score of 54%.