Rise in CBI Prices in the Caribbean?

The five Caribbean Citizenship by Investment (“CBI”) units have, over the past two years, each adjusted programme pricing — typically upward — in response to a coordinated regional agreement to raise minimum thresholds and tighten due-diligence standards. The result is a quieter, more disciplined market, with sharper distinctions between authorised agents and the operators who promise prices that no longer exist.

This piece sets out what has actually changed and what has not.

What changed

In March 2024, the OECS member states issued a joint memorandum aligning the minimum donation threshold for single-applicant donation-route applications across all five programmes. The previous range — which had drifted as low as USD 100,000 in some programmes for single applicants — was harmonised upward.

The intent of the harmonisation was not to extract more revenue from applicants. It was to remove the price arbitrage that had developed in the lower end of the market and that was attracting operators outside the authorised-agent system.

What it means for applicants

For principals working with a government-authorised agent, very little has changed in practice. The advisory process is the same. The due-diligence standards were already at the new threshold for any agent operating to standard. The total cost to the applicant is moderately higher in some cases; meaningfully higher only where an applicant was previously being quoted an unrealistic price by an unauthorised operator.

For principals who had been quoted significantly below the new minimums — a common occurrence with operators outside the authorised channel — the new floor surfaces what was already true: the lower numbers were never the real numbers. Applications submitted at those amounts would have been declined at the unit level regardless of any agent’s representation.

What did not change

The fundamentals of the donation route are unchanged. Each programme remains permanent under its country’s Constitutional Act. Family inclusion rules, visa-free reach, and processing timelines are substantively the same. The five Caribbean programmes remain among the most efficient and best-regulated investment-migration routes in the world.

What to do if you’ve been quoted older numbers

If a firm has quoted you a price in writing in 2023 or earlier and that price falls below the current minimum, the firm is either operating outside the authorised channel or has not updated its quotation. In either case, request that the firm provide its authorisation reference for the relevant CBI unit, confirm the current government floor, and re-issue the quotation. A government-authorised agent will do this without hesitation.

For an honest current quotation specific to your circumstances, speak with a senior advisor at PassPro — we hold authorisations in all five Caribbean programmes and can show you the registers.

Note: figures in this article are accurate as of 15 December 2023. Government programme prices and processing times change. For the current authoritative figures see our Citizenship Options page, the official government unit websites, or reach a senior advisor directly.