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Pathway

Antigua Citizenship by Investment: Property

Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship
Pathway overview

At a glance

You can apply for Antigua and Barbuda citizenship by investing at least USD $300,000 in a property development approved by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU). You must be at least 18 and pass the program's background checks. Buying an ordinary home or other unapproved property does not qualify, even if it costs more than the minimum.

Property
At least USD $300,000 in an approved development
Holding period
Generally 5 years
Checks
Government screening, approval, oath, and required visit

Summary

Antigua and Barbuda’s real-estate citizenship option is for buyers in developments currently approved for its citizenship program. A normal home purchase does not qualify. An application can use a binding purchase agreement, but completion must follow the Citizenship by Investment Unit's approval and payment instructions.

You generally need to keep the qualifying property for five years, subject to the program's limited alternative-property rule. Budget separately for government checks and the transaction's taxes, legal costs, and ongoing charges. Applicants must also complete the oath and required post-approval visit.

An approved project and a citizenship decision are separate checks
  1. Verify the project and transaction Check current CIU approval and obtain independent review of the title, contract, costs, and resale restrictions.
  2. Apply through a licensed agent Prepare the binding purchase agreement and citizenship file for due diligence and the official decision.
  3. Complete the approved investment and registration Follow the approval letter’s payment and title steps before citizenship certificates and passport applications.

Program approval is not a guarantee of the property’s commercial quality or returns. An ordinary property purchase does not qualify, and all investment, fee, and continuing requirements still apply.

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Eligibility

The main applicant must be at least 18, select a project that is currently approved, and be able to fund the purchase and the full additional cost. The CIU's published real-estate process says the application can be lodged after a binding agreement is signed with the approved developer. On submission, background-check charges and 10% of the processing charge are payable. After an approval letter, the remaining processing charge and sums due to the developer are paid so title can be registered and the qualifying investment implemented.

Under the current fee page, processing is USD $10,000 for one applicant or USD $20,000 for a family of up to four, plus USD $10,000 for each additional dependent beginning with the fifth. Due-diligence charges vary by age and relationship: the published table currently shows USD $8,500 for the main applicant, USD $5,000 for a spouse, no due-diligence fee for a child through age 11, USD $2,000 for a dependent aged 12–17, and USD $4,000 for an adult dependent or qualifying parent. Passport and other costs are additional, and the CIU says fees can change.

A family application may include the spouse; a financially dependent biological or adopted child through age 30; an older child meeting the program's disability, household, and support rule; a financially dependent parent or grandparent aged 55 or older; and an unmarried sibling of the main applicant or spouse. Later additions have separate rules and fees. Family labels alone do not qualify someone: dependency, age, marital status, legal parentage, and supporting records matter.

Every applicant must pass the program's background checks. The CIU's official ineligibility list includes false information, specified convictions and investigations, national-security or reputational risks, certain health findings, and certain unresolved visa refusals. Its restricted-country policy currently names Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan, with a defined exception test for some applicants who left and established qualifying residence and no economic ties. The CIU or a properly licensed channel must assess the actual facts.

The applicant also needs records explaining how they built their wealth and where the purchase money comes from. This commonly requires bank, employment, company, tax, sale, inheritance, or other evidence showing both how the overall wealth arose and where the particular purchase and fee money came from. Confirm that any loan or company structure meets the program rules.

Policy watch 1 development we’re tracking
The EU has requested a phase-out of Antigua and Barbuda CBI
Announced — not currently law

The EU has requested a phase-out of Antigua and Barbuda CBI

Current official stage: Revised EU mechanism in force; regional phase-out request confirmed in Saint Lucia’s September 24 statement

Antigua and Barbuda says a European Commission letter dated 25 June 2026 requested that it phase out its CBI program by 1 June 2028. Its government says the program continues. The request is not itself an EU visa suspension or a domestic program closure; neither was identified in the sources reviewed.

Timing: Saint Lucia’s September 24, 2026 statement describes a June 2028 regional phase-out request and continuing dialogue. Antigua and Barbuda’s earlier account specifies June 1, 2028 for its program and a planned December 2026 Commission report. These are requested milestones, not enacted national closure dates.

Last checked
References
Read the full briefing

What This Route Allows

After approval, completion of the approved purchase, payment of all required charges, and registration, the main applicant and approved dependents receive individual citizenship certificates. They can then make passport applications. Citizenship permits living in Antigua and Barbuda without a separate immigration status and carries the rights and responsibilities provided by local law.

The property remains an asset rather than a donation, so it may be capable of rental use, personal use, or later sale subject to the development contract, local property law, taxes, program rules, and the five-year restriction. The citizenship decision is separate from whether the property produces income or retains value.

The official page says the oath or affirmation of allegiance can be completed in Antigua and Barbuda or through an accepted embassy, high commission, or consular office. Citizens by investment must also meet the program's five-day presence obligation during the first five calendar years.

What This Route Is Not

This is not citizenship through any real-estate purchase. Only an interest that the CIU accepts in a currently approved project counts. A developer's old approval, a resale listing, or an agent's claim should be checked against the live official project list and confirmed in the contract.

It is not a guaranteed or government-insured property investment. Development, completion, title, management, rental, resale, currency, financing, and market risks remain. The CIU's approval of a project for program purposes should not be treated as a promise of construction quality, returns, liquidity, or capital preservation. Independent property and legal due diligence is distinct from citizenship due diligence.

It is not a USD $300,000 all-inclusive price, a residence-by-property program, or an automatic passport sale. The CIU decides the citizenship case after screening; a separate Passport Office process follows registration.

The five-year hold and five-day presence rules are also separate. Keeping the property does not satisfy the travel obligation. The CIU warns that citizenship may be taken away where a citizen by investment fails to spend at least five days in the country within the first five calendar years.

Next Steps

  1. Use the CIU's current approved-development list to identify possible projects. Record the exact developer, legal entity, project, unit or share structure, and approval basis.
  2. Engage a current licensed agent for the citizenship application and an independent Antigua and Barbuda lawyer for the property transaction. Confirm who represents whom and how client money will be held.
  3. Obtain the full contract, ownership records and details of any debts or other claims against the property, construction or completion status, management terms, recurring charges, rental limitations, exit terms, tax treatment, and the exact five-year resale restriction.
  4. Request a written family cost calculation covering the USD $300,000 qualifying amount, processing and background-check charges, passport fees, professional charges, stamp and registration costs, taxes, and project-specific payments.
  5. Check every applicant's circumstances against the CIU's dependent, ineligibility, visa-refusal, and restricted-country rules before paying non-refundable amounts.
  6. Prepare official civil documents, passports, police and medical records, financial and tax evidence, and records explaining how you built your wealth and where the application money comes from. Follow current certification and translation directions.
  7. Sign only a properly reviewed agreement that makes clear how the citizenship condition, escrow or deposit, rejection, delay, title transfer, and refund provisions work. A private promise should not replace the written contract.
  8. Let the licensed channel submit the citizenship application. Complete the purchase and remaining program payments only at the stages stated in the CIU approval instructions.
  9. After registration, complete the oath and passport steps, keep the qualifying interest for the required period, and retain evidence that each new citizen satisfied the five-day presence obligation.

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Discussed in these reports

Other citizenship-by-investment options in Antigua and Barbuda and other countries.

Sources