Antigua and Barbuda leads OECS in Quality of Nationality Index in the Caribbean

The nation’s leader is pleased with the latest ranking of Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) even as a political hopeful is critiquing the report.
Antigua and Barbuda positioned itself as number one in the OECS Citizen by Investment (CIP) territories, securing the 56 position in the world for its Quality of Citizenship.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that this recent development comes as no surprise to him.
“We have always maintained that Antigua and Barbuda operates the best Citizenship by Investment in the Caribbean and beyond. The latest ranking by Henley validates our claim,” Browne said yesterday.
Although the twin-island state scored 41.9 percent on the index, 1 percent less than in the previous year, Managing Partner for Henley & Partners Antigua, says that this is a great achievement for the CIP territory as it is an indication of the quality of investment that 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 [such as] 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 and Barbuda as it could mean increased financial contributions to its economy, resulting in improved quality of life,” said Henley & Partners.
Meanwhile, founding member of the Democratic National Alliance, Anthony Stuart has suggested that the report should be rejected because it is not a fair assessment of the CIP.
“That report has no credibility, it is not from an independent source. Henley and Partners is too wrapped up in the selling of passports to give any objective analysis and any objective assessment,” Stuart said.
The DNA member also stated that Henley and Partners failed to mention the harm that the sale of passports has done to Antigua and Barbuda.
Other OECS territories ranking on the QNI are the Grenadian nationality which scored 39.4 percent, 0.5 percent more than in the previous year; the St. Kitts and Nevis nationality which did not change in value, scoring 41.5 percent in 2017 and the St. Lucian nationality which scored 39.4 percent, 0.2 percent less than in the previous year.