EUROPEAN COMMISSION POLICY STATEMENT: HAVING A CBI PROGRAM IS SUFFICIENT GROUNDS FOR SUSPENDING VISA-FREE PRIVILEGES, DUE TO THE INHERENT SECURITY RISKS

The governments of the five Eastern Caribbean states that offer Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passports which grant visa-free entry to the European Union are facing the probable loss of that key feature, after a policy statement of the European Commission stated that the operation of a CBI program is "in itself" grounds for revocation of visa-free status. In a report to Parliament entitled EIGHTH REPORT UNDER THE VISA SUSPENSION MECHANISM, what is referred to as the "Inherent Security Risks" is given as the reason. 

" Visa-free countries operating investor citizenship schemes pose inherent security risks by potentially allowing third-country nationals who woulds otherwise be subject to visa requirements to bypass standard security checks and gain access to the Schengen area. through the acquisition of citizenship.

Such programs represent risks in terms of illegal migration, security threats, and tax evasion. These risks are particularly acute when combined with: (i) insufficient vetting and due diligence; (ii) the absence of a genuine link between applicants and the country granting citizenship; and (iii) the possibility of changing one's name during or after the process.

Consequently, under the revised Visa Suspension Mechanism, the operation of such programmes constitutes, in itself, a ground for suspending the visa-free status of third countries."

The five Eastern Caribbean CBI states were specifically mentioned in the document:

"In the Eastern Caribbean, investor citizenship schemes have been operated for many years in five countries, Antigua and barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia. These programmes pose a significant and ongoing challenge of much greater scale [the document cites the numbers of passports issued and the low rejection rate] raising concerns about the accuracy of security and due diligence procedures... the situation continues to raise significant concerns."

The  white paper Conclusion bluntly restates the European Commission's position:

"'... the continued operation of investor citizenship schemes in the Eastern Caribbean represents a PERSISTENT AND SERIOUS SECURITY CONCERN, constituting a potential ground for the suspension of visa-free travel under the revised Visa Suspension Mechanism."

Given the undeniable fact that visa-free travel into the EU is the single most attractive attribute of Eastern Caribbean passports, the implementation of visa suspensions would render them far less attractive to potential customers from high-risk countries, and even pose an existential threat. While most EC leaders have chosen to publicly ignore the impending possible loss of visa-free status, this white paper leaves little doubt where the EU is headed. Given that the local economies of the EC states have become heavily dependent upon CBI cash flow, their future could be bleak.