US taking fresh aim at CBI Programmes?

The US State Department, in an assault on Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes, is said to have put together a new watch list of countries which have that programme, including four of five countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

The watchlist and its implications and an internal memo, were alleged to have been leaked, and obtained by several news outlets, including the Washington Post.

The document, said to have been signed by US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, noted that the US is looking to potentially impose more visa bans and restrictions on 36 additional countries.

The OECS countries said to be on the new watch list are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia.

The information attributed to the Washington Post, is that the memo was  circulated to US diplomatic missions over the last weekend and “gives the listed governments 60 days to meet newly defined benchmarks”.

The deadline is 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June, 25,2025 and the listed governments are being asked to submit an initial action plan outlining how they intend to meet the requirements.

Queries included in the memo are said to pertain to the sale of citizenship without a residency requirement and alleged incidents of “anti-American activity” in the US by nationals of the listed countries.

One part of the memo, however, notes that countries on the list that are “willing to accept third-country nationals removed from the US, or to enter a ‘safe third country’ agreement’, could be given a fair chance of being removed from the watchlist.

The CBI programme is currently a hot political topic in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and is expected to be a main platform issue in the general election, due this year. It is a main plank on which the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) is staking its economic fortunes if elected to office; while the governing Unity Labour Party (ULP) is categorically opposed to the programme. During a recent public meeting, the NDP’s candidate for North Leeward, Dr Kishore Shallow, said PM Gonsalves is wrong on CBI and referred to him as an “old clown” for not embracing the programme.

The ULP is consistent in its declaration that a CBI programme for SVG is a bad idea, and it is unsustainable as a development tool. SVG is the only country in the OECS sub-region that does not have a CBI programme.