Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Programme
- Processing time
- 3–3 monthsThe unit advertises a 90-day guideline. Practitioners reported 14 to 24 months over 2025-2026. This is the widest gap between advertised and observed timelines of any Caribbean programme, and it is the single point a reader should weigh before choosing Saint Lucia for speed.
- Physical presence
- None. No residence or interview is required.
- Family
- Applicant and up to three qualifying dependants are covered by the base investment; further dependants add processing and due diligence fees.
Investment routes
Contribution
From $240 000
- Capital
- Non-refundable
National Economic Fund. Covers the applicant and up to three dependants.
Government bonds
From $300 000
- Holding period
- 5 years
- Capital
- Refundable
Non-interest-bearing government bonds, fully redeemable after five years. A further 50,000 USD in government administration fees is NOT refundable, and the bonds pay no yield: the real cost of the route is the fees plus five years of immobilised capital.
Real estate
From $300 000
- Holding period
- 5 years
- Capital
- Non-refundable
Approved property, with title acquired by the applicant.
Business investment
From $3 500 000
- Capital
- Non-refundable
Approved enterprise or infrastructure project, sole investor. Six million USD applies to a joint venture.
Limits and drawbacks
- The 90-day guideline bears little relation to reality: practitioners reported 14 to 24 months over 2025-2026.
- The bond route is described everywhere as refundable. It is — but 50,000 USD of government administration fees are not, the bonds pay no interest, and the capital is locked for five years.
- Even on the fund route, non-refundable fees start around 25,000 USD for a single applicant before any dependants.
- Applications from Russian and Belarusian nationals have been suspended since 15 February 2023.