On 4th March 2022, the Citizenship by Investment Unit announced the temporary cessation of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian applications with other Caribbean citizenship jurisdictions expected to follow suit.
Decisions such as these by the Unit are made to align with Antigua and Barbuda’s foreign policy stance and to safeguard the viability of the Programme. Due to the impact of the lack of ability to conduct investigations in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as the severely constrained banking systems within each of these countries, these restrictions put a halt to any movement relating to applications. Due diligence professionals need to verify an applicant’s birth as well as residency details which become almost impossible to do because of the war in Ukraine.
Our very own Kal Kennard goes into detail with her views on the impact on Caribbean migration firms in Uglobal’s new post. She said the move to suspend citizenship by investment applications from people in Russia and Belarus would hurt many investment immigration firms in the Caribbean, especially in her country.
“We have had to pause work on a number of Russian applications that were not yet submitted. Russia is not a primary source market for us; however, I know that some immigration specialists are being very heavily affected by this ban,” Kennard said.
“I expect the other Caribbean citizenship jurisdictions will follow in the footsteps of Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica quite soon. It may be very challenging for the Caribbean governments and their third-party diligence companies (who are U.S. based) to carry out the required diligence under the current situation, so I believe it’s the right move. I am only sorry that many innocent Russian families will be affected,” she added.
It is an intense time in the world, as COVID is still around and with the terrible war in Ukraine, many things in the world are shifting and realigning due to these unforeseen changes. Salman Siddiqui interviewed other CBI agents in Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, and of course Antigua & Barbuda with Kal. It is interesting to see the other agents’ points of view, read further on the article here.
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