By Caribbean News Global
UAE / LEBANON / PAKISTAN – During a think tank session last week, a leading global Citizenship by Investment CIP/CBI agent, marketer and global migration lawyer displayed the painting of Lady Godiva, an Anglo-Saxon gentlewoman famous for her legendary ride while nude through Coventry, Warwickshire. The gathering was stunned!
What’s the parallel to CIP/CBI, a colleague queried. That’s exactly the point,” he answered: “Hitherto CIP/CBI is naked. And by the same token: Who’s looking, and who’s buying?
In relative terms, the image was intended to capture the interpretation and state of affairs with regard to the Caribbean Islands CIP/CBI industry.
The parallel with the legend of Lady Godiva is that the guardians of CIP/CBI are either silently turning away in the face of continued large-scale marketing and discounting injustice, and governments and/or their safeguards cannot openly speak out to rightfully stop the practice of illegal discounting CIP/CBI ongoing in Asia and the Middle East.
The think tank discussion pursued its understanding of illegal discounting, complicity in the face of silence and/or willful blindness to the challenges.
Throughout the review of multiple cases, invoices and comparing clients’ experiences, the evidence pointed to a matter of market conditions that facilitates illegal discounting, applicants’ peculiar situation and the convenience of price points relative to the nature of CIP/CBI programmes.
The downside proved simple to identify, based on market research. There continues to be an undermining of government projects, reduced sales and liquidity pressures on the treasury of participating Caribbean CIP/CBI countries. Corresponding banking issues are a major factor.
As a consequence of multiple unresolved issues, marketers and agents contemplate that it is time to collectively speak out.
The heightened illegal discounting phenomenon of Caribbean CIP/CBI programs ( CARICOM passports) has placed the industry in a further race to the bottom – with advertising campaigns below the legal minimum in the UAE, Lebanon, and Pakistan. In fact, Caribbean CIP/CBI programs are competing with African passport programmes at price points ranging from USD 35-45 to 95K. The common thread is below the legal minimum of 100K.
This is happening despite agreement to further strengthen the integrity, transparency, and sustainability of CIP/CBI offered by the five-member states’ Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) and the establishment of a regional regulatory authority, the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority (ECCIRA).
External influence
The open disregard for the MoU is a bold act of defiance that renders ECCIRA ineffective, by virtue of the MoA signed by the five Caribbean CBI jurisdictions, aimed at strengthening regional cooperation, enhancing due diligence standards, and safeguarding the long-term sustainability of the programmes.
The five Caribbean Islands CIP/CBI push and ongoing international negotiations to transform the industry have been unsuccessful at influencing external policy. Visa revocations continue, while new external announcements are pending.
In April 2026, St Kitts and Nevis launched a mandatory biometric enrolment programme requiring all existing CBI passport holders — including every dependent on their application — to register fingerprints and facial scans by July 31, 2027, or their passports become invalid for international travel.
St Kitts and Nevis is currently setting the regional standard with its biometric passport overhaul. The remaining Caribbean Islands CIP/CBI participants are set to follow. The question is whether they will act strategically or be forced to comply with international standards in a more demanding and multi-layered technology platform.
The Caribbean CIP/CBI industry, led by external conglomerates and foreign governments is now truly absorbing the consequences.
Following Ireland’s visa restriction on Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis, on June 15, 2026, Caribbean News Global (CNG) said the Schengen visa program is on the chopping block as well. “This is most likely to continue the downward spiral of CIP and eventually make the program worthless.”
On June 10, 2026, Dominica announced that, from September 2026, anyone who buys citizenship through their investment programme will have to physically travel to the island to collect their passport. On top of that, they’ll need to spend 30 days in Dominica within their first five years just to renew it.
This is a massive shift from the whole process being done remotely from anywhere in the world. Dominica’s policy shift did not happen by choice; they were pushed from multiple directions simultaneously, by the US, EU and the UK. Furthermore, the policy shift is very late and involuntary. This is not likely to change the deck of cards, in much the same way as illegal discounting.
In a request for comment, Sam Bayat, advised:
“The era of buying a passport from your laptop and never setting foot in the country is over. Governments from Washington to Brussels to Oslo have made that absolutely clear, and the Caribbean has had little choice but to listen.”
“The 30-day residency requirement wasn’t Dominica’s idea — it was effectively a condition delivered under international pressure, particularly from the United States. The Caribbean had to respond or risk losing the visa-free access that makes these passports valuable in the first place. In my view, Dominica missed a smarter opportunity here.
“Instead of asking approved applicants to fly in and collect a completed passport, they could have reinstated the in-person interview on the island before approval — exactly as they used to do in the early days of the programme.
“That single change would have addressed every concern at once: genuine connection to the country, biometrics captured by the government itself, and a proper face-to-face selection process with actual Dominican officials rather than remote third-party due diligence firms.”
Last week, Prime Minister Gaston Browne placed Antigua and Barbuda on alert – seemingly preparing his people for the dreadful announcement that the EU could end visa-free access to Europe in short order.
As previously noted by CNG, the imposition of visa restrictions on Caribbean global mobility “will automatically impact the global ranking of CARICOM passports and trigger a huge economic downside … for OECS CIP member states.”
“The Caribbean CIP/CBI programmes have been a lifeline for these small island economies. But their long-term survival depends on the international credibility of the passports they issue. Reforms that strengthen that credibility — even when they add cost and complexity — are ultimately in everyone’s interest, including the applicants,” said Sam Bayat to CNG.
A renowned regional economist also advised:
“Fiscal shocks are imminent. Caribbean islands’ budgets heavily rely on CIP/CBI revenue, on average XCD 150 million annually. How will these economies respond? That’s the big question.”
However, options include regulatory reforms aimed at improving doing business, strengthening the investment climate, alongside an assessment of sovereign wealth funds for long-term national development instruments.
Another proposal calls for the establishment of a Caribbean Islands CIP/ CBI – CZAR as illustrated in a CNG editorial. The primary purpose is to “go after underpaying CBI applicants.”
Reform drives investment
Shaping the islands’ policy reforms and investment framework is essential to not having history repeat itself.
The Caribbean Islands CIP/ CBI and adjoining statutory institutions have been sluggish to harmonise regional policy, passport security, and the future of global mobility. In like manner, connecting with international markets to unlock capital flow for large-scale infrastructure development and economic specialisation.
Truth takes time to travel
Illegal discounting has placed added pressure on agents who follow the rules, while others remain non-compliant, wittingly and/or unwittingly, while respective CIP/CBI units discounted applicants are processed on a “preferred basis.”
The reaction is perhaps an open vantage point, arising from immense pressure on Caribbean governments’ infrastructure projects that are on the verge of adding to the inventory of white elephants.
Additionally, there is the alarming burden on the domestic treasury of Caribbean governments to meet disbursements. (resulting from the combine reduce volume and revenue).
Truth takes time to travel; however, when the truth arrives, are authorities positioned to act and resolve matters? Is it unflappable to allow CARICOM passports flagged at kiosks and immigration offices at major international airports, because of who’s buying?
Research analysis and data presented to the think tank make specific reference to a confidence problem, and the inability to understand trends in the Caribbean Islands CIP/CBI and the global migration industry.
Competing government and personal interests are seemingly disregarding jurisprudence.
Cumulative reasons summarise – one, and all are the same and intertwined. The conversation needs to be centered on the real cost impact on the Caribbean region. And clarifications that never travel towards serious recourse for violators who profit from illegal marketing and discounting of the five Caribbean Islands CIP/CBI member states.
The Caribbean region is at risk of becoming isolated. Selective pirates and closed-door brokers are looking covertly and selling CARICOM passports at illegal discounts – undeterred.
An additional passport has become the ultimate life tool for remote workers, digital nomads, and entrepreneurs seeking visa-free access and a Plan B in an increasingly uncertain world.
Lady Godiva’s naked exposure trotted through Coventry to protest crushing taxes: will Caribbean history endure as a symbol of courage or defiance?
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