Grenada’s passport-selling boom offering rich Russians a Caribbean shortcut to US visas could be over
- Grenada runs a “Citizenship by Investment” program, offering a “golden passport” from $150,000.
- Grenadian citizenship allows holders to travel to over 100 countries without visa restrictions.
- Demand for the program surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Grenada is one of the five Caribbean islands offering a “golden passport” in return for an investment in the country.
Its “Citizenship by Investment” (CBI) program offers people the chance to purchase citizenship for a $150,000 donation to the country’s National Transformation Fund, which was set up to boost its economy by financing areas such as tourism and agriculture or a $220,000-minimum investment into real-estate development.
Applications to the program soared following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, as wealthy Russians looked to flee abroad, Richard Hallam, who helped develop the program, told Bloomberg. There was a striking uplift in numbers following Putin’s mobilization announcement in September 2022 — Russia’s first such decree since World War II.
The total number of applications in 2022 hit 1,251 — an increase of around 87% from 2020. That trend continued into the first quarter of 2023, with 576 applications to the program, up from just 164 in the first quarter of 2022, according to statistics from Grenada’s Ministry of Finance.
The “Isle of Spice” welcomed 980 new citizens in the first quarter of 2023, far above the 391 it had in Q1 2022.
Fleeing Russians seeking to evade the war in Ukraine were likely enticed by the access to travel that the Grenadian passport provides, as it enables holders to visit over 100 countries without visa restrictions, including the UK and all EU member states.
The anonymous process also requires “no interview, education, or management experience,” and there is no obligation to live in Grenada “before or after citizenship is granted.”
It may also have hinted at the increasing number of Russians aiming to move to the US. Grenadian citizens are entitled to apply for an E-2 visa, a nonimmigrant visa that lasts a maximum of five years but can be renewed indefinitely, to get to the US — something which Russians are currently unable to do.