Saint Kitts and Nevis passport
| Saint Kitts and Nevis passport | |
|---|---|
 The front cover of a contemporary Saint Kitts and Nevis biometric passport. | |
| Issued by |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Type of document | Passport |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility requirements | Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship |
The Saint Kitts and Nevis passport is issued to citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis for international travel. The passport is a Caricom passport as Saint Kitts and Nevis is a member of the Caribbean Community.
Citizenship-by-investment program
In 1984, Saint Kitts and Nevis introduced an Immigrant investor program, As of March 2015, Saint Kitts and Nevis is the most popular place to buy a passport; for $250,000 a new citizen buys visa-free travel to 132 countries, with no requirement to live in or even visit the country.[1] There is limited disclosure of financial information, and both income and capital gains are tax-free.[1]
In May 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a warning that St. Kitts had granted passports to foreign individuals who have abused the Citizenship-by-Investment program sponsored "for the purpose of engaging in illicit financial activity."[2] In November 2014, Canada announced it was requiring St. Kitts citizens to obtain a visa from 22 November 2014, due to concerns about “identity management practices within its Citizenship by Investment program.”[3] Following the announcement, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis initiated a recall on all biometric passports issued between January 2012 and July 2014, and replaced them with new passports which showed the holder's place of birth as well as any previous name changes. Any passports not returned on or before 31 January 2015 was cancelled by the government.[4]
The investment programme that offers St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship is one of the longest-standing programs. The countries opened their doors to foreign investors in 1984. Since this time, they have continued to offer their citizenship to those that are qualified and who have donated a significant amount of capital into the economy.
See also
References
- 1 2 "Passports for a Price". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg L.P. 2015-03-11. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ↑ "Abuse of the Citizenship-by-Investment Program Sponsored by the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis". Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ↑ "Notice – St. Kitts and Nevis citizens now need a visa to travel to Canada". Government of Canada. 2014-11-22. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ↑ "St Kitts and Nevis recalls passports over security concerns from Canada and US". South China Morning Post. 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
External links
- Citizenship by Investment from the Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
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1 A) Includes Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, and former British plantations, crown colonies, colonies, protectorates, protected states, mandates, trust territories and other British possessions. 2 Open border with Schengen Area. 3 Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The vast majority of its population (80%) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here. 4 Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Turkey has a small part of its territory (3%) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace. 5 Azerbaijan and Georgia (Abkhazia; South Ossetia) are transcontinental countries. Both have a small part of their territories in the European part of the Caucasus. 6 Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country. Kazakhstan has a small part of its territories located west of the Urals in Eastern Europe. 7 Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Cyprus (Northern Cyprus) are entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe. 8 Egypt is a transcontinental country in North Africa and Western Asia. Egypt has a small part of its territory in Western Asia called Sinai peninsula. 9 Partially recognized. 10 Not recognized by any other state. 11 Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China 12 The Soviet Union was a transcontinental country located in Eurasia
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