PM Browne Says OECS Technical Team to Meet EU Over Citizenship by Investment Programmes

OECS countries operating Citizenship by Investment Programmes (CIPs) are preparing to send a technical team to Europe next month as the region seeks greater clarity on the European Union’s position on the programmes and their impact on visa-free travel.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne made the announcement following recent discussions between OECS leaders and European Union officials.

Browne said the technical delegation will meet with the EU to clarify the bloc’s final policy and determine the way forward for the countries affected.

The discussions come after the European Commission formally asked Antigua and Barbuda and four other OECS countries with active CIPs, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia, to phase out their programmes by June 1, 2028. The EU has linked the continued operation of such programmes to the possibility of suspending visa-free access.

The issue has become a major regional concern because citizens of the affected countries currently benefit from visa-free travel to the Schengen Area, which comprises 29 European countries.

According to Browne, OECS governments now face a choice between maintaining their Citizenship by Investment Programmes while potentially losing visa-free access to the Schengen Area, or beginning the process of phasing out the programmes.

Antigua and Barbuda has maintained that its Citizenship by Investment Programme is an important source of non-tax revenue and that eliminating it would require credible alternative sources of government revenue.

The region has also been pursuing a coordinated response. OECS leaders previously agreed to strengthen their engagement with European officials and present a unified position on the future of the programmes.

The upcoming technical meeting is expected to provide further clarity as the OECS countries consider their options ahead of the EU’s 2028 deadline.