St Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda sign visa waivers with Azerbaijan
Both Caribbean states signed agreements in New York covering every passport type, including the ordinary passports held by citizens by investment.
ReadThe European Union has moved from warning the Caribbean citizenship countries to asking them to stop. In a letter dated June 25, 2026, Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, asked Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne to phase out the country's Citizenship by Investment Program by June 1, 2028. The Antigua and Barbuda government made the letter public on July 6. It says the other four countries with programs, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia, have received similar letters, although none had confirmed this publicly at the time of writing.
This is the most significant development for the Caribbean market in years. It does not change anything for travellers today, but it sets a clear date against which every Caribbean passport decision now has to be weighed.
What the letter asks for
According to the Antigua and Barbuda government's account, the Commission asks for two things:
- Interim measures by September 2026. The full exclusion of anyone subject to EU restrictive measures, meaning people and entities under EU sanctions, and reinforced vetting for applicants of every nationality.
- A phase out by June 1, 2028. The end of the program after a transition period of 24 months.
The Commission will reflect the country's response in its next annual report on the visa suspension mechanism, planned for December 2026. The letter itself has not been published by the EU, so its exact wording is known only through the government's statement.
Why the EU can make this request
The legal basis is the EU's revised visa suspension mechanism, which we covered when the Council approved it in November 2025. Regulation (EU) 2025/2441 came into force on December 30, 2025. It allows the EU to suspend visa free travel to the Schengen area, the group of European countries with shared border rules, for any country that grants citizenship in exchange for predetermined payments or investments without a genuine link to the country. Proof of abuse is not needed: running such a scheme is enough on its own.
The Commission had already signalled its direction. Its December 2025 report on the mechanism named the five Caribbean countries, said that operating such programs is in itself a ground for suspension, pointed to short processing times and very low refusal rates, and asked for adequate vetting pending the discontinuation of the schemes. There is a precedent for follow through: the EU partly suspended visa free travel for Vanuatu in 2022 over its investor citizenship program and ended its visa exemption entirely in December 2024.
How Antigua and Barbuda has responded
Prime Minister Browne said the letter was not a surprise. His government knew of it from June 20 and had begun consulting the other countries. Its position, in summary:
- The program continues. The government calls it a critical pillar of the country's non tax revenue and says it will not accept a unilateral phase out that would cause irreparable harm to the economy.
- It will seek tangible EU help in generating equivalent replacement revenue, noting that offers under the EU's Global Gateway investment agenda are not quantified, binding or framed as replacement revenue.
- As a good faith step it will exclude people under EU restrictive measures, reinforce vetting for other nationalities and consider further safeguards.
- It will pursue dialogue with the Commission under the Samoa Agreement, the partnership treaty between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific states, and work through the OECS, the regional group of eastern Caribbean states.
Existing citizens and applicants
Two different groups are affected in different ways.
- Existing citizens keep their citizenship. The EU cannot cancel another country's nationality, and nothing in the letter suggests Antigua would. The risk is to travel: if the EU eventually suspends visa free access, the suspension would normally apply to the passport, not only to investor citizens. In Vanuatu's partial suspension, the restriction covered passports issued after a set date, including those of citizens by birth.
- New applicants face a program with a possible end date. If the Caribbean countries agree to phase out, applications made before June 2028 would presumably be handled under transition rules, but no such rules exist yet. If they refuse, the program stays open, but the risk of an EU suspension rises.
Nothing is automatic. Any suspension requires a formal Commission decision, and negotiation between now and 2028 could produce a compromise, such as stronger residence requirements, rather than closure.
What a prudent applicant should weigh now
Ask why you want the passport. If Schengen access is the main benefit, the case for a Caribbean citizenship is weaker than it was a month ago, and that should be priced in. If your goals are a lifetime citizenship for the family, a Plan B and travel elsewhere, much of the value remains, but treat European access as uncertain beyond 2028.
It also makes sense not to rely on one document. A second citizenship works best alongside a residence permit in another country, a company in a stable jurisdiction and banking in more than one place. We help clients compare citizenship and residence options together, apply through authorised agents, work with our local team, and quote our fees in writing, and we will update clients as the talks between the EU and the Caribbean states develop.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
