Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment: $230,000 for a Family

Americans shopping for a second passport through investment face higher prices and tightening conditions in the Caribbean, where Antigua and Barbuda now charges $230,000 for a family of up to four. A survey of citizenship-by-investment options shows the route is open to anyone passing due diligence, but the donation cannot be recovered and the terms can change before a passport is issued.

Key facts

• Since July 2024 five Caribbean nations — St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and St Lucia — have agreed a minimum price of $200,000, roughly double the former entry point.
• Antigua and Barbuda charges $230,000 for a family of up to four; Dominica's single-applicant donation sits at the $200,000 floor.
• Agent and legal fees come on top of the donation.
• The donation is non-refundable, and property bought to qualify is notoriously hard to resell.
• Costs reflect published 2026 price lists, which have changed repeatedly over the past two years.

What does the Antigua and Barbuda route involve?

The programme is described as citizenship by investment: a financial contribution in exchange for citizenship, available to applicants who pass due diligence. The stated price for Antigua and Barbuda is $230,000 for a family of up to four, with agent and legal fees charged separately.

What are the risks?

The contribution is non-refundable, and property purchased to qualify is described as notoriously hard to resell. Citizenship can also be revoked: Dominica stripped 68 people of citizenship in 2024 over misrepresentation.

The five Caribbean programmes are under heavy pressure from Washington and Brussels, and several are being rewritten. St Kitts has introduced mandatory biometrics and announced a residency requirement for future applicants, and Dominica plans a minimum period of physical presence. The risk highlighted is that someone committing six figures today could see the terms change before the passport arrives.

What are the alternatives?

For those with family roots elsewhere, ancestry routes exist. Canada rewrote its Citizenship Act on 15 December 2025, ending the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent, though the processing queue had passed 82,000 applications by June 2026 with a wait rising beyond 15 months. Ireland's Foreign Births Register accepted 18,910 applications from U.S. residents in 2025 and estimates around 12 months to process a complete application, but it only covers an Irish-born grandparent or an Irish-citizen parent. Italy capped automatic descent at children and grandchildren in March 2025, a limit its Constitutional Court upheld in March 2026. Malta's citizenship programme was shut down after the EU's top court ruled against it in 2025.

What this means for travellers

Anyone weighing an Antigua and Barbuda application should treat the published figures as moving targets: processing times and investment prices change month by month and should be verified before an application is made. The source also advises treating any agent promising a passport in two or three months with deep suspicion, and speaking to a cross-border tax adviser before moving money or buying property abroad.

A second passport does not remove U.S. tax obligations — the United States taxes citizens on worldwide income wherever they live — and it does not by itself provide healthcare abroad.