EU pressure puts Antigua's citizenship revenue at risk

Antigua and Barbuda's likely move to end its citizenship by investment programme under EU pressure puts a key source of state income at risk, Reuters reported on 29 October 2026. Prime Minister Gaston Browne said this month that Antigua would very likely commit to phasing out the programme. The EU has given Antigua and four other Eastern Caribbean states until 12 November 2026 to agree to close their schemes by 1 June 2028, or risk losing visa-free access to the Schengen area.

According to C. Justin Robinson, director of the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, the programme is the government's largest source of non-tax revenue. He told Reuters it brought in about US$58 million in 2025, with US$44.4 million budgeted for 2026, roughly 7% to 11% of recurrent revenue. He estimated that ending it would erase more than half of Antigua's projected primary surplus this year.

No final decision has been made and the programme remains open. As of October 2026 Antigua's National Development Fund option starts at US$230,000 plus a US$10,000 government processing fee for a single applicant.