CBI — Approved Real Estate (US$300,000 full purchase; resale-once-after-5yr)
Citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda
- Eligibility
- AG-INV-02 is the Approved Real Estate option of Antigua and Barbuda's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme.
- Timeline
- post-grant 5-day presence in first 5 years
- Renunciation
- Not required
Overview
AG-INV-02 is the Approved Real Estate option of Antigua and Barbuda's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme. It enables a foreign national (the "main applicant"), together with eligible dependants, to acquire Antiguan and Barbudan citizenship by registration under the Citizenship Act Cap. 22 following the purchase of qualifying real estate in a government-approved project. It is one of the four current investment avenues alongside the National Development Fund (NDF) donation (AG-INV-01), the business-investment option (AG-INV-03) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) / Higher-Education Fund (AG-INV-04). The route is a signature route: real estate is the second pillar of the AG programme and the option most affected by the 25 July 2024 reform (Statutory Instrument 2024 No. 50), which reduced the minimum full purchase price to US$300,000, fixed a strict resale-once-after-five-years rule, and terminated the discounted real-estate co-application limited-time offer at 31 July 2024. The route serves investors who prefer a recoverable, asset-backed pathway (real property) over a non-refundable donation: unlike the NDF contribution, the real estate is an asset the citizen owns and can ultimately dispose of, subject to the programme's anti-flip holding rules. It is administered by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU; cip.gov.ag) and applications may be submitted only through a licensed Agent. Like all AG CBI routes it carries the AG-distinctive 5-day physical-presence-within-the-first-5-years condition (a deprivation trigger) and the standard discretionary, Cabinet-approved grant. As-of date for all current monetary thresholds: SI 2024 No. 50, made 25 July 2024, operative from 1 August 2024.
Legal basis
The enabling statute is the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Act, 2013 (No. 2 of 2013) (gazette Vol. XXXIII No. 20, 11 April 2013; assented 28 March 2013). Its long title is "AN ACT to enable persons to acquire citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda by registration following investment in Antigua and Barbuda and for incidental and connected purposes" (.txt, long title). Section 3(1) provides: "Subject to the provisions of the Citizenship Act, a person may, after applying under this section to the Minister in the prescribed manner and upon payment of any fee that may be prescribed, be registered under the provisions of the Citizenship Act as a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda" (s.3(1)). Section 3(2) makes registration "(a) at the discretion of the Minister and subject to the approval of Cabinet; (b) subject to the Minister being satisfied that the applicant has invested in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule" (s.3(2)). The "Minister" is the Prime Minister (.txt, s.2 substituted: "'Minister' means the Prime Minister acting in consultation with Cabinet"). The investment menu is defined in the Act's interpretation section: "'investment' means— (a) the purchase of real estate in an approved project in accordance with regulation 6; (b) a contribution to the National Development Fund in accordance with regulation 7; or (c) an investment in a business in Antigua and Barbuda in accordance with regulation 9" (.txt, s.2 / Sch. interpretation). AG-INV-02 is limb (a). The operative threshold sits in subsidiary legislation. The principal regulations are the Citizenship by Investment Regulations 2016 (enacted as the Schedule substituted by the Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Act 2016, No. 2 of 2016). The 2016 Schedule originally set the full real-estate purchase price at "at least one million and eighty thousand dollars" (.txt, Sch. reg 6(4)). That figure was repealed and replaced by the Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (Statutory Instrument 2024 No. 50), made 25 July 2024 by the Minister under s.6 of the CBI Act 2013, which provides at reg 6(4): "The full purchase price of the real estate shall be at least three hundred thousand (US$300,000.00) dollars in United States currency" (.txt, reg 6(4)). The 2024 amendment also added a strict resale rule at reg 6(5): a property bought under this option "may only be resold ONCE for the purpose of satisfying another applicant, and not until 5 years have passed since first used under the programme" (SI 2024 No. 50, reg 6(5)); and validated-then-terminated the real-estate co-application limited-time offer at reg 6(6): "the limited time offer for real estate (co-application option) available from 1 April 2020 is validated and CONTINUES UNTIL 31 JULY 2024 at 11:59 p.m., after which it CEASES" (SI 2024 No. 50, reg 6(6)). The route is read together with the Citizenship Act Cap. 22 (Act 17 of 1982), under which the actual registration takes effect and to whose Third Schedule oath the successful applicant is sworn.
Example scenarios
ELIGIBLE — AG-INV-02 (real estate CBI). Minimum qualifying investment US$300,000 in a Cabinet-approved real estate project (SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(4)). Budget US$400,000 comfortably exceeds the threshold. Binding conditional purchase-and-sale agreement required. 5-year disposal lock applies; early sale triggers deprivation risk (reg 6(7)). Reinvestment safe harbour available if contemporaneous (reg 6(8)). Same processing and DD fees as INV-01.
SI 2024 No.50 reg 6 governs real estate CBI effective 1 Aug 2024. Minimum US$300,000 confirmed at reg 6(4). Disposal lock: reg 6(7) — deprivation 'will not apply' only on contemporaneous reinvestment per reg 6(8). Cabinet-approved project requirement: reg 6(1). Co-investment LTO option ceased 31 Jul 2024 per reg 6(6) (not relevant here as solo purchaser).
HIGH RISK — INELIGIBLE for early disposal. The 5-year lock under SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(7) means disposal before the 5-year period expires exposes the citizen to deprivation. The exception (reg 6(8) reinvestment safe harbour) applies only if the sale proceeds are contemporaneously reinvested in another Cabinet-approved real estate project. Selling and pocketing the money — without reinvesting — will trigger the deprivation power. No refund of any kind if deprived (CBI Act s.4(2)).
SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(7): deprivation power activates on early disposal. Reg 6(8): safe harbour requires contemporaneous reinvestment into another approved project. 4-year mark means one full year remains on the lock. Additionally, the resale-once-after-5yr rule (SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(5)) limits open-market resale even after the 5-year period; confirmed in AG-INV-02 route doc.
CABINET APPROVAL REQUIRED — AG-INV-02. A qualifying real estate CBI investment must be in a Cabinet-approved project (SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(1)). Not all AG real estate qualifies; only projects that have received Cabinet approval for CBI purposes. The developer must seek Cabinet designation of the project before marketing it to CBI applicants. Investors should verify Cabinet approval status before committing.
AG-INV-02 route doc: SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(1) — Cabinet-approved project requirement. This is a mandatory condition for the real estate investment option. Binding conditional purchase-and-sale agreement in an approved project required. Unapproved projects do not qualify regardless of price.
CONSTRAINED — AG-INV-02. The 5-year disposal lock runs from the date of the CBI investment. After 5 years, early-disposal deprivation is no longer the risk. However, under SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(5), the resale restriction after 5 years is NOT open-market resale — the property may only be resold ONCE and under controlled conditions. A second resale to a non-CBI buyer may not qualify. The investor should verify the specific resale conditions with the CIU before transacting. Reinvestment in another Cabinet-approved project remains an option for preserving citizenship.
AG-INV-02 route doc: 5-year disposal lock ends, but SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(5) limits resale to 'resale-once-after-5yr rule — NOT open-market resale.' This is an AG-distinctive restriction on post-lock-period resale. The investor cannot simply sell on the open market multiple times as if it were ordinary real estate.
NOT EXPLICITLY ADDRESSED — AG-INV-02. The CBI real estate regulations (SI 2024 No.50 reg 6) address the investment minimum, Cabinet-approval requirement, 5-year disposal lock, and resale restrictions. Rental of the property during the holding period is not explicitly prohibited or addressed in the decoded text of reg 6. However, the co-application LTO (lock-to-own) model ceased 31 July 2024 under reg 6(6), which suggests the regulations contemplate ongoing control. Renting through the Cabinet-approved project's own management programme (a common structure for CBI resort properties) is likely compatible. Standalone rental arrangement should be verified with CIU and the project developer.
AG-INV-02: SI 2024 No.50 reg 6 decoded provisions do not explicitly address short-term rental. The 5-year disposal lock prohibits DISPOSAL (sale transfer) but is silent on rental income. CBI resort projects commonly incorporate rental pool arrangements. CIU verification recommended for bespoke rental arrangements outside the project's own rental programme.
PARTIALLY VALID — AG-INV-02. The 5-year disposal lock has expired (5 years elapsed). Under SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(5), the property may be resold ONCE after the 5-year period under the resale-once rule. Resale to another CBI investor is the contemplated model under this provision — the property remains within the Cabinet-approved project. The first investor exits and the new CBI investor enters. HOWEVER: this is the 'resale once' — if the first investor later buys back or the property changes hands again, that second resale may not qualify. The new CBI investor must independently satisfy all CBI eligibility conditions.
AG-INV-02 route doc: 'Resale-once-after-5yr rule (SI 2024 No.50 reg 6(5)) — NOT open-market resale.' The contemplated model is a within-programme resale to another CBI applicant — this is precisely the use case. The restriction prevents serial open-market resales outside the CBI framework.
Informational summary compiled from primary legal sources — not legal advice. Citizenship law changes; verify with the competent authority before acting. Last verified 2026-06-15.
Track changes to this route
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