CBI — Business investment (individual / joint)
Citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda
- Eligibility
- AG-INV-03 is the business-investment limb of Antigua and Barbuda's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme — one of the four headline qualifying-investment options under the programme (alongside the National Development Fund (NDF) donation, approved real estate, and the higher-education / University of the West Indies (UWI) Fund).
- Timeline
- post-grant 5-day presence in first 5 years
- Renunciation
- Not required
Overview
AG-INV-03 is the business-investment limb of Antigua and Barbuda's Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme — one of the four headline qualifying-investment options under the programme (alongside the National Development Fund (NDF) donation, approved real estate, and the higher-education / University of the West Indies (UWI) Fund). It serves high-net-worth applicants who wish to acquire Antiguan and Barbudan citizenship by registration by deploying capital into an approved business in Antigua and Barbuda — either alone (sole investment) or as part of a joint investment by two or more applicants into a single approved business. It is, by capital quantum, the most demanding of the four options: the sole threshold of EC$4,000,000 (= US$1,481,481, marketed by the CIU as "US$1.5M") sits well above the NDF donation (US$230,000, reg 7) and the full real-estate purchase (US$300,000, reg 6). The route is distinctive in that the qualifying vehicle is a productive enterprise approved by the Minister and published in the Gazette, not a fund contribution or a property purchase; and in that the joint-investment structure expressly permits a consortium of applicants to aggregate into one approved business while each preserves an individual minimum contribution. The route is administered, like all CBI options, by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) and may be entered only through a licensed Agent. Because it is capital-intensive and discretionary at the business-approval stage, it is in practice the least-used of the four options, but it remains continuously operative under the 2013 Act as amended.
Example scenarios
ELIGIBLE on capital under the AG-INV-03 business option Business investment per CBI Act s.9 / 2016 Regs reg 9 (unamended by SI 2024 No.50): individual EC$4,000,000 (=US$1,481,481, marketed US$1.5M); joint EC$13,500,000 (=US$5,000,000), each EC$1,080,000 (=US$400,000). Gazette in EC$; CIU US$ figures are EC$2.70:US$1 peg conversions (peg-exact) -- RESOLVED, not a conflict.
AG-INV-03 route doc contains Business: EC$4,000,000 (~US$1.48M) individual / EC$13,500,000 (US$5.0M) joint per CBI Act s.9 + 2016 Regs reg 9 (EC$ gazette = US$ peg; resolved).
INSUFFICIENT UNDER CONSERVATIVE READING — AG-INV-03. The gazetted minimum for a sole business investor is US$4M EC (equivalent to approximately US$1.48M at the EC$/US$ peg per 2016 Regs reg 9). Under the conservative (gazette) reading a US$2M budget EXCEEDS the gazetted EC$4M individual threshold (~US$1.48M). Under the CIU website's own stated figure (US$1.5M individual), US$2M also suffices. However, the joint vs individual distinction and the conflicting CIU-website vs gazette figures (. Business investment per CBI Act s.9 / 2016 Regs reg 9 (unamended by SI 2024 No.50): individual EC$4,000,000 (=US$1,481,481, marketed US$1.5M); joint EC$13,500,000 (=US$5,000,000), each EC$1,080,000 (=US$400,000). Gazette in EC$; CIU US$ figures are EC$2.70:US$1 peg conversions (peg-exact) -- RESOLVED, not a conflict.
AG-INV-03 route doc: Business: EC$4,000,000 (~US$1.48M) individual / EC$13,500,000 (US$5.0M) joint per CBI Act s.9 + 2016 Regs reg 9 (EC$ gazette = US$ peg; resolved).
POSSIBLE BUT UNCERTAIN — AG-INV-03 (. Business investment per CBI Act s.9 / 2016 Regs reg 9 (unamended by SI 2024 No.50): individual EC$4,000,000 (=US$1,481,481, marketed US$1.5M); joint EC$13,500,000 (=US$5,000,000), each EC$1,080,000 (=US$400,000). Gazette in EC$; CIU US$ figures are EC$2.70:US$1 peg conversions (peg-exact) -- RESOLVED, not a conflict.
AG-INV-03 route doc: joint investment structure explicitly addressed — 'two+ applicants into one approved business.' Business minister-approval and Gazette-publication required Business: EC$4,000,000 (~US$1.48M) individual / EC$13,500,000 (US$5.0M) joint per CBI Act s.9 + 2016 Regs reg 9 (EC$ gazette = US$ peg; resolved).
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
Descent and naturalization rules change. We'll email you in plain English when anything affecting Antigua and Barbuda updates — no spam.