St Lucia CBI Now Accepting Iranian Citizens
For many years now, Iranian investors have unfortunately been prohibited from applying for many of the investor visa programmes available. This is partly due to global banking sanctions imposed on the country, but also due to security risks with the inability to run full due-diligence checks on applicants based in Iran. Some programmes have conditionally allowed Iranians to apply, providing they have lived outside of Iran for the last 10 years and their funds have been derived from outside of the country, but these options are limited. Until now.
On 14th September 2022, Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Unit released a memorandum stating that they have reopened their programmes doors to Iranian citizens. The memo stated:
”Please be advised that the Citizenship by Investment Unit (”the Unit”) has resumed processing of applications from Iranian citizens. The Unit has been able to secure relationships with due diligence service providers who are able to perform the usual thorough standard of due diligence on Iranians”
This positive news is great for Iranian applicants and hopefully, other nations may soon be able to follow suit. As with all programmes, all nationalities will need to provide the required documentation when applying for Citizenship by Investment. Amongst the standard documentation expected, full police reports, proof of funds and clear banking paper trails need to be submitted so the Citizenship Units can undertake thorough security checks and complete due diligence on all applicants.
Iranian Passport Value Report
An Iranian passport holder can access just 50 destinations visa-free. That’s a modest 22% of the 227 countries and territories worldwide. The visa-free countries Iranians have access to equate to only 11.2% of the world’s international travel popularity. A Saint Lucian Passport will significantly enhance these figures. The combination of an Iranian and Saint Lucian Passport will boost this visa-free access to 161 countries and territories which equates to 70.9% of the world’s total destinations. That is more than a 200% improvement. To find out more, please contact our advisors.
