Antigua and Barbuda could suspend its Citizenship by Investment Programme by November 12 as the government considers how to preserve visa-free access to Europe’s Schengen Area, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday.
Speaking on the Browne and Browne programme, Browne said preliminary Cabinet discussions favoured suspension, although no final decision had been made.
According to Browne, European Union representatives outlined two options during a technical meeting with officials from Eastern Caribbean countries operating investment citizenship programmes earlier in the week: continue the programmes and risk losing visa-free access, or commit to suspending them by the deadline.
Browne said he had called for a meeting of regional heads early in the coming week to seek a coordinated response.
However, he said the visa-waiver arrangements were bilateral, meaning each government would ultimately have to decide its own course if regional leaders could not reach agreement.
The discussions affect Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia, which operate programmes allowing qualifying foreign applicants to obtain citizenship through investment or financial contributions.
Losing Schengen visa-free access would also affect citizens who acquired their nationality by birth, requiring them to obtain visas for short visits covered by the existing arrangements.