Middle East residents have been urged to take advantage of the new Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme of St Kitts and Nevis that allows a family of four to get citizenship and obtain passports to the twin island state for $195,000.

According to the Passport Index 2018, the passport of St Kitts and Nevis is ranked 24 that allows holders of the passport to avail visa-free travel to 133 countries and visa upon arrival in 33 other countries. The country also allows dual citizenship and holders of its passport can also keep and the original passport of the country of the immigrant’s origin.

St Kitts and Nevis offers Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme – that allows foreigners to obtain a passport in exchange for investment of $150,000 for a single person and $195,000 for a family of four – that allows the person to travel across the world without having to stand in the queue for visas.

“The St Kitts and Nevis passport is very well regarded and has excellent reputation, and only relatively few passports have been issued under this citizenship-by-investment programme by the Government. It has the lowest-cost programme among Caribbean states to gain second citizenship for Americans,” said Les Khan, chief executive officer of the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Unit.

However, according to a recently published Passport Index, St Kitts and Nevis’ passport was ranked the world’s 26th most powerful and the best in the OECS. The ranking measures a country’s passport strength based on the number of destinations its holders can access, with St Kitts and Nevis adding 15 new territories to its list since last year.

“I take this opportunity to invite residents of the Gulf countries to take advantage of Citizenship by Investment programme and avail visa-free travel to more than 120 countries globally,” Les Khan told Imran Farooq, chief executive officer of Samana Group which owns three immigration consulting firms, including AAA Associates, a Dubai-based firm, during his recent visit to the Caribbean.

At the time the index was elaborated, the Caribbean country offered visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 151 destinations. These include the UK, Ireland, Russia, Israel, and the Schengen Area. Since then, the dual-island nation has signed further bilateral visa waiver agreements with Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe, Bahrain, San Marino and Togo.

St Kitts and Nevis is known for its efforts in establishing wide diplomatic relations, which was reflected in a recent independent study by experts at the Financial Times’ Professional Wealth Management magazine.