Immigration
Immigration and Passport Act with CARICOM entry and a CBI programme
The Immigration and Passport Act governs entry, residence and removal. CARICOM nationals with a skills certificate may work without a permit, and other CARICOM nationals receive a six-month stay on arrival. The Citizenship by Investment Programme Act 2013 grants citizenship on an approved investment, and unusually among regional programmes it imposes a short physical presence requirement of five days in the first five years.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National immigration control with CARICOM skills recognition
- Deadline — CARICOM national: six-month definite entry on arrival
- Deadline — Work permit: obtained by the employer before employment begins
- Deadline — Citizenship by investment: five days physical presence within the first five years
- Deadline — Naturalisation by residence: seven years of lawful residence
Governing law
- Immigration and Passport Act
- Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship Act
- Citizenship by Investment Programme Act 2013
- Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals Act
In practice
The five-day presence requirement is a genuine condition of the citizenship by investment programme rather than a formality, and failure to satisfy it can affect renewal of the passport, so it should be diarised at the point of approval. Work permits are tied to a named employer, and a change of employer requires a fresh permit rather than a variation.