How Much Does Citizenship by Investment Cost? Full 2026 Price Breakdown

A single applicant should budget roughly $230,000 to $260,000 all-in for the cheapest Caribbean citizenship-by-investment (CBI) routes in 2026, and a family of four around $245,000 to $300,000, once you add the fees that sit on top of the headline donation. Europe is a different universe: Malta’s structured investor route, which ran near €700,000 to €1 million all-in, has been suspended since 2025. The number you see advertised is almost never the number you pay, so this page breaks down every line in the bill.

The five cost components, in plain terms

Every CBI application is built from the same stack of costs. Confusing the headline figure with the total is the single most common budgeting mistake.

1. The qualifying investment. This is the big number. It is either a non-refundable contribution to a government fund (the cheapest route) or a real estate purchase you hold for five to seven years (more capital, but partly recoverable on resale). The contribution is a sunk cost; real estate is an asset you may sell later.
2. Government and processing fees. Flat administrative charges the state levies to handle and approve the file. On fund routes these are sometimes folded into the contribution; on real estate routes they are usually a separate, sizeable line.
3. Due diligence fees. Charged per person over a set age, these pay for the background vetting that protects the program’s reputation. They are non-refundable even if you are rejected.
4. Professional and legal fees. Licensed agents and law firms are mandatory in most programs. Budget a separate $15,000 to $50,000+ that rarely appears in government fee schedules.
5. Passport, application and biometric fees. Smaller per-person charges for the document itself, application forms, and increasingly biometric enrollment.

What the headline contribution actually buys

Since a 2024 Memorandum of Agreement among the Caribbean five, the regional price floor is $200,000, fully in force across 2026. Current fund-route minimums:

Program	Fund contribution (single)	Fund contribution (family of 4)	Real estate minimum
Dominica (EDF)	$200,000	$200,000	$200,000
Antigua & Barbuda (NDF)	$230,000	$230,000	$300,000
St Lucia (NEF)	$240,000	$240,000	$200,000
Grenada (NTF)	$235,000	$235,000	$270,000
St Kitts & Nevis (SISC)	$250,000	$250,000	$325,000

Two structural points matter. First, in most Caribbean programs the family-of-four contribution equals the single-applicant contribution: you do not pay four times over on the main donation, you pay per-head only on fees. Second, real estate looks more expensive up front but is recoverable, so the true cost (capital you never see again) can be lower than a contribution once you resell.

Government and due diligence fees, line by line

These are where the family-of-four total pulls away from the single applicant, because most scale per person.

Due diligence (non-refundable, per person):

• St Kitts & Nevis: $10,000 main applicant, $7,500 each dependent aged 16+.
• Antigua & Barbuda: $8,500 principal, $5,000 spouse, $4,000 each dependent 18+, $2,000 ages 12 to 17, free under 12.
• Grenada: $5,000 each applicant aged 17+, free for minors.
• St Lucia: $7,500 principal, $5,000 each dependent over 16.
• Dominica: $7,500 main applicant, $4,000 each dependent aged 16+.

Government / processing fees:

• Antigua: $10,000 single, $20,000 for a family of up to four, then $10,000 per extra dependent.
• St Lucia: a $50,000 government fee applies, plus processing of $2,000 (principal) and $1,000 per dependent.
• Grenada: application $1,500, processing $1,500 per adult, interview ~$1,000 to $1,500 per adult.
• St Kitts: on the fund route, government fees are largely bundled into the SISC contribution; real estate routes add post-approval fees of $25,000 (main applicant) and less for dependents.
• Dominica: $1,000 processing fee per application on the EDF route.

Passport and biometrics: generally small but real. Antigua charges about $300 per passport; St Kitts charges roughly $350 per passport plus biometric enrollment of $2,500 for the first adult, $2,000 for additional adults, and $1,300 per child under 16.

Worked example: single applicant, Dominica (cheapest fund route)

Line item	Amount
EDF contribution	$200,000
Processing fee	$1,000
Due diligence (main applicant)	$7,500
Passport / application	~$1,200
Government subtotal	~$209,700
Legal / agent fees (typical)	$15,000 to $25,000
All-in estimate	~$225,000 to $235,000

Worked example: family of four, St Kitts & Nevis (premium fund route)

A family of four means a main applicant, a spouse, and two children aged 16+ (the most fee-heavy realistic case, since under-16s are cheaper).

Line item	Amount
SISC contribution (covers family of 4)	$250,000
Due diligence: main applicant	$10,000
Due diligence: 3 dependents aged 16+ ($7,500 each)	$22,500
Passport issuance (4 x $350)	$1,400
Biometric enrollment (2 adults + 2 minors)	~$7,100
Government subtotal	~$291,000
Legal / agent fees (typical)	$20,000 to $40,000
All-in estimate	~$311,000 to $331,000

Run the same family through Antigua’s NDF and the contribution stays $230,000, government fees are $20,000, due diligence runs about $19,500 for that age mix, and the all-in lands closer to $285,000 to $310,000 with professional fees, which is why Antigua is often cited as the most cost-efficient option for larger families.

Hidden and recurring costs people miss

• Source-of-funds documentation. Accountants or auditors may need to certify the origin of your funds, an extra few thousand dollars not in any government schedule.
• Real estate carrying and exit costs. Stamp duty, maintenance, holding-period rules (five to seven years), and resale risk all erode the “recoverable” appeal of property routes.
• Foreign exchange and wire costs on large international transfers.
• Tax coordination. A second citizenship rarely triggers tax on its own, but moving funds and assets internationally can. Treat tax as something to coordinate with qualified counsel in your home country, not a do-it-yourself line item.
• Adding dependents later (a new child, an aging parent) carries its own contribution top-ups and fees.

How to read a quote without getting surprised

Always ask any provider for an itemized, all-in estimate in writing that separates the contribution, every government fee, every per-person due diligence charge, professional fees, and passport costs. If a quoted “total” is within a few thousand dollars of the headline contribution, fees have been left out. A credible 2026 budget for the cheapest single-applicant route starts near $225,000 all-in, and a four-person family should plan for $280,000 to $330,000 depending on program and the ages of the children. Costs and fee schedules change, so confirm figures against the official Citizenship by Investment Unit fee schedule for your chosen country before committing. If you want a personalized, program-by-program cost model for your own family composition, that is exactly the kind of question CIVITAS is set up to answer.