Citizenship by investment programs are in demand among investors worldwide. Everyone’s motivation is different: alternative citizenship for life and business, a passport for visa-free travel across Europe, tax optimization, financial management, status for inheritance to future generations of the family, the ability to travel at any time without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Many investors have chosen to address several challenges at once, choosing citizenship by investment from Caribbean countries: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada. But in 2024, all the Caribbean countries nearly doubled their minimum investment for CIP. This created a niche for new programs to emerge on the market, offering programs to the “middle class” for, say, $100,000.
São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment
In 2025, a new investment program — São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment — was announced and quickly launched. This official government initiative was launched to support economic sectors such as renewable energy, ecotourism development, education, and infrastructure. In the global citizenship-by-investment market, this program fills an important niche offering for the “middle class”.
So, a significant advantage of São Tomé’s program is the investment requirement of $90,000 (USD) (a non-refundable contribution to a government fund) for a single applicant and $95,000 (USD) for 2-4 people. Meanwhile, Vanuatu’s program, which meets all the criteria, requires an investment of $130,000 per person. More details >>
APEX Capital Partners, an international company, is a licensed agent for the São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment program.
El Salvador Citizenship by Cryptocurrency program (El Salvador Freedom Passport)
A new program on the market offers El Salvador citizenship by cryptocurrency. This is an official initiative of progressive President Nayib Bukele, who made Bitcoin the national currency of El Salvador. The country’s treasury purchases one Bitcoin every day for the budget as part of its overall economic policy. The CIP Unit can accept up to 1,000 applications annually; each candidate must invest $1 million in cryptocurrency (transaction in USDT or Bitcoin) – a non-refundable contribution to the country’s development. The application fee is paid only after approval (a $1,000 fee is required to initiate the verification process), and the department provides a six-week turnaround time.
