I am a low-risk (as per OECD) Asian national. I have already applied for an Antigua Citizenship by Investment but I am having a lot of second thoughts.
My primary objectives for getting this citizenship are below, ordered by importance
Eliminate home country regulatory burdens like foreign asset disclosures and various other forms
Financial privacy & freedom for the future - Where I only need to deal with the country of tax residence and NOT so much with my (too grabby) home country
Optimise my taxes
Ensure easy future cash out (if my holdings grow significantly in value) by residing and/or getting a citizenship in low tax, low compliance countries now (Note: My home country does not have exit tax)
Better travel - My current passport is T3.
Ease/Neutral US travel once a year - Close friends work & live in the US and it would be a shame if I couldn't visit them because of this passport (Note: I have already applied the US tourist VISA using my home country passport and got denied due to lack of ties to current residence UAE)
Current financial situation
Significant (at least to me) ($1.5m+) Crypto holdings.
Some Real estate ($0.5m+)
Been a UAE resident for 2+ years and have businesses in UAE
No criminal background
Long term plans
Remain in UAE as long as it remains a low-tax, low-compliance (relative to other reputed counties)
Explore another long term residence in another country as a plan B
Hold on to crypto as long as possible
Slow travel quite a bit and figure out where I want to settle down eventually while building wealth
Concerns regarding the Antigua citizenship
Getting flagged as HIGH RISK, loss/difficulty of banking around the world/UAE, triggering EDD/more paperwork. Below is from a brief talk with compliance officer (acquaintance of friend) at a bank in UAE
Getting flagged in WorldCheck or similar databases and life becomes a complete mess
Difficulty in getting visas (where applicable) and getting through border controls. CBI citizenship raises immediate red flags
One thread in this forum where a US citizen got their bank accounts closed within 3 weeks of receiving their Dominican passport in mail in 2022
Some unofficial reports of detention and/or deportation due to CBI passport in this forum
Antigua being considered as 7 (high risk OECD) country and what it would mean for me
I would appreciate remarks from others who have received the citizenship (especially recently) regarding their current experience in banking/travel/other residence permits/US/EU travel. Remarks from professionals who help their clients do this is also welcome.
There are a few people around OCT who might be able to help, but they don’t have Mentor Group Gold, so they won’t be able to see your thread here.
I’d suggest opening a new thread, a light version without any sensitive data, and include a link to this one. You can mention that you’ve asked for help inside the Mentor Group.
