Anguilla to launch residency by investment programme
THE VALLEY, Anguilla — The government of Anguilla is to implement a “Residency by Investment” programme as part of its medium-term agenda. It will allow foreign nationals to acquire permanent residency status in Anguilla by making a financial contribution to the island and after proving to be of good health and good character.
The government of the British Overseas Territory is to host an information session on the subject on August 23, 2018, which will show the purpose and benefits of the programme, give a preview of the proposed residency by investment programme, the application process and fees, and its plans for implementation.
In 2014, a claim by promoters of a resort in another British Overseas Territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands, that investors are eligible to apply for a permanent residency certificate and British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC) passport, was refuted by the British government.
According to Tom Lawrence, at the Home Office Communications Directorate in London:
- Eligibility for British Overseas Territory Citizenship ((BOTC) is governed by the British Nationality Act 1981. Citizenship is granted by the governor of the territory and Overseas Territories are not able to grant BOTC status other than in accordance with that Act.
- Residency and other requirements for BOTC status apply, so anyone who has not lived lawfully in the territory for a number of years is unlikely to qualify.
- Criteria for the grant of BOTC include residence requirements, a good character requirement and an intention to make the principal home within the relevant territory.
- Generally, the residency requirements are for a minimum of five years residence immediately preceding the application, during which total absences must not exceed 450 days with a maximum of 90 days absence in the last year. The applicant must not have been in breach of immigration rules at any time during those five years and the last year of residence must have been free of any immigration control.
- BOTCs do not have the right of abode in the UK unless they later become British citizens.
“There is no direct route to BOTC and the investor will have to meet the eligibility requirements as noted,” the TCI governor’s spokesman confirmed at the time.
