Citizenship-by-investment: EU deadline throws Nigerian golden passport holders into uncertainty

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By Nkiruka Nnorom

Thousands of wealthy Nigerians who once turned to Caribbean golden passports as a backdoor route to Europe now face uncertainty after the European Union, EU, ordered five Caribbean nations to scrap their citizenship-by-investment, CBI, programmes by 2028.
The EU’s warning to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia threatens one of the most popular escape routes for Nigerians frustrated by high Schengen visa refusal rates, delays and non-refundable losses.
With Nigeria recording a 47.8 percent Schengen visa rejection rate and applicants losing an estimated €4.5 million in non-refundable fees in 2025 alone, many had opted to pay a minimum of $235,000 for Caribbean citizenship that guarantees visa-free access to most of the EU member states and over 100 destinations globally.

Citizenship-by-investment programmes explained
Citizenship-by-investment (CBI), a legal process where an individual obtains a second passport and full citizenship in a country by making a large, government-approved financial contribution to its economy, is a widely exploited route by wealthy Nigerians, who seek to hedge against visa restrictions, the volatility of the naira, high Schengen visa rejection rate and the uncertainty of doing global business on a low-ranking Nigerian passport.
It allows applicants to include spouses, dependent children under 31, parents and grandparents 55 and over, and unmarried siblings after they have been granted citizenship.
An Antigua and Barbuda passport, for instance, offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to over 150 destinations, including Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Schengen area for minimum non-refundable fees of $230,000. Dominica, on the other hand, starts from $200,000, St Kitts and Nevis $250,000, while Grenada is priced because it holds an E-2 Investor Treaty Visa with the US, allowing citizens to be eligible to apply for a non-immigrant visa.
The St. Lucia CBI programme offers a real estate development option and access to over 140 destinations with no prior visa needed.

Nigeria among top source countries for CBI

Meanwhile, data obtained by Vanguard shows that Nigeria as one of the biggest markets for Caribbean CBI programmes with Nigerian nationals accounting for about 16 percent of applications to Grenada’s programme in Q4 2025, ahead of China at 12 percent, and remained a leading source market in Q1 2026, according to Investment Migration International, IMI Daily, report.
Other top applicants were Iraq, USA, Pakistan, Egypt, India, Lebanon, Vietnam and Turkey. Other African countries with high uptake include Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Algeria and Morocco.
For Antigua and Barbuda, Nigeria ranked third in the top source countries for CBI behind China and US.
Annual statistics published by Saint Lucia’s government showed Asia (led by China) as its largest block, with the United States leading the Americas cohort and Nigeria topping the African chart.
The EU has now set September 2026 for enhanced screening, a 24-month wind-down, and final deadline of June 1, 2028 to end the programmes entirely.

Why Brussels is cracking down

The EU has in recent years increased pressure on member states running CBI/RBI schemes, citing security and integrity concerns.
Several Caribbean and European programmes have already been suspended or tightened, with more expected to follow.
A 2025 EU report flagged the five Eastern Caribbean states for high volumes, short processing times and low rejection rates. Brussels said the programmes allow third-country nationals to bypass visa checks and enter Europe through a “back door.” Past recipients included Mutassim Gaddafi, son of late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
But the crackdown is global. A joint Financial Action Task Force, FATF, and OECD report warned that properly managed, CBI/RBI programmes can benefit host countries, but in practice bring “significant risks of money laundering, fraud and other forms of misuse.”
“Criminal exploitation of citizenship and residency programmes is a multi-billion-dollar business to launder proceeds of fraud and corruption, evade justice, or access third countries,” OECD Secretary-General, Mathias Cormann, said. Criminals, the report said, use new passports to hide identity, open shell companies and move illicit goods, including wildlife products.
Given the pressure, the Caribbean itself is reforming. In a landmark move, the five states established the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship-by-Investment Regulatory Authority, ECCIRA, in 2025 to coordinate standards, tighten due diligence and raise prices from sub-$100,000 era to $200,000 in 2024 and $235,000 – $250,000 floor by 2027. St Kitts & Nevis, the oldest programme since 1984, has revoked 13 citizenships for underpayment.
In Europe, Malta ended investor citizenship in 2025, Bulgaria and Cyprus shut theirs. Portugal rebranded its Golden Visa as Solidarity Visa, shifting from property to affordable housing and venture capital funds. Greece remains popular.

EU, UK others toeing Trump’s stringent immigration stance – Foreign policy

Though there’s an ongoing discussion between the EU and the five affected Caribbean nations, foreign policy experts opine that with Brussels threatening to withdraw visa-free access for the five Caribbean countries if they fail to end the schemes, Nigerian applicants may be left stranded.
Caribbean leaders met in July 2026 to coordinate a joint response and are expected in Brussels to negotiate. They point to 2024 agreements that raised prices and tightened due diligence.
Femi Ojumu, a foreign policy expert and international lawyer, said the planned shut has far-reaching implications, noting that the long-term viability of the CBI schemes are now mired in uncertainty.
Ojumu stated that with the aggressive anti-immigration drive of US President Donald Trump, whom he described as the de facto leader of the West, countries like those in the EU, Canada and the UK have followed suit by embedding similar stringent anti-immigration programmes targeting developing countries like Nigeria.
He further argued that when this is combined with ever more rigorous anti-money laundering and combating terrorist finance regimes by the USA, EU and other Western countries, the future of the $250,000 global investment initiatives offered by Grenada and other Caribbean nations hangs in the balance.
According to him, while these CBI programmes remain critical revenue sources for the Caribbean countries, the tightening global environment “imperils” their viability and “diminishes the attraction of these schemes for Nigerians who invested vast sums, leaving them facing constrained global mobility and heightened risks of sub-optimal return-on-investment.”
On the flip side, he said the growing uncertainty may present an opportunity for Nigeria to look inward — to sustainably develop its own economy and socio-political space so that wealthy Nigerians can pragmatically invest at home and in nations with friendlier and more frictionless immigration and trade policies on a win-win basis.

Not exit, but sovereign diversity

Despite uncertainty, migration consultants said demand from Nigerian entrepreneurs remains strong, though motive is shifting.
According to them, Nigerians are no longer buying a passport to leave Nigeria, they are buying a second base to complement Nigeria.
Chee Okebalama, Managing Director, Client Advisory at Multipolitan, a leading migration advisory firm, noted that Nigeria has remained “a market of considerable scale” despite the threat of shut down.
“Many of our clients in Nigeria are entrepreneurs, and Nigeria remains a market of considerable scale, ambition and commercial opportunity.
“That is why CBI and RBI remain compelling. RBI allows families to add a European base in markets such as Greece or Malta while retaining strong economic, personal and commercial ties to Nigeria.”
“The objective is not to move away from Nigeria, but to complement it with greater mobility, jurisdictional resilience and long-term choice for family,” she stated.
She explained that globally, clients were building “sovereign diversity”, reducing dependence on any one country to hedge policy changes, currency volatility and geopolitical risks.
For many, a European residence permit offers a foothold without abandoning operations, staff and investments in Nigeria.
Beyond travel, drivers now include education, healthcare, banking options and ability to respond quickly to global opportunities.
“Globally, we are seeing the same shift. Our clients are increasingly building multi-jurisdictional lives through alternative residence and citizenship, not simply for visa-free access, but to create sovereign diversity: reducing dependence on any one country and expanding the freedom to live, invest and respond across jurisdictions,” Okebalama explained.

What next for Nigerians?

Analysts stressed that if Schengen visa-free is withdrawn, the main attraction for African investors disappears and demand from Nigeria could fall sharply. For now, nationals of Mauritius and Seychelles who already enjoy visa-free Schengen access are unaffected.
But for Nigerians, with visa rejection rates near 50 percent, closure of the Caribbean route leaves a major gap, forcing a pivot to residency programmes in Greece, Malta, Portugal and Dubai, where physical presence is required but offers longer-term stability.
“As per my observation, I believe emerging residence-by-investment options in markets such as Panama, the UAE and Oman will become increasingly attractive in addition to the EU options such as Malta, Portugal and Greece,” she said.
According to her, these pathways allow Nigerian entrepreneurs to remain anchored in Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem while expanding their commercial reach and access to new markets.

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