Grenada's citizenship-by-investment programme requires a minimum $235,000 contribution to the National Transformation Fund in 2026, up from $150,000 for a single applicant before the region's 2024 price harmonisation. Grenada is the only Caribbean CBI programme with a United States E-2 treaty, though CBI-naturalised citizens must be domiciled in Grenada for 3 continuous years before applying.
TL;DR · LAST REVIEWED 10 July 2026
- The National Transformation Fund, NTF, contribution is $235,000, covering a single applicant or a family of up to four, applications processed by the Investment Migration Agency, IMA Grenada.
- Real estate is the alternative route: from $270,000 for a shared-ownership interest in an approved project, or $350,000 for sole ownership, both held for a minimum of 5 years.
- Grenada has held a bilateral E-2 investor treaty with the United States since 1989, uniquely among the five Caribbean CBI programmes, though naturalised citizens face a 3-year continuous domicile requirement before applying, under provisions following the Amigos Act, NDAA FY2023 s.5901.
KEY FACTS
- The National Transformation Fund, NTF, contribution is $235,000, covering a single applicant or a family of up to four, applications processed by the Investment Migration Agency, IMA Grenada.
- Real estate is the alternative route: from $270,000 for a shared-ownership interest in an approved project, or $350,000 for sole ownership, both held for a minimum of 5 years.
- Grenada has held a bilateral E-2 investor treaty with the United States since 1989, uniquely among the five Caribbean CBI programmes, though naturalised citizens face a 3-year continuous domicile requirement before applying, under provisions following the Amigos Act, NDAA FY2023 s.5901.
- As of December 2025, the EU's revised Visa Suspension Mechanism treats the mere operation of a citizenship-by-investment programme as sufficient grounds to suspend a country's Schengen visa-free access; Grenada's current 90-day Schengen access has not been suspended but is formally under review.
- A regional regulator, the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority, ECCIRA, headquartered in Grenada, is introducing harmonised due diligence and a phased 30-day physical residency requirement across the first 5 years, though implementation timing has repeatedly slipped.
What Grenada's programme offers and the 2024 price history
Grenada's Citizenship by Investment programme, running since 2013 under the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Act and administered by the Investment Migration Agency, IMA Grenada, which absorbed the functions of the earlier Citizenship by Investment Committee, grants full citizenship in exchange for a qualifying economic contribution, without any residency requirement to qualify in the ordinary case. Grenada does not require applicants to visit the country at any stage of the standard application, and citizenship is granted directly rather than through an intermediate residency period. Until 1 July 2024, Grenada's National Transformation Fund contribution stood at $150,000 for a single applicant and $200,000 for a family. Under the Caribbean Memorandum of Agreement, the region-wide price harmonisation agreed by the five Caribbean CBI states following sustained pressure from the United States, United Kingdom and European Union, Grenada raised its NTF minimum to $235,000, now covering a single applicant or a family of up to four at that flat figure, bringing Grenada's pricing broadly into line with its regional peers rather than positioning it as the cheapest option, which it previously was.
Investment routes: NTF contribution or real estate
The NTF route is a single, non-refundable contribution of $235,000 to Grenada's National Transformation Fund, which finances public infrastructure, education and healthcare projects; this is the simpler of the two routes, requiring no ongoing asset management. The real estate route requires investing in a government-approved development, either a shared-ownership interest from $270,000, commonly in a hotel or resort project with at least two co-investors, or sole ownership of a qualifying property from $350,000; either route requires holding the property for a minimum of five years before resale, after which it may be sold, including to another CBI applicant. On top of the headline investment figure, government processing fees, due diligence fees, and a mandatory interview fee for applicants aged 17 and over apply to both routes, and total costs should always be confirmed in writing with a licensed agent before committing to either route.
The E-2 route: what it actually requires
Grenada's most distinctive feature among the five Caribbean CBI programmes is its bilateral E-2 investor treaty with the United States, in force since 1989, which the United Kingdom itself does not hold, meaning British citizens cannot apply for the E-2 nonimmigrant investor visa directly through UK citizenship alone. Grenadian citizenship, including citizenship acquired through this investment programme, opens that route in principle. The detail that agent marketing frequently glosses over is timing: individuals who acquire Grenadian citizenship by investment, rather than by birth, must generally show at least 3 continuous years of domicile in Grenada before they become eligible to file for an E-2 visa, a rule that followed the enactment of provisions commonly referred to as the Amigos Act, understood to derive from Section 5901 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, specifically designed to prevent citizenship-by-investment programmes being used as an immediate bridge to E-2 status. This means the realistic timeline from starting the Grenada application to filing a genuinely eligible E-2 visa application runs to several years, not months, and the full cost stack, Grenada citizenship plus a separate, genuinely substantial American business investment on the American side, is covered in detail in the dedicated guide to the Grenada E-2 route linked below.
The EU Schengen access risk: what has and has not changed
This is a live, unresolved development that any UK citizen considering Grenada in 2026 should weigh carefully, rather than a settled fact in either direction. Grenada's passport currently provides visa-free access to the Schengen Area for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and that access has not been suspended. What has changed is the legal framework around it: the European Union's revised Visa Suspension Mechanism, in force since 30 December 2025, now treats the operation of a citizenship-by-investment programme, in itself, as sufficient grounds to suspend a country's Schengen visa-free status, without the Commission needing to first demonstrate a specific security deficiency, a materially lower bar than the EU's previous position. The Commission's eighth annual Visa Suspension Mechanism report, dated 19 December 2025, named all five Eastern Caribbean CBI states, including Grenada, as under continued scrutiny, and in June 2026 the Commission wrote formally to Caribbean governments requesting the phase-out of CBI programmes by 1 June 2028, with a 24-month transition window. Regional leaders have publicly stated their programmes will continue regardless of the deadline, and no Caribbean country's Schengen access has yet actually been suspended; the closest precedent is Vanuatu, whose EU access was fully withdrawn in 2023 following a similar, though separately negotiated, process, covered in the dedicated guide to Vanuatu's citizenship programme linked below. UK citizens weighing Grenada specifically for European travel access should treat continued Schengen access as a genuine, live risk rather than a permanent feature of the passport.
Regional regulation, family inclusion and tax position
Grenada, alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia, is a founding member of the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority, ECCIRA, a regional regulator headquartered in Grenada that formally came into being following a September 2025 agreement, ratified into national law by all five states. ECCIRA is introducing harmonised due diligence coordinated through CARICOM IMPACS, mandatory interviews for applicants aged 16 and over, and a phased requirement for a cumulative 30 days of physical presence in the country of citizenship across the first five years, a genuine departure from the historic no-residency-required model these programmes were built on. Implementation of the physical presence requirement has been postponed more than once, most recently following December 2025 elections in St Lucia that delayed that country's ratification process, and the exact date it takes effect should be confirmed directly with a licensed agent at the time of application rather than assumed from older guidance. Grenada's CBI programme permits inclusion of a spouse, dependent children up to 30, parents and grandparents of any age, and unmarried siblings over 18, among the broadest family definitions in the Caribbean. Grenada imposes no personal income tax, capital gains tax, wealth tax or inheritance tax on non-resident citizens, and dual citizenship is fully permitted; UK citizens acquiring Grenadian citizenship keep British nationality automatically, as covered in the dedicated guide to UK dual citizenship rules linked below.
RELATED GUIDES
DISCLAIMER
This article is editorial information, not immigration, legal, tax or investment advice. Rules, thresholds and fees change and should be verified against the official sources cited below before acting. Kael Tripton Ltd receives no fee, commission or referral payment in connection with any programme described on this page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Grenada citizenship by investment cost in 2026?
$235,000 for the National Transformation Fund route, covering a single applicant or a family of up to four. The real estate alternative starts at $270,000 for shared ownership or $350,000 for sole ownership, both requiring a 5-year hold.
Can UK citizens use Grenadian citizenship to apply for an American E-2 visa immediately?
No. Individuals who acquire Grenadian citizenship by investment must generally be domiciled in Grenada for at least 3 continuous years before applying for an E-2 visa, under rules following the Amigos Act. This makes the realistic timeline several years, not months.
Is Grenada's Schengen visa-free access at risk?
It has not been suspended, but the EU's revised Visa Suspension Mechanism, in force since December 2025, now treats operating a citizenship-by-investment programme as grounds for suspension on its own. The Commission has formally asked Caribbean states to phase out CBI programmes by 1 June 2028.
Does Grenada citizenship require living in the country?
Under the standard rules, no physical residency has historically been required. A regional regulator, ECCIRA, is introducing a phased requirement for 30 cumulative days of presence over the first 5 years, though the implementation date has repeatedly been postponed and should be confirmed before applying.
Do UK citizens have to give up British citizenship to get Grenadian citizenship?
No. Grenada permits dual citizenship, and the UK places no restriction on British citizens holding additional citizenships, so acquiring Grenadian citizenship does not affect British nationality.
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