Cost

What Antigua & Barbuda citizenship costs in 2026

Antigua & Barbuda citizenship starts at $230,000 through the National Development Fund, covering a single applicant or a household of up to 4 under one contribution, with $15,000 for each dependent beyond that.

That contribution is the largest line in your budget. An honest all-in figure also includes due diligence, the verification interview, and government, legal, oath and passport fees. This page sets out every line, then lets you estimate your own total by household size.

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Government minimums

The four routes and what the government requires

These are the 2026 minimums for the contribution or investment itself. Nothing on this table includes professional or statutory fees.

Antigua & Barbuda investment route minimums, 2026
Route	Minimum (2026)	Best for	Notes
NDF (donation)	$230,000	Most households	Covers up to 4; $15,000 per extra dependent; non-refundable. Rose from $100,000 in August 2024.
UWIF	$260,000	Six or more people	Processing included for up to six; one year of UWI tuition for a family member.
Real estate	from $300,000	Property investors	Government-approved property; 5 years minimum hold before resale.
Business	from $1,500,000	Active investors	Individual investment. Joint or shared structures may apply.

The rest of the budget

The costs that every honest quote has to include

These are not hidden fees and the government does not conceal them. They are simply the part of the total that depends on who is in your application — which is why they get left off advertised package prices.

Due-diligence screening — Mandatory independent background checks on every applicant aged 16 and over, covering identity, criminal record, source of wealth and reputation. Charged per applicant.
Verification interview (~$1,500 per applicant 16+) — Required for all applicants aged 16 and over since December 2023, conducted online by an authorised agent.
Government processing fees — Statutory application and processing charges set by the programme, payable on filing and scaling with the number of applicants.
Legal, oath and passport fees — Professional fees, the oath of allegiance formality and passport issuance for each person in the application.

Free calculator

Estimate your total by household size

Choose a route and the number of people in the application. The calculator shows the exact government contribution and an indicative all-in range based on typical per-applicant fees.

Investment route

People in the application 4 applicants

110

Government contribution: $230,000
Indicative all-in range: —

Indicative only, and not a quote or an offer. The range applies typical per-applicant due-diligence, interview and statutory costs to the government minimum. Your written estimate confirms the exact figure.

Get the exact figure in writing

The calculator is deliberately built to show a range rather than a single number, because a single number at this stage would be a guess dressed up as a quote. What it does show accurately is the government contribution, which is fixed and public, and how that figure moves as your household grows.

Two patterns are worth noticing as you move the slider. The first is that the NDF's flat $230,000 for up to 4 people makes the cost per person fall sharply across the first four applicants — a couple pays the same contribution as a family of four. The second is that once a sixth person enters, the UWIF at $260,000 starts to close and often overtake the gap, because it bundles processing for six.

Neither pattern is obvious from a headline price, and both are the reason we model every household individually before recommending a route.

Cost questions

What families ask before they commit money

Is $230,000 the total, or just the starting point?

It is the government contribution, and it is the largest single line — but it is not the total. On top of it you should budget for due-diligence screening of every applicant aged 16 and over, the verification interview at roughly $1,500 per person in that bracket, government processing fees, and legal, oath and passport charges. For a household of four, those additional lines typically add a meaningful five-figure sum. We itemise every one of them in writing before you pay anything.

Why will nobody quote me a single flat price online?

Because an honest one does not exist. The government contribution is fixed and public; the professional and statutory fees scale with the number of applicants and the complexity of the file. A single applicant and a household of six are materially different totals on the same route. Any advertised "all-inclusive package" is either quoting the smallest possible case or leaving lines out that will reappear later.

Is the contribution refundable if my application is refused?

The contribution itself is paid only after approval in principle, so a refusal at the screening stage does not cost you the $230,000. What is not recoverable are the due-diligence and processing fees already incurred, because the work was done. This is precisely why we screen and prepare a file before submission rather than filing and hoping — a refusal is expensive in fees and worse in the record it leaves.

When do I actually pay, and in what order?

Professional and due-diligence fees come first, because screening happens before anything else. Government processing fees are payable on filing. The investment itself — the contribution or the property purchase — is completed only after you receive approval in principle, followed by oath and passport fees. Your engagement letter sets out each trigger point so nothing is a surprise.

Does the real estate route work out cheaper in the end?

Cheaper is the wrong frame. The NDF at $230,000 costs less up front and the money is gone permanently. Real estate from $300,000 ties up more capital but leaves you holding an asset you may resell after 5 years. Whether that is better depends on whether you actually want Caribbean property and on what the asset is worth when you come to sell, which nobody can promise you. See the real estate route for the honest comparison.

Free consultation

Get a written, itemised estimate for your household

Tell us who is in the application and we will send the full breakdown — contribution, due diligence, interview, statutory and professional fees — before you commit to anything at all.

Phone: +971 50 371 0703
WhatsApp: Message an adviser
Email: [email protected]
Office: Building Al Maktab, 23rd St, Al Barsha, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

We reply within one working day with a written, itemised estimate.

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