Five Caribbean countries that operate Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programs are at risk of losing their visa-free access to the European Union as the body is looking at strengthening their visa waiver program to improve security and prevent illegal migration.
On October 18, the EU Commission adopted a proposal for regulations to amend the current visa suspension mechanism. The amendments aim to prevent abuse of the visa waiver program along with tackling risks posed by persons who purchased their citizenship via a CBI program.
The EU visa waiver program allows nationals from 60 countries to visit 27 Schengen zone countries for up to 90 days for tourism and business.
The proposals, which are made in the sixth report under the Visa Suspension Mechanism, are:
Expand the grounds for suspension, to include non-EU countries that are not fully aligned with the EU’s visa policy and visa-free non-EU countries operating investor citizenship schemes;
