ST JOHN’S, Antigua — Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica were added to a new list of countries facing partial US visa restrictions under a presidential proclamation signed on 16 December 2025, with Washington citing their citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programmes.
The restrictions, which take effect on 1 January 2026, cover immigrant visas, B-1/B-2 business and tourist visas, and F, M and J student and exchange visas, and shorten the validity of other visa types, Stabroek News reported. The proclamation pointed to CBI programmes that do not require applicants to live in the country. The list is to be reviewed every 180 days. St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Grenada, which also run CBI programmes, were not included.
Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Parliament had already introduced a mandatory 30-day physical residency requirement for CBI applicants, described Antigua’s inclusion as an “error”, and said he was writing to President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Dominica had passed compliance legislation on 15 October and called the decision “unexpected and disappointing”, according to Dominica News Online.
What it means
Analysis: Easier travel is one of the main attractions of a Caribbean passport, so restrictions on US visas weaken the case for buying CBI-approved real estate in the two countries affected. Developers relying on CBI buyers in Antigua and Dominica may see demand soften, while programmes in St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Grenada could gain in relative terms, although scrutiny of the whole sector is increasing.
Editor’s note: This article was added to the Jamaica Homes News archive on 30 September 2026. It reports events from December 2025 and is dated to when they were reported.
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