On 21 August 2026, the Investment Migration Agency Grenada announced in Circular No. 2 of 2026 that the residence requirement introduced by the latest amendment will not start on 31 August 2026 as planned. It only applies once the regional regulator is operating and all participating states have set a common start date.
Background
Grenada grants citizenship by investment under the Citizenship by Investment Act No. 15 of 2013. The programme is run by the Investment Migration Agency Grenada, IMA Grenada for short.
On 24 September 2025, the five Eastern Caribbean states with programmes (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis) signed the agreement on a joint regulator: the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority. Its job is to set common standards for all five programmes and to monitor compliance with them.
This agreement and the amendments passed to implement it in 2025 and 2026 bring new obligations for Grenada, among them a residence requirement. Under the latest amendment it was due to start on 31 August 2026. Ten days before that date, the agency tied the start to two conditions.
What has changed
The new condition
The residence requirement and the other obligations under the regional framework only apply once two things are in place:
- The regional regulator under the agreement on the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority is operating.
- All participating states have formally set and announced a common start date.
The agency says it will issue further guidance once both conditions are met, including the implementing rules. Until then, everyone involved is asked to wait for further official notices from the agency. The circular is signed by the agency's chief executive, Thomas Anthony.
The scope of the notice matters. It does not only defer the residence requirement but expressly also the other obligations and requirements under the regional framework. Everything the agreement brings for Grenada will therefore take effect together once the conditions are met, not piece by piece. At the same time, the agency reminds everyone that the laws and regulations in force must still be followed. For applications, this means the law in force today applies, with the contribution, fees, family rules and due diligence unchanged.
The Citizenship Unit of St Kitts and Nevis confirmed the same position on 28 September 2026: the regional framework only takes effect once the regulator is operating and all participating states have agreed and announced a start date.
Since 4 September 2026: the regional portal
Since 4 September 2026, under Circular No. 3 of 2026, applications go through the CBI Web Portal of CARICOM IMPACS, the Caribbean Community's Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, and are transmitted securely to the Joint Regional Communications Centre for regional security screening. The Caribbean states with programmes already use the portal. To keep the transfer free of delays, the agency sets these requirements for the copy of the passport data page:
- clear, high-resolution colour scans or images,
- the whole data page with all four corners visible, nothing cropped,
- both lines of the machine-readable zone fully visible, with no fingers, folds, glare or shadows,
- JPEG, PNG or PDF up to 20 MB,
- at least 1,000 pixels on the longer side or about 200 dpi, ideally 1,500 pixels or about 300 dpi.
According to the agency, a good photo taken with a mobile phone is usually enough, as long as everything is sharp and legible. Images that fall short of these requirements can delay the transfer, the security screening and with them the whole application.
Where things stand on 10 November 2026
On 22 September 2026, IMA Grenada announced an independent review of the programme, with interviews of residents, applicants, agents and partners in September and October 2026. The findings go to the agency's board, followed by a public summary. Chief executive Thomas Anthony made it clear that the agency did not commission the review to hear praise but to learn where the programme needs to improve. By 10 November 2026, the agency had published no further notice on the start date of the residence requirement.
What this means for Germans, Austrians and Swiss
As long as the condition is not met, Grenada remains a programme that does not ask you to rearrange your life. According to the agency's answers, you do not have to visit the island before, during or after the application. The interview takes place online as part of the due diligence. The agency quotes approval within 60 working days of submission, provided the checks are complete and the funds have been received. The regional security screening through the portal is part of those checks; with good passport copies you avoid the delays the agency warns about.
The figures you can plan with:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Contribution to the National Transformation Fund | USD 235,000 for the main applicant with up to three dependants |
| Each additional dependant from the fourth | USD 25,000; parents and grandparents up to age 55 USD 50,000, siblings USD 75,000 |
| Approved real estate project | USD 350,000 plus a USD 50,000 government contribution, five-year holding period |
| Due diligence fee | USD 6,000 per person aged 17 and over |
| Application fee | USD 1,500 per person |
| Processing fee | USD 1,500 per person aged 17 and over, USD 500 under 17 |
| Interview fee | USD 1,000 per person aged 17 and over |
You can include your spouse, children, parents, grandparents and siblings in the application. Adult children under 30 qualify if you support them, and siblings aged 18 and over if they are unmarried and have no children.
For readers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this is the decisive point. If you live, work and have children in school here, you want another citizenship as a safeguard, not as a move. A residence requirement would mean planning trips to Grenada, with flights, accommodation and time your calendar does not have. As long as the condition in Circular No. 2 of 2026 is not met, none of that effort applies. The agency has not yet said how long a future requirement would last or whom it would apply to once it starts.
What happens to your own citizenship depends on the country:
- Germany: Since 27 June 2024, acquiring another citizenship by application no longer costs you your German citizenship. More in dual citizenship for Germans.
- Austria: You lose Austrian citizenship by operation of law when you acquire a foreign nationality on your own application, unless retention was applied for and granted before the acquisition. Details in second citizenship for Austrians.
- Switzerland: Since 1 January 1992, Swiss law allows multiple citizenship without restriction, as long as the other state does not require you to give up your Swiss citizenship. More in Swiss dual citizens.
What you can do now
- Use the timing. Grenada has no residence requirement today. When it comes and what it will look like in detail depends on a common date for all five states that has not yet been set. The agency has not yet said how applications filed before the start date will be treated. If you apply today, you apply under the rules that apply today.
- Scan your passport properly. The requirements of Circular No. 3 of 2026 apply with immediate effect. A sharp colour scan of the data page showing both lines of the machine-readable zone spares you follow-up questions and delays in the regional screening.
- Put your family together. Grenada also accepts siblings and grandparents. If you want to protect the whole family, you will find the rules of every programme under Family and what to know about parents under parents and grandparents in the application.
- Choose your route. Contribution or real estate: what suits your assets is set out in donation or real estate. All routes and fees are on the Grenada programme page, and why Grenada matters to entrepreneurs with an eye on the United States is in Grenada and the E-2 visa.
- Compare with the neighbours. Antigua and Barbuda already requires five days of residence in the first five calendar years; more in Antigua and Barbuda. All programmes side by side are in the comparison, and the application process step by step is under process.
The agency has announced two notices that will matter in the coming months: the public summary of the independent review and further guidance on the start date of the regional obligations. As soon as IMA Grenada announces the start date and the implementing rules, the calculation changes. Until then, what the agency says today holds: no visit, no residence requirement.