Expat in Antigua

@mikelange35

Hi there,

There is also a Français part to Expat.com, and you can also ask in that forum. This LINK will take you there.

I hope this is of help.

SimCityAT

Expat Team

@mikelange35

Hello Mike,

Do you currently have an agent? I purchased my home just next door to Jolly Harbour. I currently rent as air bnb now. I used Nadia ***       ( office is located in Jolly Harbour  ) to purchase and she currently property manages my property. My experience was seamless.

***

You can tell her Shelley from Villa Coby referred you to call. Hope this info is helpful. If you need a place to stay while searching or visiting you can certainly check my place out it’s a 4 bedroom , 3 bath with a pool.

@shelley13

Hello and welcome !

Can you share the contact details in private please by clicking on the member's photo > send a message.

Thank you

Bhavna

@Bhavna thank you.

Hello @mikelange35,

I live in Antigua and I haven't applied for CIP, but I've just started my own relocation company (the only one in Antigua, and we speak French too ;-), so I can answer some of your questions:

First of all, as you probably know, you must go through a government-authorised agent. There are about forty of them on the island.

Depending on how professional the agent is, it may or may not be quick... (I recently heard a horror story about someone who is still waiting after a year).

So the first important point is to choose your agent carefully (I can help you with this).

The usual timeframe is around six months (some people say they got it in four months, but that's rare and today it takes around six months on average).

The cost: for a property investment

You must purchase a property that is part of the programme for at least 300,000 USD.

But be aware that you will spend much more than 300,000 USD on a purchase at this price.

This is because there are government fees and agent fees.

For the government: Processing Fee ($10,000 for one person and double that for a family) + Due Diligence Fee + a small amount for maintenance and passport fees. Approximately, for one person, this comes to around 20,000 USD.

Then for the agent: their commission (normally the commission is calculated on the required $300,000 even if the property is purchased for a higher amount, but this must appear in the contract) + their service fees. The total will be between $55,000 and $75,000.

So, the approximate calculation for a real estate purchase for one person (not a family) is $300,000 + $20,000 + $55,000 = $375,000 USD.

Two important points to add:

- Many agents are also real estate developers, so they will strongly encourage you to buy one of their properties, which may not be the most suitable for your needs (and are often very expensive).

- There are not that many properties included in the program. And many people are quite frustrated by this lack of choice. Keep in mind that you can resell after five years and purchase another property (and since you will have become a citizen, you will not pay the 7.5% tax for non-citizens and will have many options).

I hope this answers your questions.

If you need any assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Erika

Haven Antigua

@mikelange35
Hello Mike,
Do you currently have an agent? I purchased my home just next door to Jolly Harbour. I currently rent as air bnb now. I used Nadia ***   ( office is located in Jolly Harbour ) to purchase and she currently property manages my property. My experience was seamless.
***
You can tell her Shelley from Villa Coby referred you to call. Hope this info is helpful. If you need a place to stay while searching or visiting you can certainly check my place out it’s a 4 bedroom , 3 bath with a pool. - @shelley13

Hello, Shelley!

I was going through these forum threads and found your reply to the man here, and I thought I'd reach out. I'm trying to find a good decent, safe, affordable place to live out my life with my future wife. We are in need of a vacation anytime soon, as well.  Perhaps we'll vacation to Antigua and Barbuda.

I just looked for houses/apartments/condos to rent but there is not a single thing listed on this particular website. Maybe there are listings elsewhere.

Anyway, I want to move us, wife and self, and our two young sons.  The u.s. is a boiler pot. It's not going to be pretty.

But, seeing as I know nothing of the requirements to move there, like MOVE MOVE there, could you break this down for us?  Do we need $250,000 to be put into a bank account there?  Do we need to speak the native language?  Do you need to prove our source of income? Etc?   

We are not rich, by any means, we scrape by but we need out of this burning country.

Thank you in advance.

Hi @paranaughtica

There are many real estate agent websites offering long-term rentals that are easy to find on Google with a simple search query: long-term rental Antigua and Barbuda real estate.

I also invite you to check out the blog post [link moderated]

Immigration is another story. No, you don't need to deposit $250,000 in a bank account. There are several possible statuses, depending on how you plan to support yourself in Antigua.

The language here is English, so you won't have any problems.

Erika

HavenAntigua