Scroll through homes for sale in the Eastern Caribbean and you will see more than beaches and relaxed living being promoted.
Many property ads now include an extra perk: a passport with the purchase.
Estate agent Nadia Dyson says there has been a big increase in the number of people seeking Antiguan citizenship.
Five island nations in the region offer citizenship by investment (CBI).
They are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia.
You can qualify from as little as $200,000 (£145,000) when you buy a property.
Passports from the five island nations give the holder visa-free entry to most countries around the world
The passports provide visa-free entry to up to 150 countries, including the Schengen area.
All of the schemes, except Dominica’s, also offer visa-free access to the UK.
The islands’ tax rules attract buyers too.
Many have no capital gains or inheritance tax, and some exempt income tax.
All five programmes permit applicants to keep their existing nationality.
In Antigua, estate agents say demand has surged.
Nadia Dyson, owner of Luxury Locations, says the firm struggles to meet enquiries.
“Up to 70% of all buyers right now are wanting citizenship, and the vast majority are from the US,” she tells the BBC.
Ms Dyson says buyers rarely discuss politics, but she links interest to volatility in the US.
“This time last year, it was all lifestyle buyers and a few CBI. Now they’re all saying ‘I want a house with citizenship’. We’ve never sold so many before.”
Antigua’s scheme has no residency requirement.
Ms Dyson adds that some purchasers plan to move permanently.
“A few have relocated already,” she says.
Investment migration advisers Henley & Partners say US citizens made most Caribbean CBI applications over the past year.
Other frequent applicants came from Ukraine, Turkey, Nigeria and China.
Henley reports overall applications to Caribbean CBI programmes rose 12% since Q4 2024.
Passports from the five island nations give the holder visa-free entry to most countries around the world.
Henley’s Dominic Volek points to safety concerns as a driver of demand.
“Everything from gun violence to antisemitism is putting Americans on tenterhooks,” he says.
Mr Volek estimates 10-15% of applicants actually relocate.
“For most it’s an insurance policy against whatever they’re concerned about. Having a second citizenship is a good back-up plan,” he explains.
He says business advantages and easier travel also attract clients.
“Some US clients prefer to travel on a more politically-benign passport.”
Henley had little US presence before the Covid pandemic.
Movement restrictions shocked wealthy travellers and spurred the first wave of US interest.
Applications rose again after the 2020 and 2024 US elections.
“There are Democrats that don’t like Trump but also Republicans that don’t like Democrats,” Mr Volek says.
Henley has opened offices in the US, growing from zero to eight in major cities.
It plans another two or three offices soon.
Robert Taylor, from Halifax in Canada, bought an Antiguan home.
He invested $200,000 just before Antigua raised its real estate threshold to $300,000 last summer.
Mr Taylor intends to retire in Antigua later this year.
Citizenship removes stay restrictions and opens business options, he says.
“I chose Antigua because it has beautiful water, I find the people very, very friendly and it also means great weather for the later part of my life.”
CBI schemes have drawn controversy since Antigua first proposed passport sales in 2012.
Some locals protested, fearing the sale of national identity.
Former Speaker of the House Gisele Isaac recalls the backlash.
“There was a sense of nationalism; people felt we were selling our identity, so to speak, to people who knew nothing about us,” she says.
Leaders in countries without CBI schemes also criticised the idea.
St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said citizenship should not be a commodity.
The Caribbean’s appeal as a place to live is obvious
International bodies worry weak checks could let criminals exploit the schemes.
The European Union has warned it may revoke visa-free access for some Caribbean CBI countries.
The US has expressed concerns about tax evasion and financial crime risks.
A European Commission spokesperson told the BBC the bloc has been “monitoring” the five schemes.
Talks with the islands’ authorities began in 2022, the spokesperson said.
She said an assessment is checking whether CBI is “an abuse of the visa-free regime those countries enjoy vis-à-vis the EU and whether it is likely to lead to security risks for the EU“.
The Commission acknowledged reforms by the islands.
Those changes will affect the EU’s final evaluation.
The five nations reject accusations of lax scrutiny.
Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit calls his country’s programme “sound and transparent.”
His government says CBI revenues have topped $1bn since 1993.
Funds paid for projects including a modern hospital.
St Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J Pierre says the island applies high security standards to its CBI process.
Small Caribbean states depend on tourism and limited resources.
CBI revenue has helped them respond to disasters and support pension systems.
At an industry summit in April, delegates called CBI a lifeline.
Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne said proceeds helped avert national bankruptcy over the last decade.
Besides property purchases, routes to citizenship include a donation to a national fund.
Costs range from $200,000 in Dominica for a single applicant, to $250,000 for a main applicant with up to three dependents in Dominica and St Kitts.
In Antigua, investors may donate $260,000 to the University of the West Indies.
Under international pressure, the islands agreed new oversight steps.
They aim to create a regional regulator to set standards and ensure compliance.
Six principles agreed with the US include enhanced due diligence, audits, and mandatory interviews.
They also closed a loophole that let rejected applicants apply in another country.
Today, passport sales make up 10-30% of GDP for these islands.
Andre Huie, a St Kitts journalist, says the CBI scheme enjoys broad support.
“The public understand the value of it to the economy, and appreciate what the government has been able to do with the money.”