Banned Nationalities From Citizenship by Investment Programs

The banned nationalities from citizenship by investment programs in the Caribbean are mainly Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Russia and Belarus. Some programs add Somalia or northern Iraq. Each of the five programs keeps its own list. Several let people from barred countries in once they’ve lived elsewhere for ten years.

Those exceptions are the real story. “Iranians can’t apply” is wrong for Dominica and Antigua, which both publish a way back in. Grenada makes room for some Yemen-born people with long residence in certain countries. And St Kitts, the oldest program of the lot, doesn’t publish its list at all.

Outside the Caribbean the rules are looser. None of the programs in Africa, the Pacific, Turkey or Argentina publishes a named list of banned countries, though Vanuatu admits to keeping one.

Why Citizenship by Investment Programs Ban Some Nationalities

Citizenship by investment programs ban some nationalities for three reasons. Their background-check firms can’t vet people from those countries. Banks won’t move money from them. And bigger powers lean on the small states that run the programs. The official reasons are sanctions, anti-money-laundering rules and the “integrity” of the passport, which in practice means keeping Washington and Brussels quiet.

Antigua gave those reasons in March 2022, when it stopped handling Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian files. Its background-check firms couldn’t work in those countries, and banks had cut off payments from them (Antigua News Room). St Kitts names the same causes. Its unit lists sanctions, source-of-funds checks, identity checks and “geopolitical considerations” (St Kitts and Nevis CIU).

The pressure hasn’t eased. Grenada’s CBI office says the Eastern Caribbean programs agreed six principles with the US Treasury. Then, on 25 June 2026, EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner wrote to Antigua. He asked it to phase out its program by 1 June 2028. His lever is a revised Visa Suspension Mechanism. Under it, running a CBI program is now reason enough on its own to lose visa-free access (Government of Antigua and Barbuda). Antigua’s prime minister replied that the program will continue. The lists tighten whenever Washington or Brussels pushes.

Most people who ask us about this know they’re on a list. What they don’t know is that the lists have exceptions, and that the exceptions reward exactly the planning a second residency gives you.

Banned Nationalities From Citizenship by Investment Programs: Country by Country

The table below takes each list from the program’s own notices, as of October 2026. Our guides to Antigua citizenship, Dominica citizenship, Grenada citizenship, St Kitts citizenship and St Lucia citizenship cover investment amounts and timelines.

Antigua and Barbuda restricted countries

Antigua and Barbuda restricts applicants from Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan. The rule dates from a Cabinet decision of 26 February 2020. People born in those countries can still qualify if they left before adulthood. They also need ten years’ permanent residence in a country that isn’t on the list (Antigua and Barbuda CIU FAQ).

Russia and Belarus were dropped separately, in March 2022. The same notice caught Ukraine, so Ukrainians should get the current answer in writing before paying any fees.

Dominica banned nationalities

Dominica bans people from Russia, Belarus and northern Iraq, including Erbil, Dahuk, Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah. A government circular of 15 January 2024 suspended Yemeni files. Iranians, North Koreans and Sudanese face three tests. They must have lived elsewhere for ten years, hold no substantial assets in the country, and do no business in or with it (Dominica CBIU).

Passing the tests doesn’t end it. Dominica can still order enhanced due diligence, a deeper background check, and you pay for it. Budget for it. In our experience the extra checks add weeks to the file, and the bill arrives before anyone tells you how long they’ll take.

Grenada restricted nationalities

Grenada doesn’t take files from Iran, North Korea, Russia, Belarus, Sudan, Afghanistan or Yemen. It stopped taking Russians and Belarusians on 31 March 2023. Yemen became the seventh barred country on 1 April 2024 (Caribbean News Global; NOW Grenada).

The Yemen ban came with a published way out. People born in Yemen can still qualify if they left before adulthood and/or hold ten years of residence or a valid visa in an approved country. The approved list is Canada, the UK, the Schengen states, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. They also need no economic ties to a barred country. Expect to pay for checks inside Yemen on top.

St Kitts and Nevis restricted countries

St Kitts and Nevis doesn’t publish its list. Its CBI unit confirms that limits exist and ties them to sanctions, money-laundering rules and background checks. For the current list it sends you to an authorised agent. And its own guidance can’t decide whether barred nationals may apply at all.

The unit’s May 2026 guidance says a link to a restricted country “does not automatically determine the outcome of an application”. The FAQ on the same page says people from restricted countries “cannot apply”. That leaves agents guessing, and no agent can give you a firm answer the government won’t put in writing. If you hold a sensitive nationality, get St Kitts’ answer in writing before you send a cent.

Saint Lucia restricted nationalities

Saint Lucia’s published ban covers Russians and Belarusians, whose applications remain suspended (CIP Saint Lucia). Its line on Iranians has moved more than once. In a memo of 14 September 2022 the unit began taking Iranian files again, reversing a 2018 policy.

If you’re Iranian, that history is the warning. A program that has opened and shut to one nationality within a few years can do it again halfway through your application.

Banned Nationalities Outside the Caribbean: Africa, the Pacific, Turkey and Argentina

The programs outside the Caribbean don’t copy the Caribbean lists. None of the seven covered here publishes a named list of banned nationalities. Nauru and Argentina check the person for sanctions, crimes and security risks. Vanuatu admits to a list it won’t publish. Turkey, Egypt and Sierra Leone leave it to officials, and São Tomé and Príncipe is reported to refuse only North Koreans.

São Tomé and Príncipe banned nationalities

São Tomé and Príncipe doesn’t publish a list of banned nationalities. Its Decree-Law 07/2025 came into force on 1 August 2025, and the government’s launch statement promised the “exclusion of high-risk countries” without naming one (STP-PRESS). Our São Tomé citizenship guide reports that the program takes every nationality except North Korea, Russians and Iranians included.

The screening behind that is thin. The government says files get rigorous due diligence, source-of-funds checks and coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. A local critic, Liberato Moniz, told national radio that the country doesn’t screen applicants because it lacks the capacity to do so (Rádio Nacional de São Tomé e Príncipe). For a Russian or Iranian buyer, that’s an opening today. Thin screening is also what draws outside pressure, and lists tend to follow. Our São Tomé and Príncipe citizenship page covers the cost and process.

Vanuatu restricted nationalities

Vanuatu keeps a restricted list and won’t say who’s on it. On 18 March 2025 the Prime Minister’s Office said the country “maintains a strict list of restricted nationalities that are ineligible to apply for citizenship” and has tightened due diligence and screening (Vanuatu Prime Minister’s Office). It didn’t name a single country.

Vanuatu’s own passport has paid for the program. The EU suspended Vanuatu’s visa waiver in 2022, and on 12 December 2024 the Council of the EU moved Vanuatu onto the visa-required list, citing its investor citizenship scheme (Council of the EU). The Citizenship Commission says it has revoked close to 30 citizenships granted against the law (Vanuatu Citizenship Office). An unpublished list is the worst kind for a buyer from a sensitive country, because you learn the answer after paying the agent. Get it in writing first. Our Vanuatu citizenship page has the investment options.

Nauru: no nationality bar in the law

Nauru’s citizenship law doesn’t ban any nationality. The Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Act 2024 lets “any foreign national” pay a contribution. There’s no country list. It refuses anyone who’d lose citizenship under the Act’s own cancellation grounds (sections 5(2) and 23(1)(b)). Those include being on a sanctions list, or owning a company that is.

That makes Nauru’s screen personal. It looks at who you are and what you own. A Russian or Iranian with no sanctions designation isn’t barred by the statute, though the due diligence firm still has to clear the file. The Act also lets the government cancel citizenship if the holder later becomes a citizen of a country listed as high-risk in a UN Security Council resolution. Check that clause before you add another passport. Our Nauru citizenship page covers the contribution and timeline.

Sierra Leone: no published restrictions

Sierra Leone hasn’t published any bans. On 2 January 2025 its Immigration Department announced naturalisation for “qualifying high-net-worth foreign national investors” and people of Sierra Leonean heritage. It named no exclusions and no due diligence rules (Sierra Leone Immigration Department release, reproduced by Citizenship Rights in Africa). In September 2026, local press reported new solo-investor routes from $95,000 plus a $5,000 due diligence fee. Its sources were secondary (Sierraloaded).

That’s the thinnest paper trail of any program here. The release cites no statute, and most of the detail reaches the public through agents and local press. A buyer from a sensitive country may well get through. That same buyer has little to stand on if the government changes its mind. Our Sierra Leone citizenship page covers the routes.

Egypt: no published restrictions, prime minister decides

Egypt publishes no banned list either. Its 2019 nationality law changes let foreigners earn citizenship by buying property, founding a project or depositing foreign currency. A cabinet unit reviews each file, and the prime minister signs off (Egypt Independent). The terms were eased in March 2023. The options are $300,000 for state-owned property, or a $350,000 project plus a $100,000 non-refundable deposit. You can also hold $500,000 on deposit for three years, or pay $250,000 outright (Ahram Online).

With no published list, the screen is whatever the cabinet unit decides on the day. Get its position on your nationality in writing before you wire anything. Our Egypt citizenship page covers the process.

Turkey: no published ban, but a property filter

Turkey publishes no banned list. Investor citizenship falls under Article 12 of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901. On paper it’s granted by a Presidency decision on the Interior Ministry’s proposal, as long as the applicant raises no national security or public order concern (Presidency of Migration Management). In practice the ministry prepares and vets each file, and that security check is where a refusal would come from. Entry starts at $400,000 of property held for three years. Other routes need $500,000 in a bank deposit, government bonds, fund shares, pension savings or a business, or 50 jobs created (Invest in Türkiye).

Property buyers face an extra filter. Only citizens of countries designated by the President may buy real estate in Türkiye, and the President can restrict buyers country by country (Land Registry Law No. 2644, Article 35). Turkish press also reports that Syrians can’t buy at all (10haber). For a Syrian investor that closes the property route but leaves the deposit and bond routes open, at least on paper. Turkey also takes passports back, as our report on Turkish citizenship revocations shows. Our Turkey citizenship page covers the options.

Argentina: a screen on the person

Argentina’s decree sets no nationality bar. Decree 524/2025 of 30 July 2025 sends files to a new agency set up to run the program. Each file goes to the criminal records registry and the state’s financial intelligence unit. Rejection is proposed if the grant “could pose a risk to national security or national interests” (our translation, Boletín Oficial).

So the check is on you, whatever your passport. The catch is the legal base. Applications were due to open in late 2026. A June 2026 appeals court ruling then hit the decree the program stands on, as our Argentina court ruling report explains. Our guide to the Argentina citizenship by investment cost covers the $350,000 price.

Can Iranians Get Citizenship by Investment?

Iranians can get Caribbean citizenship by investment only through an exception. Dominica takes Iranians who haven’t lived in Iran for ten years and have no substantial assets or business there. Antigua takes those who left Iran before adulthood and hold ten years’ permanent residence elsewhere. Grenada doesn’t take Iranians, and St Kitts won’t say. Further afield, Nauru’s law doesn’t bar Iranians, São Tomé is reported to accept them, and Vanuatu won’t say. Turkey, Egypt, Sierra Leone and Argentina publish no ban, though each leaves officials room to refuse.

The tests look at where you were born, where you’ve lived and where your money and business sit. A second passport doesn’t, on its own, take someone born in Iran off the list. The forms ask for every nationality you hold. What helps is a clean decade of residence somewhere else, with the paper trail to prove it.

Can Russians Get Citizenship by Investment?

Russians can’t apply to any Caribbean citizenship by investment program that publishes its rules. Outside the Caribbean it’s a different picture. Nauru, Turkey, Egypt, Sierra Leone and Argentina publish no nationality ban, and São Tomé and Príncipe is reported to accept Russians. In the Caribbean, Dominica and Saint Lucia list Russia as banned or suspended. Grenada has refused Russians since 31 March 2023, and Antigua stopped handling their files in March 2022. Belarusians are in the same position in all four.

Neither Caribbean ban comes with a published residence exception. On the published wording, a Russian who has lived in Dubai or Cyprus for fifteen years is still out. That’s why Russian clients who come to us end up looking at Nauru, São Tomé, or naturalisation through residence, which follows each country’s normal citizenship law with no CBI unit’s list in the way.

The Other Ban: What the US and EU Did to CBI Passport Holders

Nationality bans now run both ways. Since 1 January 2026, a US proclamation has partly suspended visas for citizens of Antigua and Dominica. Visitor, student, exchange and all immigrant visas are covered. Meanwhile the EU is pressing all five Caribbean states to end their programs by June 2028, and it has already taken Vanuatu’s visa-free access away.

Sources: the US Department of State and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda’s July 2026 statement. Notice the overlap. Several countries on the US full-ban list are the same ones the Caribbean programs bar, and that’s no coincidence. To see how each Caribbean passport now scores on travel, tax and personal liberty, check the Passport Freedom Index.

Legal Routes If Your Nationality Is Restricted

If your nationality is barred, you have three lawful routes. The first is ten years of residence somewhere else, which meets the Dominica, Antigua or Grenada exception. The others are naturalisation where you live, or citizenship by descent. Our second passport and citizenship service covers all three. Each takes longer than a CBI file, and none needs you to hide anything.

Mistakes Restricted Nationals Make With CBI Applications

The costliest mistake is paying an agent’s fee or a government deposit before the program confirms in writing that you’re eligible. Three more follow close behind. People assume a second passport clears the check, leave assets at home, and trust a list that’s two years old.

The bottom line is that the lists are blunt instruments with a ten-year escape hatch. A decade of documented residence elsewhere opens most of the conditional ones. And the time spent getting there can earn you a passport by another route anyway.

Banned Nationalities From Citizenship by Investment Programs: FAQ

Final Thoughts

The banned nationalities from citizenship by investment programs tell you more about who the Caribbean states are trying to placate than about any applicant. The lists will keep moving. What a barred national can count on is time spent living somewhere else, with the papers to prove it. That clock can start this year.