Immigration services in Saint Kitts and Nevis

Financial requirement

A money order made out to the Accountant General: 250 CAD or 500 XCD where the marriage took place before 1983; 500 CAD or 1,000 XCD where it took place after 1983.

Documents

The completed form, the birth certificates of the applicant and the spouse, the marriage certificate, a divorce or death certificate for any earlier marriage, the original police certificate from the spouse's places of residence over the last 6 months, and two photographs 45×35 mm. All documents must be originals or certified copies. The file is sent to the Ministry of National Security and Information in Basseterre.

Review time

Where the minister orders enquiries into the applicant, the decision must be taken no later than two years from the day the application was received.

Validity

Citizenship is granted indefinitely. The minister may take it away where the registration was obtained by false information, fraud or the concealment of material facts, and also for treason and incitement to rebellion.

Right to work

A citizen works in the country without a work permit.

Residence conditions

The law sets no mandatory period of residence in the country for spouses, but the marriage must be a subsisting one. The application is refused where the marriage was entered into for the sake of citizenship, where it has broken down, where divorce or annulment proceedings are under way, where a separation agreement has been made, or where the spouses have ceased to live together.

Financial requirement

Registration of a citizen of a Caribbean Community country — 1,220 XCD, of a citizen of another Commonwealth country — 2,200 XCD. A certificate of naturalisation for a foreign national or a British protected person — 5,320 XCD.

Documents

You complete a form: form R.2 for registration, form N.1 for naturalisation. In the form you set out in a table every address and date of residence in the country and outside it. The signature is witnessed by a judge, a magistrate, a notary, a commissioner for oaths, a justice of the peace or a consular officer.

Review time

Where the minister orders enquiries into the applicant, the decision must be taken no later than two years from the day the application was received.

Validity

A certificate of naturalisation takes effect only once the oath of allegiance has been taken. The oath must be taken within a year of the certificate being issued, otherwise it ceases to have effect.

Right to work

A citizen works in the country without a work permit.

Residence conditions

14 years of lawful residence in the Federation