Interview with Charmaine Donovan

CHARMAINE DONOVAN, CEO OF THE ANTIGUA & BARBUDA CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT UNIT

Can you tell us about the early days of the Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU)?

The Citizenship by Investment Unit has been in operation for approximately eight years, and we’ve grown significantly during this time. I’ve been working in the CIU almost since its inception. When I joined the team, we were focused on setting up the policies and processes required to get the Unit up and running to process applications. This included the more granular tasks of designing the Certificate of Registration, which was the document issued to the new citizen once their application was successful, and the Oath/Affirmation of Allegiance document, which facilitates the swearing of the oath or pledging allegiance for all new citizens of Antigua & Barbuda. You may not know that in addition to citizenship applications, the CIU also receives and reviews applications from licensed agents who submit the applications on behalf of the citizenship applicants; authorised representatives who promote the Programme; applications to obtain approved development status; and applications for approval to be designated a qualified business investment. Therefore, processes for these applications were also necessary. Our programme is unique in that we facilitate the passport process for successful new citizens. To offer a straightforward process for our applicants, we worked with the Passport Office in Antigua & Barbuda in the early days to hammer out a process that allows the successful applicant to have a ‘one-stop shop’ experience through the Unit.

What was your background before working at the CIU?

I started with accounting in the hospitality sector and quickly leapt over to banking for about 15 years. During that period, I worked initially in commercial banking and spent the majority of that time as a bank examiner looking at banking through different eyes - the eyes of a regulator. Like every other financial activity, banking has inherent risks, and I was charged with ensuring that management of the banks and non-bank financial institutions understood those risks and had the appropriate risk mitigants in place. After almost nine years as a regulator, I returned to commercial banking and headed the Regional Compliance Team for a former foreign branch bank. Therefore, when I joined the CIU team, I brought along years of experience in risk assessment and mitigation as well as a strong understanding of financial analysis, financial transactions, and due diligence. Initially, the transfer of skills to the investment migration space was not as seamless as anticipated since the risk appetite and assessment process for banking differs from that needed to assess someone’s eligibility for citizenship. As Chief Compliance Officer, I needed to adopt a more comprehensive approach in considering the applications for citizenship instead of my previous regulatory approach. After the first two years of contributing to building the programme, I left for about 15 months, returning as CEO in 2017. Since the investment migration industry is very fast-moving, I had to quickly get back up to speed, especially since additional programmes had emerged in our region and competition became extremely fierce. At that time, it was felt that the global migration industry was coming to a close, which sparked several rapid changes to the regional CBI programmes.

AT LEAST FIVE DIGITAL NOMADS HAVE DECIDED TO APPLY FOR CITIZENSHIP THROUGH THE PROGRAMME, CONFIRMING WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SHARING WITH POTENTIAL INVESTORS ALL ALONG, THAT ANTIGUA & BARBUDA OFFERS A LIFESTYLE THAT COMPELS YOU TO MAKE THE LOVELY TWIN-ISLAND SHORES YOUR HOME.

Fast forward to the present day, I think everyone now understands that this industry is here to stay – there will always be people looking for a Plan B. There are those born and living in jurisdictions prone to war and/or acts of terrorism who would like to change their families’ circumstances. Some are seeking improved mobility, or some are simply looking for real estate options for investment purposes and recreation. And with ours having the most options available under any programme, astute investors have a myriad of opportunities to choose from to qualify for citizenship.

How successful would you consider 2021 to have been?

Final reports are still being generated, but I am happy to report that preliminary assessments suggest that we are on par with and may likely exceed the number of applications received in 2019. This year has been very favourable even though we are still operating in a pandemic. I believe that we’ve had a spike in applications this year, not only because people are experiencing COVID fatigue and want to exercise their options, but because of the work we have been doing to improve the efficiency of our programme. Interestingly, at least five digital nomads have decided to apply for citizenship through the programme, confirming what we have been sharing with potential investors all along, that Antigua & Barbuda offers a lifestyle that compels you to make the lovely twin-island shores your home. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live in Antigua? We are excited for next year as we continue to tweak and improve how things are done. We expect next year to rival this year in application submissions.

What are the CIU’s plans for 2022?

Our focus is on even greater efficiency and superior customer service delivery. In December, our nerve centre, the Operations Team, underwent in-house training. We examined various emerging typologies, and we agreed on how they should be managed. The idea was that streamlined processes lead to greater efficiency. We also offered refresher training on various in-house software applications. We are also working with the software developers to upgrade the application management software to offer a better experience to the Licensed Agents when they interface with the Agent’s Portal. Interfacing more with all our stakeholders is another goal. When they market the programme, we want our stakeholders to speak with one voice to convey consistent information and messaging. We are working on additional guidelines to offer greater support to our stakeholders for various circumstances to further enhance their efficiency and client services delivery. Another of our important goals is to interact more with our diaspora around the globe. After eight years, we have processed more than 3,500 applications, equating to approximately 15,000 citizens. In fact, Antigua & Barbuda is seen as the programme for large families. The UWI option requires a minimum family size of six and is the most attractive large family option available globally. Now that we have expanded the definition of dependents to include siblings, grandchildren and spouses of dependent children, we are seeing a greater take-up by larger families. Therefore, it is important for us to stay connected with our expanding citizenry.

We also want our citizens and potential investors to move away from seeing the Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Programme as simply transactional but more of a connective experience.

A few weeks ago, I visited Expo 2020 in Dubai, where Antigua & Barbuda has a vibrant pavilion. After our spectacular National Day performance on 1st November, I noticed that my interactions with the new citizens and stakeholders who were present became more enriched. It dawned on me that our diaspora is missing out on experiencing and understanding the country’s culture. They may be Antiguan, but many cannot say much about the beautiful twin islands. So going forward, we will be interacting more with them at events and exposing them to our culture. We also want our citizens and potential investors to move away from seeing the Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Programme as simply transactional but more of a connective experience. There is so much more to offer our new citizens, particularly as the opportunities and lifestyle available in the country can match the varied preferences of our multicultural diaspora. Citizenship can be an incredibly emotive issue. Therefore we want our applicants and citizens alike to know that we at the Unit have this country’s best interest at heart and that the people who are successful through the programme are of good repute. We will also be focusing more on the customer service experience. People may not always remember what you said or did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. So, when interacting with the Programme, we want them to experience the warmth and hospitality for which Antiguans and Barbudans are known. 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year ahead!