Wealthy Americans are quietly buying their way out of US with ‘golden’ visa programs

America’s elite are increasingly drawn to “golden” visa programs with new opportunities emerging in sunny and desirable locations.

The latest countries to be included in the trend are some Caribbean Islands — namely, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia.

The islands offer citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programs, also dubbed “golden passports.”

The visa can be obtained by making one of two qualifying investments.

The first is “a direct contribution to the Government (commonly known as the contribution to the Economic Diversification Fund route), starting at U.S. $200,000 for a single applicant,” according to the Commonwealth of Dominica.

The second is “the purchase of pre-approved real estate at a minimum value of U.S. $200,000.”

Many Caribbean Islands do not have wealth, gift, inheritance, foreign income or capital gains taxes.

The CBI program allows investors to retain their existing citizenship and grants visa-free entry to most countries around the world.

Nadia Dyson, owner of Luxury Locations Real Estate in Antiqua, told the BBC there has been a surge in business. 

“Up to 70% of all buyers right now are wanting citizenship, and the vast majority are from the U.S.,” Dyson said.

“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,” she told the BBC. 

New Zealand recently saw a surge of Americans seeking its “Active Investor Plus” visa, Fox News Digital previously reported.

In April, the government relaxed its visa rules to attract more high-net-worth individuals, with such changes as removing an English language requirement and reducing the amount of time required to spend in New Zealand.

In under three months, 189 golden visa applications were received, while previous applications were at 116 submissions over the span of more than two-and-a-half years, Reuters reported.

Nearly half the applications were submitted by U.S. citizens.

Former New Zealand Minister for Economic Development Stuart Nash, co-founder of Nash Kelly Global, told Fox News Digital the visas are becoming more popular.

“There’s a lot of global uncertainty at the moment,” he said last month. 

“You’ve got a war going on in Europe, you’ve got the tinderbox, which is the Middle East. You’ve got a change in the U.S. administration,” said Nash, “which is causing more polarization than we’ve seen in a long, long time.”

He added, “In the past, people were looking for tax havens. Now they’re looking for safe havens for them[selves] and their family.”