GOVERNMENT OF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS INVITES DIASPORA NATIONALS TO COME HOME AND HELP BUILD THE SUSTAINABLE ISLAND STATE
Basseterre, Saint Kitts, October 23, 2026 (SKNIS): Generations of eligible Kittitians and Nevisians living abroad can now look forward to the opportunity to formally claim their ancestral citizenship, come home, invest, contribute their skills and expertise, and help build the Sustainable Island State.
This follows the successful passage of the St. Christopher and Nevis Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the National Assembly on October 23, 2026, with Attorney General (AG) and Acting Minister responsible for Citizenship and Immigration, the Honourable Garth Wilkin, extending a heartfelt invitation to the diaspora to reconnect with the Federation and play a greater role in its national development.
In a passionate plea, Attorney General Wilkin described the legislation as a long-overdue reform that would strengthen the Federation’s relationship with its diaspora while opening new opportunities for eligible descendants to formalise their citizenship.
“Come home. Come home to own land without asking permission. Come home to build, to invest, to teach, to heal, to farm, to retire,” AG Wilkin declared, inviting members of the diaspora to play a more direct role in shaping the country’s future.
The St. Christopher and Nevis Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2026, will allow adults born abroad on or after September 19, 1983, whose parent or grandparent became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis at Independence, to apply for registration as citizens. It addresses a gap in the law that had existed for 43 years, leaving some descendants without a pathway to citizenship based on their ancestry.
The attorney general emphasised that the reform is about more than just citizenship documents. He said it is about harnessing the full potential of the Federation’s people, wherever they reside, to advance the government’s Sustainable Island State agenda (SISA).
“We cannot build that with fifty-one thousand people, Madame Speaker. Nobody could,” AG Wilkin said, while highlighting the need to draw upon the expertise and contributions of nationals living in places such as Toronto, New York, New Jersey, Birmingham, Leeds and Bermuda.
Wilkin argued that reconnecting eligible descendants with citizenship could help mobilise additional human capital, investment and expertise in support of national priorities.
“For forty-three years we have asked those people to love this country from a distance. We have taken their remittances and their barrels and their Christmas visits and we have given them, in return, a passport that says they belong to somebody else. This Bill ends that,” AG Wilkin said. “It says to the children and grandchildren of the men and women who left these shores in the hard years: you are not the diaspora. You are the Federation. You always were.”
The government intends to begin accepting applications under the new Section 3A pathway on Monday, November 02, 2026, subject to the necessary regulations being enacted. Applicants will be able to obtain application forms from the Ministry of National Security, Immigration and Citizenship in Basseterre, through its website, or at Saint Kitts and Nevis’ overseas diplomatic missions. Arrangements are also being developed to facilitate online card payments, while overseas missions will assist applicants residing abroad.
The legislative reform represents an opportunity to deepen the bond between the Federation and its diaspora, bringing generations of family connections into a clearer legal framework while opening the door to greater participation in building the Sustainable Island State.
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