How Dependent Fees, Due Diligence, And Interviews Drive The Real Family Math
For advisors, the most common pricing mistake in citizenship by investment family cost discussions is treating the headline contribution as the entire budget. Official fee schedules show that the effective cost profile for a household can shift materially once you add government fees that scale with dependents, age based due diligence, and, in at least one program, mandatory interviews.
This matters most for professionals benchmarking “cost per passport citizenship by investment” for a standard household. A program that looks competitive on the base contribution can become less predictable for larger families, or for families with older dependents who trigger additional due diligence fees.
Below is a source grounded view of the current, published fee components for four Caribbean citizenship by investment programs, followed by practice notes on how to use a quality overlay such as the Global Abroad Mobility Index (GAMI) when clients push for a single “best value” answer.
What The Official Fee Schedules Actually Price
Across the programs covered here, the base qualifying contribution is only one part of the spend. The official schedules also highlight components that scale by person, by dependent status, and by age, which is why “family of four cbi pricing” needs to be modelled as a household, not as a single applicant.
| Program (Authority) | Qualifying Contribution Stated In Official Materials | Selected Published Dependent And Due Diligence Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Dominica Citizenship by Investment Unit (CBIU) | Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) contribution of USD 250,000 for a “family of four” (fee overview dated May 14, 2026). | Standard due diligence fees of USD 7,500 for the main applicant, USD 4,000 for a spouse, and USD 4,000 for each dependent aged 16+; plus a mandatory interview fee of USD 1,000 (guidance dated July 30, 2026). |
| Antigua And Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) | National Development Fund (NDF) contribution of USD 230,000 per application. | Official schedule shows additional government and due diligence fees per dependent, and includes step payment mechanics including a non refundable portion due at submission. |
| St. Kitts And Nevis Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) | Sustainable Island State Contribution (SISC) minimum of USD 250,000 (CIU materials dated April 9, 2026). | Additional dependants under 18 charged USD 25,000 and dependants 18+ charged USD 50,000 each; due diligence fees of USD 10,000 for the main applicant and USD 7,500 for each dependent aged 16+. |
| Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) | National Economic Fund contribution option of USD 150,000 for an applicant applying with spouse and up to two qualifying dependents (official CIP FAQ). | The cited FAQ item confirms the household composition for this option; dependents and due diligence line items should be built from the program’s current official schedule used for filing. |
This table follows the source wording, and eligibility and fee outcomes remain case specific.
Eligibility And KYC: The Family Math Is Age Sensitive
Due diligence triggers can turn on dependent age
The cleanest illustration in the published materials is Dominica: the CBIU lists standard due diligence fees of USD 7,500 for the main applicant, USD 4,000 for a spouse, and USD 4,000 for each dependent aged 16+. For household budgeting and for “cbi dependent fees due diligence” modelling, this means the same family size can price differently depending on whether dependents have reached the 16+ due diligence threshold at the time the file is prepared.
Interviews can be a separate required line item
Dominica’s official guidance also lists a mandatory interview fee of USD 1,000 (July 30, 2026 guidance). For firms designing an intake checklist, this matters because interview logistics and scheduling are operational requirements as well as cost items. Treat the interview as a planned workstream in file readiness, not as an afterthought attached to payment.
What does not change in practice: review discipline
Even when a published fee schedule makes budgeting appear straightforward, your clients still face program screening and review. From a compliance first perspective, the stable advisory principle is to build the file around coherent source of funds and source of wealth narratives and to align household facts to the fee schedule logic, especially where age triggers extra due diligence charges.
Advisor Notes: Turning “Cost Per Passport” Into A Defensible Recommendation
Separate three buckets in every client memo
Professionals get better client outcomes when the “citizenship by investment family cost” conversation is split into three buckets in writing: (1) the qualifying contribution stated by the authority, (2) government fees that scale with dependents, and (3) due diligence charges that can trigger by dependent status and age. This prevents a common mismatch where the client approves the contribution but reacts to later line items as if they were unexpected.
Step payment mechanics are a cashflow and refund risk issue
Antigua and Barbuda’s official schedule calls out step payment mechanics, including a non refundable portion due at submission. This has two second order implications for professional practice. First, your intake should be strict before submission, because gaps discovered after submission can create misalignment between remediation work and funds already committed. Second, engagement letters and invoice schedules should mirror the program’s payment staging, so the client understands which portion is recoverable and when funds become committed.
Use GAMI as a quality overlay, not as a pricing engine
Clients who lead with “lowest cost per passport” are often using price as a proxy for confidence. A structured overlay such as the Global Abroad Mobility Index (GAMI) helps keep the discussion anchored in program quality considerations alongside fees, including how a program’s published requirements translate into operational certainty for the client’s case.
Where Abroad Mobility fits for partner firms
For Canadian immigration professionals and adjacent private client advisors, Abroad Mobility operates as application co management and back office processing for immigration professionals. The value for this specific use case is operational: building client specific fee maps from primary published schedules, structuring KYC and due diligence intake around household composition, and maintaining file readiness so submission sequencing aligns with step payments and mandatory items.
The programs’ published fee schedules make the core point unavoidable: family economics are driven by dependent fees, due diligence by age, and, in Dominica, a mandatory interview fee. A defensible “cost per passport citizenship by investment” answer starts with the authority’s schedule and then pressure tests the household facts against every fee trigger.
To discuss co-managed intake, fee mapping, and compliant packaging across programs, contact Abroad Mobility.
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