Grenada and the US E-2 visa: what the rest of the industry is still not telling you

Among the five Caribbean citizenship by investment programmes, Grenada is the only country that holds an E-2 treaty with the United States. This part is true, and it is why so much is written about it.

Here is the part that is written about far less. If you acquire Grenadian citizenship by investment, you must be domiciled in Grenada for three years before you can apply for an E-2.

I am going to say one thing repeatedly in this article, and I would rather be repetitive than wrong: our advice begins and ends with Grenada. We are not American lawyers, we are not qualified on the US side, and anybody serious about this route should take proper US immigration counsel before they start, not after, we can help and advise on who to choose

Thinking about this route? Start with an honest conversation about what Grenada can and cannot do. Talk to Tandem.

The rule, stated plainly

Under the current US legislation, somebody who obtains Grenadian citizenship through financial investment, and who has not previously held qualifying E status, has to show they have been domiciled in Grenada for a continuous period of at least three years before they can apply.

That is the whole of it. There is no shortcut around it that we are aware of, and anybody offering you one should be asked to put it in writing, and even if they do, please have it checked by a U.S. immigration attorney.

Nobody can tell you exactly what domicile means. Including us.

This is the genuinely important part, and it cuts both ways. The legislation refers to domicile. It does not refer to continuous physical presence, or tax residence, or a prescribed number of days. Nobody in Grenada, and as far as we can establish, nobody in the United States, can give you a precise definition of what will satisfy it.

The good news is that Domicile does not mean living here full time. There is no published day count you must hit. The bad news is equally real. Because there is no bright line, there is no checklist you can complete and be certain. No single action, no combination of actions, and no passage of three years guarantees that Grenadian domicile has been established, unless of course you do genuinely move to and live in Grenada continuously for three years and can prove that your intention is to continue to do so.

Each case turns on its own facts and ultimately on acceptance by the US authorities. Any firm telling you otherwise is telling you something they cannot know.

What building a genuine connection actually looks like

Given there is no formula, what we advise clients to do is build the strongest nexus to Grenada they reasonably can, and document all of it.

• Owning or leasing a property here, full time, and genuinely using it
• Spending meaningful, regular blocks of time on the island. Not a week here and a week there. Substantial periods, with a real focus to your life while you are here
• Holding and actively using a local bank account
• A Grenadian driving licence
• Registering as a voter
• Registering for tax and keeping your returns current every year
• Running a business here, whether something new or an extension of what you already do
• Utilities, telecoms, insurance, and the ordinary connective tissue of a life

Taken together, what these are meant to demonstrate is that Grenada has become a genuine home, rather than simply the country whose passport you hold.

And honestly, it is not a bad place to be asked to spend time. If you are not tied to an office, if you can work online or move around, then several months a year here, or a couple of months twice a year, is a perfectly pleasant way to build that grounding.

Read Living in Grenada, honestly for the related detail.

Domicile and residency are not the same word

People use these interchangeably and they are not interchangeable.

Residency is clearly defined in law. You can look up exactly what it means, how many days a year it requires, and what you must do to qualify.

Domicile is a different concept with a different definition, and in this context it is not clearly drawn anywhere. That is precisely why we keep returning to the same advice: make the connection as strong and as well-evidenced as you can, and take proper U.S. counsel advice on how it will be assessed.

If E-2 is your only reason, think very hard

Somebody came to me about this last week, as they do most weeks, and I gave them the answer I will give you.

If the sole reason you want Grenadian citizenship is to reach an E-2 visa, I think that is a risky proposition. You are committing significant money and three and a half years before you will have any real answer. That is a long time to hold a plan that depends on a definition nobody can give you. So I would ask you to think long and hard about it. Not because the route is not viable, but because betting everything on one outcome is a bad structure for a decision this size.

Why Grenada stands up without the E-2 argument

What I would say instead is that Grenadian citizenship is worth considering on its own merits, and that E-2 should be one reason among several rather than the whole case.

The programme has an excellent reputation in the market. The due diligence is thorough, and the banking and anti-money-laundering processes are thorough, which is exactly why the passport carries credibility rather than suspicion.

Beyond that, the reasons people actually apply are the ordinary ones. Travel. A genuine Plan B, which matters more than it did a decade ago, because we have all watched how quickly things change. Future-proofing for your family across generations. Buying property here. Starting a new business or expanding a current one, in Grenada.

There is a lot you can do in Grenada. E-2 is one item on that list. It should not be the only one.

Want the honest version for your own circumstances, including maybe the answer that this is not for you? Talk to Tandem.

We do not know how many of our clients have gone on to get an E-2

I would rather tell you that than imply a track record we cannot evidence.

Once we have done our job as marketing agent and a client has their citizenship, most of them go straight to a Grenadian immigration lawyer and an American immigration lawyer and handle the E-2 themselves. There is no particular reason for them to come back to us at that stage.

So we are not able to tell you that a given number of our clients have succeeded, because we genuinely do not know. We are happy to help where we can, and happy to act as a concierge on the Grenada side. It is not our area of expertise and we will not pretend it is.

If Grenada is not the right answer for you

If your only goal is reaching the United States, Grenada may not be your route, and I would rather say so.

I cannot advise you on alternatives, because that is not what we are qualified to do. What I can tell you is where to look. The United States publishes its full list of E-2 treaty countries, and the conditions vary from country to country. The treaties are not standardised. One country's terms can be meaningfully different from another's.

So go and read that list properly. You may find a country that suits your circumstances better, or a permanent residence programme somewhere that gets you where you are going more directly. Among the five Caribbean citizenship programmes, Grenada is the only one with an E-2 treaty, so if the Caribbean is where you were looking, your options there are narrow.

What we can help with, and what we will not pretend to

This is where I want to be completely clear, because not every agent in this industry is.

We can help you with everything Grenadian. Opening a bank account. Renewing a passport. Redeeming your CBI investment. Getting a driving licence. Finding a property to buy or rent. Setting up or relocating a business. Building and documenting the connection to this island that this route depends on. That is what we do and we are good at it.

We cannot advise you on the American side, and we will not try. We have a good network of US counsel and we are happy to introduce you. But the advice has to come from them, and it has to come at the beginning of the process rather than three years into it, so you know exactly what will be required of you before you commit anything.

We live here. We work here. This is our home, which means our reputation is not an abstraction to us. It is the thing we would still be living with long after a client has moved on. That is the honest reason we will not tell you what you want to hear.

Talk to Tandem

E-2 from Grenada is viable. It is also slower, less certain and more demanding than most of the industry suggests, and the three-year domicile requirement is not a detail you can plan around.

It is however a bona fide visa to the United States that allows you to live and work indefinitely, as long as your business can support you.

If you want a straight conversation about the Grenada half of this, Talk to Tandem. We will tell you what we know, tell you plainly what we do not, and point you to proper US counsel for the rest. You can also reach us on WhatsApp only or through our Contact page.

Tandem provides this information as general guidance only and not as Grenadian or US legal, tax or immigration advice. Neither Grenadian citizenship nor establishing domicile guarantees eligibility for or approval of an E-2 visa, and laws, policies and consular practices may change. Prospective applicants should obtain independent advice from suitably qualified US immigration counsel, together with Grenadian legal or tax advice where appropriate. Any steps taken towards establishing domicile or future E-2 eligibility are at the client's own risk.