Alien Licence

Buying Property in St Lucia

Non National

If you are interested in buying property in St Lucia, once an Agreement for Sale has been entered into between a non-national intended purchaser in his or her personal capacity and a vendor/developer of land in St Lucia and a deposit (usually about 10% of the purchase price) has been paid, the following process commences which once followed through will result in legal ownership of the property.

Non citizens require an Alien’s Land Holding Licence to purchase real estate in St Lucia. It is a long drawn out process which involves 4 government departments, being the Planning Department (where it is submitted), the Attorney Generals’ Office, the Prime Minister’s Office (or Cabinet for properties larger than 1 acre in size) and the Governor General’s Office.

A local lawyer must register the license. It is a permanent license which does not require renewal. The license is granted for a specific property or plot of land and is not transferable  the cost of the license upon grant is from ECD5,000.00.

Below are the fees for the license according to the size of the land:

Up to 1 acre of land USD1,859.00 ECD 5,000.00
Over 1 acre and up to 10 acres USD3,718.00 ECD 10,000.00
Over 10 acres and up to 20 acres USD7,435.00 ECD 20,000.00
Over 20 acres and up to 50 acres USD11,153.00 ECD 30,000.00
Over 50 acres and up to 100 acres USD14,870.00 ECD 40,000.00
100 acres and over USD18,588.00 ECD 50,000.00

There is a non-refundable license application fee of ECD1,500.00. Applications can take as quick as 6 weeks and as long as 6 months to process and are usually applied for immediately after an Agreement for Sale has been entered into and a deposit has been paid by the intended purchaser. The intended purchaser can secure his or her interest by lodging a “caution” against the property.
Supporting information to be provided by the intended purchaser includes:

1. Four (4) Passport sized photos
2. Certified copy of data pages of passport
3. Bank Reference
4. Short form CV
5. Police Certificate of Good Character (PCGC) or Police Report
6. Full set of certified Fingerprints from a Police Station


Once granted the License is registered at the Land Registry of St Lucia where it is given an Instrument No. This number and the details of the License are then entered on the Deed of Sale being the Instrument drawn up and executed by the parties to give effect to the actual Conveyance.

Upon registration of the Deed of Sale, Stamp Duty of 2% of the purchase price is payable by the Purchaser. Incidental registration charges amount to approximately ECD150.00. The Vendor is subject to the payment of Vendor’s Tax being up to 5% of the agreed sales price for a local purchaser and a flat rate of 10% for a non-national.

Legal Fees range between 3% - 5% of the purchase price, and is usual payable by the purchaser in two (2) instalments. With many of the current Developments underway, a panel of lawyers are selected who for an agreed set fee offer their services to purchasers of units at the development. These fees depend upon the cost of the units at the development and the number of potential purchasers each panel lawyer will receive, and have thus far ranged from USD5,000 to USD8,000 for the various developments currently under construction.

Some purchasers opt to purchase the property through the vehicle of a Company due to the tax savings upon sale of 9.5%. Costs inclusive of Legal fees to form a local Company are approximately ECD4,250.00. If the ownership/directorship of the company is such that 50% or more are non-national, then the Company will require an Aliens License in the above manner.

Alien Land License

DOCUMENTS/INFORMATION REQUIRED IN SUPPORT OF AN APPLICATION FOR AN ALIENS LICENCE

Non-refundable application fee of ECD1,500.00
Profile of applicant/Directors of Company –
Passport and Citizenship details (Copy Data pages of Passport)
Profession or employment status (short form CV/Resume)
Bankers’ reference
Police Certificate of good Character (PCGC) or Police Report from country of origin or current residence.
The Statutory Declaration (to be provided by us for your signature), may be provided as an interim measure, but the PCGC must be provided within 6 months of the date of the application.
Four (4) passport sized colour photographs of the applicant/directors. 
Full set of Finger-prints of applicant/directors
Purchase Price of the Property

All other supporting documents required are available to your attorney St Lucia and will be procured and presented along with the application on your behalf.

National 

Government Stamp Duty
There is a stamp duty of 2% of the purchase price of the property to register the Deed of Sale.

Mortgage

If a mortgage is taken there is a government stamp duty of 1-1.2% of the purchase price to register the mortgage.
Legal Fees:
The legal fees are set at 1-1.2% of the purchase price of the property for the legal work. If a loan is required, the lawyer will charge an additional 1 to 1.2%.
Registration, Copies and Stamps

The fees for these services are ECD150.00.

The local Buyer has to provide the following documents:
A letter from Inland Revenue for Property Tax
Clearance and Income Tax Clearance
A letter from National Insurance for Clearance.


Please note that information is subject to change Dream Villas Global cannot be held responsible for this.