Mitchell’s party leads 14 of 15 seats; planned 30-day CBI stay undated

Mitchell’s National Democratic Congress leads in 14 of 15 Grenadian constituencies in the 5 November election, the Parliamentary Elections Office’s provisional results show. An amendment to Grenada’s citizenship by investment (CBI) law would require new citizens to spend 30 days in the country over their first five years. No document read on 7 November gives the amendment a start date.

What the provisional results show

As read on 7 November, the Parliamentary Elections Office’s results portal shows 282 of 282 polling divisions reported and states that all data is provisional until officially certified.

The portal prints no election date; Caribbean National Weekly (5 October) and WIC News (6 November) report the vote for 5 November.

The portal’s Winning Candidate view shows a leading party in each of the 15 constituencies: the National Democratic Congress in 14 and the New National Party in one, Saint George North-West.

Adding the portal’s polling-division rows gives the National Democratic Congress 37,369 of 61,264 valid votes, the New National Party 22,567 and the Democratic People’s Movement 1,189, with 139 for five other parties. In Saint David, Mitchell received 5,318 votes.

What the amendment would require

The Grenada Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Bill, 2026 would recognise the Eastern Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Regulatory Authority (ECCIRA) as the regional regulator and would set these requirements for the main applicant and each dependant named in the application.

• A commitment to 30 days of physical presence in Grenada in total, during or up to any of the first five calendar years after citizenship is granted, which the main applicant and the named dependants may meet together, subject to the individual minimum below. Compliance would be evidenced on application and at passport renewal.
• At least 5 days in the first 12 months for each person named; days above those minimums can be shared, and a day on which two are present counts once toward the 30.
• A mandatory integration programme, which may include civic education, cultural orientation, community service or an interview.
• A passport valid for five years at first, renewable for ten only on certification that these residence and integration requirements were met. Failure without reasonable excuse would be grounds to start procedures to revoke the citizenship and the passport.
• A personal interview, mandatory in due diligence for the applicant and each named dependant aged 18 or over (12 or over where there is a material concern); non-attendance without just cause would mean suspension or rejection.

The Bill allows exemptions from the presence requirement in exceptional and compassionate circumstances.

Why the start date is still open

Clause 1(2) of the Bill says the Act comes into force on a date the Minister appoints by an Order published in the Gazette. Section 7B(6) would apply the new duties to applications submitted on or after the commencement of the ECCIRA Agreement Act (No. 19 of 2025, which gives effect to the regional agreement), and would let the Minister apply them to pending applications, subject to transitional guidelines.

These are two separate dates. Clause 1(2) governs when the amendment starts; section 7B(6) keys the duties to the commencement of the ECCIRA Agreement Act of 2025. Whether that Act is in force was not established.

The Investment Migration Agency Grenada said in Circular No. 2 of 2026, dated 21 August (press and media page), that the residence requirement was scheduled to commence on 31 August but would not take effect until the regional regulator was operational and all participating Member States had formally agreed and communicated a commencement date (earlier coverage).

The circular calls the change “the recent amendment concerning the residence requirement” and refers to “the related amendments adopted in 2025 and 2026”; it does not say what fixed 31 August. This indicates the agency treated the amendment as adopted by 21 August; whether it was brought into force was not established.

ECCIRA says on its website that it will start operating in Grenada in late 2026; its Updates page reads “No updates published yet” (earlier coverage).

As read on 7 November, the agency’s media list shows nothing after 22 September, when it announced an independent review of the programme, and no item sets a start date or transitional guidelines.

What it means for a Vietnamese investor or family

• Nothing read on 7 November shows a 30-day requirement in force: the circular defers it until the regulator is operational and the Member States formally agree a start date, and nothing later appears on the agency’s media list.
• Whether a file lodged before the duties start would be caught is open: section 7B(6) would let the Minister apply them to pending applications, and no transitional guidelines appear on that list.

What this article has not established

The earlier coverage read Gazette issues 35 to 39 of Volume 144 (31 July to 21 August) and found no commencement order. Later issues, the House and Senate records and the ECCIRA Agreement Act were not read, and the Gazette’s website returned an error on 7 November, so the Bill’s Act number and assent date are not established.

The portal prints no seat total or certification; no declaration of the return or date for swearing in a Prime Minister is in the evidence.

No statement on citizenship by investment by Mitchell, his party or the Government after the vote was found in Caribbean National Weekly, iWitness News or WIC News (6 November) or on the agency’s site.