Dominica Citizenship By Investment Program 2023:
The Ultimate Guide
-
AUTHOR
Marat Kurbanov -
LAST UPDATED
January 6, 2022
Looking for a powerful second passport with visa-free travel rights to the UK and Schengen Europe? The Dominica Citizenship By Investment (CBI) Program offers foreign applicants and their families the ability to legally obtain second citizenship and an alternative passport in approximately six months.
The Dominica passport offers the bearer visa-free access to 121 countries around the world, including numerous attractive international travel destinations. And with government donations priced from only $100,000 excluding fees, the program offers excellent value, especially for single applicants.
Find out more about the Dominica CBI program below, or complete the contact form at the end of this article to request a free consultation with a Dominica economic citizenship specialist.
In this In-Depth Article...
Compare ALL Citizenship-By-Investment Options At A Glance...
Download our Citizenship By Investment Comparison Sheet to see at a glance which options are right for you…
It could potentially help you save tens — or even hundreds of thousands — of Dollars by picking the best passport for your personal situation at the lowest price.
Inside, you’ll find…
Established in 2013, the Dominica Citizenship By Investment Program is one of the most established and well-known programs of its kind. The Commonwealth country’s passport affords the bearer visa-free access to sought after destinations such as Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, Russia, Brazil, and all of the European Union countries.
The program offers applicants the option of either making a donation or an investment in a government approved property project. Donations made under the CBI program go towards the Dominica Economic Diversification Fund.
Revenue raised through the donation-based route has been utilized for a number of medium-cost housing initiatives after tropical storm Erika (2015) and Hurricane Maria (2017) displaced large numbers of Dominica citizens.
With government donations priced from only $100,000 excluding due diligence and service fees, the Dominica investment passport is one of cheapest economic citizenship programs in the world for single applicants.
Yet to accurately identify the cheapest citizenship by investment program, one cannot only look at the base government donations required. In order to compare apples with apples, you have to look at the total cost of second citizenship, inclusive of the donation, professional service fees, due diligence costs and government processing fees (if you were to choose the property investment option).
You can use Sovereign Man’s CBI Cost Calculator to gain a more accurate idea of what several of the Caribbean CBI programs’ donation options will cost you based on your personal situation and family size.
While the donation-based route remains a very popular option across most of the competing Caribbean countries’ programs, there are also several real estate based investment options that can lead to second citizenship.
Dominica’s Secret Bay development is widely regarded as one of the most successful CBI property developments in the world. And with qualifying investments in its CBI approved projects priced from only $200,000, it may therefore be an option to consider as an alternative to the donation-based route. We cover the available fractional ownership investments and donation options in more detail below…
LEGAL BASIS: Section 101 of the Dominica Constitution and Section 8 and Amendment 20(1) of the Citizenship Act serve as the legal basis for the country’s investor program. Accordingly, eligible foreign nationals can legally be granted instant Dominica citizenship by a Certificate of Naturalization.
Will I be buying a Dominica passport, or am I investing in citizenship?
While mainstream media outlets frequently report on what the term “passports for sale” schemes or “cash for passports” programs, this is not technically how it works. You cannot legally “buy” a Caribbean passport as a foreigner.
However, across the Caribbean and elsewhere in the world, countries with CBI programs have enacted legislation that enables foreigners to acquire second citizenship on the basis of either making a significant donation, or by making a significant eligible investment – typically in real estate – in the host country.
As of August 2022, applicants can choose from the following available options to obtain Dominica citizenship by investment:
| Single Applicant | Married Couple | Family of Three | Family of Four | |
| Government Donation | $100,000 | $150,000 | $175,000 | $175,000 |
| Property Investment | $225,000+ | $235,000+ | $235,000+ | $235,000+ |
| Government Processing Fee | $25,000 | $35,000 | $35,000 | $35,000 |
PLEASE NOTE: The above CBI pricing table excludes professional services fees, due diligence costs and government processing fees on the real estate option. Consult our CBI pricing calculator for more information on the donation-based pricing across the core Caribbean citizenship programs.
Most of the Caribbean CBIs have opted to approve only off-plan property developments towards their CBI programs – and ones in the tourism and hospitality sectors, in particular.
Dominica’s minimum required investment in a government approved property is $200,000. The Residences at Secret Bay development is one of the leading CBI approved projects in Dominica, and one of the most successful projects of its kind in the Caribbean. The six-star resort was voted the Best Boutique Hotel in the world during 2016.
Other CBI approved real estate developments in Dominica include Cabrits Resort Kempinski, Jungle Bay Villas and Bois Cotlette Estate.
(Please note: Inclusion of these projects in this article should not be construed as an endorsement; they are included purely for informational purposes.)
Apart from meeting the requirements of Dominica’s Citizenship Program, CBI Investors at Secret Bay also benefit from being able to spend a limited amount of time at the resort each year.
A key feature of this investment is that the product being invested in has already been completed; the resort is already open and trading. Share options in the project are priced from $208,000, which therefore meets the Dominica program’s investment requirements.
In Grenada, for example, the real estate option comes in two different flavors: You can either buy a titled-deeded property on a freehold condominium basis (in the Kawana Bay development), or on a share scheme basis (in the Six Senses La Sagesse development).
The basis upon which you make a property investment can significantly impact its potential capital appreciation, so it is vital to consider the differences and to do thorough due diligence on both the developer and project you’re considering investing in.
Your property investment must be maintained for a minimum period of three years. However, if you hang onto it for a minimum of five years, you’ll be eligible to resell your investment under the Citizenship By Investment program to an incoming CBI investor.
In the main, however, it is important to note that government approved CBI properties tend to be overpriced relative to what’s available on the open market. For most CBI investors, it is therefore more a case of recouping their initial investment, rather than actually turning a significant profit upon resale.
And recouping your initial capital is generally not guaranteed. This goes a long way to explain why such a large percentage of applicants opt for the donation-based route…
And while there are cases where investors are seeing acceptable returns on their CBI investment, this may likely not be the norm for a number of years to come, given the impact of COVID-19 on the Caribbean tourism sectors.
If you’re looking to limit your overall capital exposure, while also reducing the risks associated with owning an offshore property – or a share in such a property – in a hurricane prone area, the donation route may suit you better.
Another slower and more affordable option to consider is the incoming Dominica Entrepreneur Visa. This program requires a minimum entrepreneurial investment of $50,000, and can lead to Dominica citizenship and a second passport after 2 years. You are also required to bring $100,000 to one of the island’s banks in order to qualify, however you are able to spend this money while in Dominica.
We will report on this program more extensively once additional details become available.
If you’re interested about learning more about other residency and citizenship programs available on the market in 2021, we highly recommend that you sign up for Notes From The Field, our FREE newsletter, to discover your best second citizenship options…
In addition to making an eligible investment or donation, applicants also have to meet the following additional criteria:
As of February 2021, the Dominica passport gives the bearer visa-free access to 122 countries around the world, including the EU, Switzerland, Singapore, Russia, Hong Kong and Brazil. Additional visa-free travel destinations include:
Given the state of the world, right now is the best time to put a robust Plan B in place. Simply complete the below form to request a free call-back from a Dominica investment citizenship specialist today.
Government donations from $100,000 for a single applicant, excluding fees. Contact us now for more information.
