Dominica citizenship by investment

Eligibility & suitability

Contribution and eligibility

The Economic Diversification Fund route starts at USD 200,000 for a main applicant or USD 250,000 for the applicant and up to three qualifying dependants. Further contributions depend on additional dependants’ ages. This is a non-refundable government contribution, not an investment account.

Approved real estate has a separate structure with a minimum investment and additional government fees. Family inclusion, nationality restrictions, background and source-of-funds questions must be checked before selecting either route.

Add the fees rather than hiding them

The EDF schedule lists USD 1,000 processing per application, USD 7,500 due diligence for the main applicant, USD 4,000 for qualifying dependants aged 16 or above, USD 500 per naturalisation certificate and USD 1,000 per required interview. Enhanced due diligence may add costs.

Passport charges, professional assistance, medical checks, police records, authentication, translations and banking costs are separate. The complete figure should be calculated from the actual family, not a generic “from” price.

Application steps

• Choose an authorised agent; the CBIU does not accept direct applications.
• Confirm applicant and dependant eligibility and select the route.
• Collect identity, family, police, medical and financial evidence, translated into English and authenticated as required.
• Submit the complete file for government due diligence and attend interviews for applicants aged 16 or above.
• If approved in principle, complete the contribution or qualifying property payment and applicable charges.
• Complete naturalisation and passport documentation.

Documents, timing and continuing duties

Source-of-funds evidence should trace how the money was earned and how it reaches the government or approved investment. Name discrepancies, unexplained transfers, incomplete residence histories and missing visa-refusal disclosures can cause questions that a larger contribution will not solve.

The official FAQ says applicants should generally expect at least three months from submission to approval in principle. Document preparation and passport issuance are additional, and a particular file may take longer. The CBIU states no prior or subsequent residence requirement; property investors must still comply with their holding conditions and passport documents require renewal.

Assess what the passport actually changes

The UK currently requires a visa for Dominican citizens. Schengen short-visit exemption does not grant European residence. Citizenship also does not end tax residence elsewhere. We can help compare the route against the family’s real priorities and coordinate the agreed application and wider planning work.

Real-estate capital is not the total real-estate cost

The approved-project route requires at least USD 200,000 in the qualifying unit, plus a government fee of USD 75,000 for a single applicant or USD 100,000 for the principal and up to three dependants. Additional dependants add USD 25,000 below eighteen or USD 40,000 at eighteen or above. Processing, due diligence, naturalisation and interview fees remain additional.

The property must normally be held for three years from citizenship, or five years if sold to another CBI applicant. An exit depends on the legal interest, project and actual buyer market. Compare the property’s recoverable value and carrying expenses with the EDF’s known non-refundable contribution, rather than subtracting the headline property price from the cost.

The document list has specific geographic and age coverage

The CBIU lists D1 disclosure, D2 fingerprint/photograph verification, D3 medical evidence, D4 investment agreement and notarised Form 12, with a sale agreement for property. Police records for applicants sixteen or older cover birth, citizenship and residence countries and countries of residence exceeding six months during the past ten years.

The authorised agent should map that history before ordering records. A missing certificate from a former residence can hold up the file even when the current-country record is clear. Interview preparation means understanding and truthfully explaining the application; agents cannot attend the virtual interview in the applicant’s place.

Tax statements from a citizenship brochure are insufficient

Dominica’s tax authority describes resident individuals as taxable on global income subject to exemptions and treaty rules. That is different from a CBI applicant who continues to live elsewhere. The citizenship application does not decide whether the applicant is resident under the tax statute.

If a physical move is planned, model the income streams before arrival, including company profits, salary, dividends and rent. If no move is planned, assess the continuing tax obligations where the family already lives. Either way, a passport should be acquired for the actual rights it adds, not on an unsupported assumption that it removes income tax.