Dominica · Citizenship by investment
Dominica Citizenship by Investment Programme
Open, priced exactly at the USD 200,000 OECS Memorandum of Agreement floor. It was named in the US Presidential Proclamation of 16 December 2025, effective 1 January 2026, specifically because it has historically allowed citizenship by investment without a residency requirement. Lost UK visa-free access in 2023. Processing of Iranian applications was suspended by memorandum dated 23 March 2026.
Dominica is the price leader, and it shows you exactly what that discount buys. It is the only one of the five to have lost UK visa-free access, and it is one of only two named in the US travel proclamation. The cheapest passport in the world is cheap for a reason. Two of the three destinations that matter have already walked away from it.
Qualifying routes
Single applicant. For the main applicant plus up to three dependants, the fee is USD 250,000. Each additional dependant under 18 costs USD 25,000, and each dependant aged 18 or over costs USD 40,000. All fees are non-refundable.
This applies to an approved project unit. The holding period is three years from the grant of citizenship, or five years if the onward buyer is also a CBI applicant. Government fees of USD 75,000 for a single applicant, or USD 100,000 for a family of up to four, sit on top.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $200k
- Total landed cost
- EDF single applicant: USD 200,000 plus USD 7,500 due diligence, USD 1,000 processing, USD 1,000 interview and USD 500 for the naturalisation certificate. That comes to roughly USD 210,000 before agent and legal fees, so realistically you are looking at USD 230–250k all-in. For a family of four, plan on roughly USD 275–300k all-in. The real estate route costs far more than its USD 200,000 sticker suggests. Government fees alone add USD 75–100k, so a single applicant should realistically expect USD 300k-plus for a recoverable asset in a thin market.
- Route type
- Citizenship by investment
- Timeline
- 4–18 months (Processing averaged 9.3 months in Q4 2025, the widest spread in the region. The official target is 3–4 months. The rejection rate was 6.5% in 2024, the highest of the three figures the European Commission published. That is faint praise.)
- Physical presence
- None required today. That could change under the regional ECCIRA 30-day rule, though its start date has slipped repeatedly and had not been confirmed in force as at July 2026.
- Family
- SpouseChildren under 18Dependent children 18–30Dependent parents and grandparents over 65Dependent siblings under 25, conditions apply
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable. Citizenship is granted directly.
- Citizenship
- Immediate on approval and payment, though in practice it takes 4–18 months.
- Language test
- None
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- clean criminal recordverified lawful source of fundsmandatory interview for all applicants aged 16 and over (USD 1,000 per interview)enhanced due diligenceapplication through an Authorised Agentcertain nationalities face restrictions, including a suspension for Iranian nationals since March 2026
- The UK withdrew visa-free access for Dominican nationals in 2023, and the US suspended immigrant visas plus B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M and J visas from 1 January 2026, expressly on CBI grounds. State Department reciprocity schedules also cut B-1/B-2 validity to 3 months single-entry, with a bond of up to USD 15,000. Of the three headline destinations a client buys this passport for, only Schengen remains. The EU has said it expects these schemes to be discontinued.
- The CIU has revoked 68 CBI passports since 2024 for fraud. Revocation risk is not theoretical here. Your citizenship is only as durable as the unit's willingness to defend the file it approved.
- Applications from Iranian nationals were suspended by CIU memorandum dated 23 March 2026, except in narrow cases requiring no Iranian residence for 10+ years and no financial or business ties. Nationality-based suspensions can appear with no notice and no grandfathering.
- Processing times range from 4 to 18 months. That is the widest and least predictable spread in the region, despite an official 3–4 month target.
- The real estate route's USD 200,000 sticker price is misleading. Government fees of USD 75,000–100,000 sit on top, approved-project units are priced well above local market value, and the resale market is almost entirely other CBI buyers.
- Unlike St Kitts and Antigua, Dominica has a real personal income tax, up to 35% above XCD 80,000, on a XCD 30,000 personal allowance. Residents are taxed on income including income from overseas. Anyone who actually moves here needs advice. This is not a zero-tax jurisdiction.
- The OECD lists Dominica's CBI scheme as potentially high-risk for CRS circumvention.