# Dominica: Citizenship by Investment (CBI) > Dominica citizenship: EDF contribution from USD 200,000 or real estate from USD 200,000, mandatory interview, and ECCIRA regulator. Affordable Caribbean CBI route. Author: Алёна Дунаева — юрист, Family Office (https://wiki.private.law/authors/dunaeva) Last modified: 2026-07-14T09:31:00.000Z Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-dominica Topics: migration Jurisdictions: dominica Semantic tags: permanent-residence --- ## History Dominica launched its citizenship-by-investment program in 1993 — among the first in the world, right behind St Kitts. For decades it held the reputation of the most affordable entry into Caribbean citizenship: a low threshold, no residence requirement, a fast process. The years 2024–2026 rewrote the program: the minimum contribution doubled to US$200,000 under the Caribbean harmonisation, the interview became mandatory, and Dominica itself ran the region's toughest clean-up — dozens of revoked passports and nationality stop-lists. The program remains the cheapest of the five, but it is no longer the "easy" one. ## Investment Options Two routes. The non-refundable contribution to the **Economic Diversification Fund (EDF)** — from **$200,000** for a single applicant and from **$250,000** for a family of up to four. Or approved real estate from **$200,000** (eco-resorts and hotel projects) plus a government fee of **$75,000** for a single applicant or **$100,000** for a family of up to four; the property is held three years, and can requalify a subsequent CBI buyer after five — the region's shortest lock-up, though with the government fee the real-estate route almost always costs more than the fund. ## Fees and the All-In Cost On top of the investment: due diligence of $7,500 for the main applicant and $4,000 per dependant 16+ ($500 under 16), $1,000 processing, the **interview fee of $1,000 per person 16+**, and about $1,300 for the naturalisation certificate and passport. All-in, a single EDF applicant lands at roughly **$211,000** — the cheapest Caribbean passport; a family of four — about **$265,000**; the real-estate route for a family — from ~$310,000. ## Family The application covers the spouse, unmarried dependent children under 30 and parents or grandparents aged **65+** (a higher bar than the neighbours'). Siblings were removed from the program in 2023. Newborns are added post-grant for a modest fee. ## Process and 2026 Timelines Filing is remote, through a licensed agent. The mandatory interview covers everyone 16+, online, for a separate fee. The industry-measured average is about **9 months**, but the spread is the region's widest: 4 to 18 depending on the applicant's profile and the depth of vetting. There is no residence requirement before or after — but during 2026 Dominica announced a shift to **in-person passport collection**, and the agreed 30-days-in-five-years presence requirement awaits the launch of the regional regulator ECCIRA (whose fifth ratification — St Lucia's — had not happened as of July 2026). > ⚙️ Dominica is the region's champion of retroactive discipline: since June 2024 it has revoked **68 passports** for fraud and misrepresentation, including documents issued under aliases. Since March 2026 applications from Iranian nationals are suspended (exceptions: 10+ years outside Iran and no assets there), following North Korea and Sudan. For a bona fide applicant this is arguably a plus: the program is rebuilding partners' trust. ## What the Passport Gives The Dominican passport ranks 29th in the Henley 2026 index with about **145 destinations**: Schengen (90 days per half-year), China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia and most of Latin America. The UK has required a visa since July 2023 — the old visa-free regime is gone. Citizenship passes by descent; no residence is required. The tax side is mild: for those who do not become [tax residents](https://wiki.private.law/en/tax-residency-basics) of the islands there is no tax on worldwide income, inheritance or capital gains. ## External Pressure: the US and the EU Dominica — together with Antigua — was named in the US proclamation of 16 December 2025: from 1 January 2026, B1/B2 visitor visas for its citizens are cut to three months single-entry, and immigrant visas are frozen. The stated reason is precisely "citizenship without residency". The European track is shared by the five: since 30 December 2025 a CBI program is formal grounds for suspending Schengen visa-free access, and in June 2026 the European Commission proposed the Caribbean states wind down their programs by 1 June 2028, with interim measures by September 2026. Add the historic stain of diplomatic passports (the Monfared and Alireza affairs), which critics still cite — and which today's clean-up is designed to answer. > 🧭 Schengen visa-free access for Caribbean passports is no longer guaranteed years ahead, and US visas for Dominican citizens are already curtailed. If EU and US mobility is critical — spread it across several statuses rather than one passport. ## Typical Mistakes 1. **Choosing Dominica "from memory" as the easiest.** Interviews, deep vetting and stop-lists are now standard; a cheap entry does not mean an easy one. 2. **Budgeting without the fees**: DD, the interview, the certificate and the passport add ~$11,000 for a single applicant and ~$15,000+ for a family. 3. **Planning for parents aged 55–64** — Dominica's bar is 65+; younger parents qualify only with the neighbours. 4. **Ignoring the US restriction** — three-month single-entry B1/B2s change the logic of business travel to the States. 5. **Confusing the passport with a tax solution** — residency and [CRS](https://wiki.private.law/en/crs-overview) live separately from citizenship. ## Against the Neighbours Dominica is the price leader for single applicants (~$211,000 all-in) and has the shortest real-estate lock-up. [St Kitts](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-st-kitts) is more prestigious and faster, [Antigua](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-antigua) suits large families, [Grenada](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-grenada) offers E-2 and a clean US standing, [St Lucia](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-st-lucia) — the refundable bond. The full map is in the [CBI overview](https://wiki.private.law/en/citizenship-by-investment). ## Place in the Flag System > 🔗 **Related** > [Citizenship by Investment: overview](https://wiki.private.law/en/citizenship-by-investment) · [A second passport and Plan B](https://wiki.private.law/en/second-passport-plan-b) · [St Kitts & Nevis (CBI)](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-st-kitts) · [St Lucia (CBI)](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-st-lucia) · [Grenada (CBI)](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-grenada) · [Antigua & Barbuda (CBI)](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-antigua) · [Vanuatu (CBI)](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-vanuatu) · [Tax residency: basics](https://wiki.private.law/en/tax-residency-basics) In the [Five Flags](https://wiki.private.law/en/five-flags) system this is Flag 1 — citizenship and the second passport: a mobility instrument and a fallback. It does not affect tax residency — that task belongs to Flag 2, chosen deliberately. ## Primary Sources > 🔗 [CBIU Dominica — official program site](https://www.cbiu.gov.dm/) · [IMI: real processing times 2026](https://www.imidaily.com/analysis/caribbean-cbi-processing-times-2026-wait-per-program/) · [The Commission's 8th visa-mechanism report](https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/225fea8b-3245-478f-a331-17868b0f9b56_en) > 🍓 The cheapest Caribbean passport — ~$211,000 all-in for a single applicant — with Schengen and China, but without Britain and with curtailed US visas. After the 68-passport clean-up and the stop-lists the program is stricter and slower than its reputation: prepare the file as you would for a bank, and insure mobility with a second status. *This material is prepared for educational purposes and reflects an expert overview, not individual advice. Thresholds, fees and requirements change — verify current rules before applying and engage legal support if necessary.* --- --- ## Factual claims - Dominica launched its citizenship-by-investment program in 1993 — among the first in the world, right behind St Kitts. - The application covers the spouse, unmarried dependent children under 30 and parents or grandparents aged 65+ (a higher bar than the neighbours'). - The Dominican passport ranks 29th in the Henley 2026 index with about 145 destinations: Schengen (90 days per half-year), China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia and most of Latin America. - Dominica — together with Antigua — was named in the US proclamation of 16 December 2025: from 1 January 2026, B1/B2 visitor visas for its citizens are cut to three months single-entry, and immigrant visas are frozen. - Dominica is the price leader for single applicants (~$211,000 all-in) and has the shortest real-estate lock-up. - In the Five Flags system this is Flag 1 — citizenship and the second passport: a mobility instrument and a fallback.