Dominica amends its Citizenship by Investment program

The Citizenship by Investment Unit (CBIU) of the Commonwealth of Dominica has made some adjustments to Dominica’s Economic Citizenship Program. The adjustments, which were published in the Official Gazette on August 18th, 2022, will take effect on September 15th, 2022. The changes include the redefinition of eligible dependents for Dominica CBI applications as well as some changes to the criteria for calculating the government fees that are required for the real estate investment option and the contribution amount for the donation option to obtain Dominica citizenship.

As part of the adjustments, siblings no longer qualify as dependents in the Dominica Citizenship by Investment Program applications. Previously, biological or legally adopted siblings of the main applicant or of the spouse of the main applicant could be included as long as they were under 25 years of age and unmarried. Spouses of eligible dependent parents or grandparents are also no longer included in the citizenship applications.

Some additional criteria and conditions have been provisioned for other categories of dependents such as children, parents, and grandparents. For dependent children, it is now required for applicants’ children (or children of their spouses) between the ages of 18 and 30 to be in attendance at a recognized institution of higher learning. This new requirement is in addition to the existing conditions which include being substantially supported by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant. If the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant has an unmarried daughter who is under 25 years of age and is living with and fully supported by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant, may be included as a dependent.

As for the parents and grandparents of main applicants or their spouses, it is now required for them to be over 65 years of age to qualify as dependents, while there were previously no age requirements for this category. The categories of dependents that have remained unchanged are spouses, children under 18 years of age, and children over 18 years of age who are physically or mentally challenged.

The fees for the Dominica citizenship by investment program have also undergone some changes. For the real estate investment option, the government fees required for a family of up to six persons remain at $50,000. However, according to the latest amendments, an additional $25,000 is added for each additional eligible dependent. Previously, the government fees for a family of up to seven persons or more were $70,000.

There were also changes made to the contribution amounts required for the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) under the donation option to obtain Dominica citizenship. For a family of four, the required contribution amount of $175,000 has not changed. However, the contribution amounts for additional dependents are now different based on the age of the additional dependent(s). Before, the required donation contribution amount for all additional dependents, regardless of their age, was $25,000. Now, while the contribution amount for additional dependents under 18 remains $25,000, the contribution amount for additional dependents 18 or older has increased to $50,000.