Dominica will require new citizenship-by-investment applicants to visit the country in person before receiving their passports, ending the fully remote model that has long defined the program.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced the change at a press conference on June 10. Successful applicants will now have to travel to Dominica to collect and renew their passports.
Until now, Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment program had no visit or residency requirement before or after approval. Applicants could complete the process remotely through a licensed agent and a virtual interview.
The program has operated since 1993 and was known for allowing economic citizens to obtain citizenship without physical presence in the country.
Skerrit described the change as part of a broader regional shift, saying the tightening of Caribbean CBI programs is “a regional reality and not a Dominica problem.”
Five Caribbean states currently operate citizenship-by-investment programs:
- Dominica
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Grenada
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
In September 2025, the five countries signed an agreement to create a shared regulatory authority and introduce a common physical-presence rule of at least 30 days within the first five years of citizenship.
Implementation was delayed until mid-2026 after Saint Lucia’s December election paused the legislative process needed to bring the agreement into force.
Dominica’s implementing legislation is still being drafted. Skerrit said the details, including how the visit requirement will connect to passport collection, are expected to be included in the upcoming national budget.
The reform follows pressure from the United States and European Union over Dominica’s open-access CBI model.
President Trump’s December 2025 proclamation placed partial travel restrictions on Dominican nationals and cited the absence of a residency requirement as part of the rationale.
The US State Department later reduced US visa validity for Dominicans from ten years to three months and included the country in a January freeze on immigrant visa processing affecting 75 countries.
The European Union has also increased pressure. Brussels warned in December that operating a CBI program “in itself” could justify suspension of visa-free access and has pushed Caribbean governments to wind their programs down.
Skerrit presented the reform as a way to protect Dominica’s program. CBI revenue has funded housing, hospitals, schools, and climate-resilient infrastructure, and the government views the income as important enough to defend against the risk of losing visa-free access.
Other Caribbean CBI jurisdictions have already begun tightening their rules.
Saint Kitts and Nevis announced in January that it would phase out its donation-only route and replace it with “genuine-link” requirements based on physical presence, business activity, and long-term engagement.
Antigua and Barbuda, which already has a physical-presence requirement, has signaled that it could increase the obligation to 90 days in response to US concerns.
Skerrit said Dominica is also considering additional measures to deepen engagement between economic citizens and the country, but did not specify what those measures would be.
Licensed agents report that applications filed before the end of June 2026 are expected to remain under the current rules, with no in-person requirement. The government has not published a formal cutoff.
For prospective applicants, the main practical issue is timing. The remote, no-visit route is closing, but the exact number of required days and the mechanics of passport collection will depend on the upcoming budget and implementing legislation.
Dominican citizenship by investment will no longer be available as a passport that can be obtained and held without ever visiting the country.
Source article: www.imidaily.com
