The Citizenship by Investment Unit of Dominica recently announced a series of amendments to the country’s citizenship by investment programme, making it easier for applicants to include their extended families in the application.

Under Dominica’s CBI programme, the meaning of ‘dependent’ has been amended to include a wider range of family members, including grandparents and adopted siblings.

These adaptations make Dominica’s citizenship by investment programme, which was unveiled in 1993, even more attractive than it already was and highly competitive with the four other Caribbean island CBI programme offerings.

Considered to be the ‘world’s best citizenship programme, combining due diligence with efficiency, speed, affordability and reliability’, Dominica’s CBI offers one of the fastest processing times, typically under two months, and the most affordable route to a second passport (along with Saint Lucia and Antigua & Barbuda) at just US$100,000. Those with a Dominican passport have visa-free access to 140 countries.

Furthermore, the programme offers an array of approved luxury properties for investment, including the newly-approved Hilton Tranquility Beach Resort, as well as the six-star Secret Bay Resort, which has just been named the Number One Resort in the Caribbean and the Number Six Resort in the world by Travel + Leisure’s 2020 World’s Best Awards.

Overview of changes
Significant changes in the criteria for dependents mean that children of the main applicant or spouse aged 18-30 can be included in the application as long as they are being provided with ‘substantial support’ from the main applicant or spouse and not necessarily ‘full support’ as previously expected.

Similarly, for grandparents. Previously, grandparents could be included in the application, but only those receiving ‘full support’ from the main applicant or spouse. However, this has now been amended so that the main applicant or spouse need only prove ‘substantial support’ (rather than full support) in order to include grandparents.

Furthermore, it is no longer a requirement that qualifying parents and grandparents be aged 55 or over, or that they live with the main applicant.

In addition to this, it is now possible for biological or legally adopted siblings of the main applicant or spouse to now be included as dependents. The sibling must, however, be aged 25 or under, single, childless and ‘substantially supported’ by the main applicant or spouse.

Dependents now included
This means that the following dependents may now be added to an application:

• A spouse of the main applicant
• A child of the main applicant or of the spouse of the main applicant who is below the age of 18
• A child of the main applicant or of the spouse of the main applicant aged 18 to 30 who is substantially supported by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant. This means it is no longer required that an adult child dependant be in attendance at an institution of higher learning, which was previously a requirement. The term ‘full support’ has therefore been amended to ‘substantial support’ meaning the child in question must be provided with substantial support by the main applicant or the main applicant’s spouse.
• A child of the main applicant or of the spouse of the main applicant aged 18 years or over and physically or mentally challenged and therefore ‘substantially supported’ by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant. As above, there must be a showing of ‘substantial support’, but not necessarily ‘full support’.
• A parent or grandparent of the main applicant or of the spouse of the main applicant who is substantially supported by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant. They can be of any age and do not to live with the main applicant, but there must be a showing of ‘substantial support’ by the main applicant or spouse.
• A spouse of a person who qualifies as a dependent parent or grandparent, who is substantially supported by the main applicant or the spouse of the main applicant.
• A biological or legally adopted sibling of the main applicant or spouse who is aged 18-25, single, childless, and who is substantially supported by the main applicant or spouse.
• A biological or legally adopted sibling of the main applicant or spouse who is below the age of 18, single, childless, substantially supported by the main applicant or spouse, and in receipt of consent to make an application under the Programme from all individuals with parental responsibility for that sibling.

For more information on specific criteria and/or to apply, visit Dominica’s official Programme website by clicking here

To find out more about Dominica’s citizenship by investment programme, read our Dominica Country Profile by clicking here