If St Vincent and the Grenadines' opposition NDP party were to win in the forthcoming election on November 5, it could mean the unveiling of yet another - the sixth - Caribbean-based Citizenship by Investment programme.
With the aim of reassuring tourists, residents and potential citizens as to Caribbean island Dominica's safety, the Discover Dominica Authority has unveiled a Safe in Nature campaign, providing managed experiences within a travel bubble that comprises everything from accommodation and transport to spas, restaurants and activities.
As international travel resumes following the pandemic, but with Covid restrictions still in place, a new global mobility hierarchy has emerged, according to the just-released Passport Index 2020 Q4 edition. While some of the world's most powerful passports like the US have lost their shine, others have gained global mobility ground.
While applications for Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment programme have slowed during Covid, there's been no slowdown in the construction of the island's CBI-approved developments – eco resorts and hotels – all of which have continued construction at pace despite the pandemic.
Driven by the rapidly increased demand in the Middle East region for citizenship by investment due to the pandemic, leading Dubai-based CBI advisory group RIF Trust has unveiled the CART Programme, which is aimed at empowering its partners to succeed.
In July 2020, the tourism-reliant Caribbean island of Barbados unveiled a 12-month visa to attract remote workers, and then in September, announced its intention to become a republic next year. With the pandemic having hit its tourism sector hard, could Barbados be revisit its plan from 2016 to launch a citizenship by investment programme?
The government of Dominica has expanded its citizenship by investment opportunities, which includes its successful CBI programme, with the launch of a brand-new initiative. The Entrepreneur Visa Program lets foreigners acquire a residency permit to Dominica, from which they can then obtain citizenship, in exchange for investment in the country.
Since the pandemic kicked in earlier this year, not only have a record number of US citizens registered an interest in citizenship by investment, they have shown one of the biggest nationality spikes in CBI programme applications over the past nine months. So why exactly are Americans in pursuit of a pandemic passport?
As Dominica continues to build its luxury hotel eco-tourism sector and prioritises the building of its international airport, much of this funded by its successful Citizenship by Investment Programme, Caribbean Airlines begins regular flights for the first time between Barbados and Dominica, with four flights per week to run by mid-October.
Approved as an investment property by Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme, the award-winning eco-luxury development, Jungle Bay, which is set to re-open in October 2020, has continued the building of its phase one and phase two developments throughout the pandemic with 60 new investable eco villas due to complete early 2021.