The Commonwealth of Dominica is an island country situated in the Caribbean. It is a former British colony and gained its independence on the third of November 1978. Dominica has an estimated population of 73,300 inhabitants and has a surface area of 289.5 square miles (750 square kilometres). The political system is a parliamentary democracy and the average life expectancy of the inhabitants is 75 years.
The Citizenship by Investment Programme is one of the oldest and most respected programs worldwide. This programme came into existence in 1991 and was initially focusing on tourism and industrial projects. Nowadays, investment funds originating from the citizenship by investment programme are used in both public and private sector projects of Dominica’s economy. More than 5,000 applicants have obtained Dominican citizenship through the Citizenship by Investment Programme and this number keeps rising.
Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme is a well respected programme and is very flexible in terms of residence requirements.
More specifically, an applicant has the right (and not the obligation) to take up residence in Dominica at any time. In other words, the Commonwealth of Dominica does not impose any residence requirement on its citizens. This offers splendid opportunities for flexible and ‘mobile’ people.
The application process is efficient: the processing time is limited and application fees are competitive.
Being a citizen of Dominica offers you the possibility to travel without too much hassle: as a Dominican citizen, you have visa free entry to over 90 countries.
Resident individuals in Dominica are subject to income tax on a worldwide basis.
However, there are two interesting exceptions which can create enormous tax savings:
To summarise: Dominica offers splendid opportunities for international businesspeople and other mobile people who want to obtain a second passport and who want to minimise their personal income tax burden simultaneously.
If you should be interested in being categorised as a non-resident citizen or as a resident citizen who is not regarded as an ‘ordinarily resident’, do not hesitate to contact us. We can analyse your personal situation in order to decide what your status should be. It is certainly possible to structure your situation in such a way that you obtain a second passport and that you pay almost no personal income tax (or even no personal income tax at all) in a completely legal way.
The additional benefit of the Commonwealth of Dominica is that there is no wealth tax, no real estate tax, no death tax and no inheritance tax.
A single applicant needs to opt for package A in order to become citizen of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Package A implies a non-refundable investment of USD 100,000.
Families can also apply and have to apply under packages B, C or D, depending on their family situation. An applicant with a spouse and no children needs to opt for package B, which implies a non-refundable investment of USD 175,000.
An applicant with spouse and maximum two children below the age of 18 needs to opt for package C, which implies a non-refundable investment of USD 200,000.
An applicant with a spouse and more than two children below the age of 18 needs to opt for package D, which implies a non-refundable investment of USD 200,000 and USD 50,000 for every additional person below the age of 18.
If you would like to receive more detailed information about the procedure and the total cost of an application (including application fee, processing fee, naturalisation fee and stamp duty fee), do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to assist you.