A no-visit programme finally asks you to arrive

Dominica has ended the remote, no-visit model that defined its citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programme for more than three decades. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit confirmed at a press conference on June 10 that successful applicants will now have to travel to the island to collect and later renew their passports. “You will have to come to Dominica to receive and renew your passport as a citizen,” he told reporters, framing the trip as a way for new citizens to gain “a greater appreciation of our people, culture and developmental aspirations.”

For internationally mobile families, the change is more than a procedural footnote. Since the programme launched in 1993, Dominica asked nothing of its economic citizens by way of physical presence: applicants completed the entire process remotely through a licensed agent and a virtual interview, never needing to set foot on the island. That open access was the programme’s headline selling point — and, more recently, its most exposed liability.

Source: IMI Daily report on Dominica’s in-person requirement

Why Dominica is moving now

The timing is not accidental. Washington and Brussels have spent the past six months pressing Dominica over precisely this open-door design. In December 2025, a US presidential proclamation imposed partial travel restrictions on Dominican nationals, citing the absence of a residency requirement among its reasons. The State Department then cut the validity of US visas for Dominicans from ten years to three months and folded the country into a January freeze on immigrant-visa processing that affected 75 countries.

Brussels has gone further still, warning in December that operating a CBI programme “in itself” could justify suspending visa-free access, and urging Caribbean governments to wind their schemes down. Skerrit cast the reform as a defensive measure, describing the tightening of Caribbean CBI programmes as “a regional reality and not a Dominica problem.”

A coordinated Caribbean shift, not an isolated rule

Dominica is one of five Caribbean states that sell citizenship, alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia. In September 2025, the five signed an agreement to create a shared regulatory authority and a common physical-presence requirement of at least 30 days within the first five years of citizenship. Implementation slipped to mid-2026 after Saint Lucia’s December election paused the legislative work needed to bring it into force.

Dominica’s neighbours have already moved. Saint Kitts and Nevis announced in January that it would phase out its donation-only route in favour of “genuine-link” requirements built on physical presence, business activity, and long-term engagement. Antigua and Barbuda, which already attaches a presence requirement, has signalled it could raise that obligation to 90 days. Dominica’s own implementing legislation is still being drafted, and Skerrit indicated the specifics — including how the visit attaches to passport collection — would arrive with the upcoming national budget.

What it means for HNWI applicants

For high-net-worth applicants, the practical takeaway is that the remote, buy-and-hold route to a Dominican passport is closing. Licensed agents report that applications filed before the end of June 2026 are expected to fall under the current rules, with no in-person requirement, although the government has not published a formal cutoff. Anyone weighing a Dominican passport on the old terms therefore faces a narrowing window.

The deeper lesson echoes a pattern now visible across the sector: a second passport’s value depends not only on the day-one eligibility rules but on whether the programme behind it remains credible with the destination states, banks, and counterparties that determine its real-world utility. CBI revenue has funded housing, hospitals, schools, and climate-resilient infrastructure in Dominica, and the government plainly sees in-person engagement as part of the price of protecting both that income and the passport’s visa-free reach. For families treating citizenship as one element of a broader mobility and wealth-planning strategy, firms such as Stellar Pass may be relevant in assessing how a change like this fits the wider plan.

The bottom line

What is already clear is that Dominican citizenship will no longer be something that can be bought and held without ever arriving. The budget will set how many days the country expects and how the visit attaches to passport issuance. Until then, the direction of travel — in every sense — is settled.

FAQ

Does Dominica now require an in-person visit for citizenship by investment?

Yes. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit confirmed on 10 June 2026 that successful applicants must travel to Dominica to collect and renew their passports, ending the programme’s long-standing no-visit model. The precise number of days and the timing will be set out in the upcoming national budget.

Will applications submitted before the change still follow the old rules?

According to licensed agents, applications filed before the end of June 2026 are expected to fall under the current rules, with no in-person requirement. However, the government has not published a formal cutoff date, so timing should be confirmed directly before relying on it.

Why is Dominica introducing this requirement now?

The move follows sustained pressure from the United States and the European Union. A December 2025 US proclamation cited the absence of a residency requirement, US visa validity for Dominicans was cut from ten years to three months, and the EU warned that running a CBI programme could “in itself” justify suspending visa-free access.

Is this physical-presence shift happening across the Caribbean?

Yes. In September 2025, the five Caribbean CBI states agreed on a shared regulator and a minimum 30-day presence rule within the first five years. Saint Kitts and Nevis is moving to “genuine-link” requirements, and Antigua and Barbuda has signalled it could raise its presence obligation to 90 days.

Further reading: Dominica Makes In-Person Visits Mandatory for New CBI Citizens — IMI Daily