News brief · Passports (CBI)
Dominica: the cheapest citizenship by investment passport in the Caribbean
Dominica has the lowest contribution of the five Caribbean programmes. The gap with its competitors has narrowed, however, to the point where price is no longer the relevant criterion.
By Editorial team · on February 24, 2026
What Dominica requires
Dominica grants its citizenship in exchange for a contribution to the Economic Diversification Fund or an approved real estate investment, with no requirement of prior residence or subsequent presence.
The minimum contribution to the fund is about $200,0001.
This is the lowest amount of the five Caribbean programmes: Antigua and Barbuda requires $230,0002, Grenada $235,0003, Saint Lucia from $240,0004 and Saint Kitts and Nevis from $250,0005.
The gap between the cheapest and the most expensive has therefore become modest. This convergence is the defining feature of the period: for a decade these states competed on price, until European and American pressure put an end to it.
The Dominican passport gives visa-free access to about 1456 destinations, the lowest of the five — compared with about 1547 for Saint Kitts and Nevis.
What the price does not tell you
The contribution is not the total cost. Due diligence fees, charged separately, are not refundable if the application is refused, and the procedure must go through a licensed agent whose fees are not regulated.
Family fee schedules also vary widely from one programme to another. Antigua and Barbuda offers an option for large families, with a cost per person that decreases as the household grows.
Due diligence has been considerably tightened: mandatory interviews, verification of the source of funds, checks on nationalities considered high-risk. An incomplete application is rejected, and the fees incurred are not returned.
Programmes should therefore be ranked on mobility, presence requirements and specific access rights — not on a difference of a few tens of thousands of dollars.
We do not publish Dominica's full family fee schedule, the amount of its real estate option or its due diligence fees: they do not appear in the official sources we have been able to verify.
Dominica is also the smallest and least developed of the five states concerned, which has practical consequences for anyone considering actually living there: limited medical services, few flight connections and high exposure to hurricanes.
The island was hit hard by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and reconstruction absorbed a significant share of the citizenship programme's revenue. Sales presentations leave out this piece of context, even though it sheds light on the very economics of the scheme.
What a passport does not do
Citizenship by investment does not change tax residency. A French national who acquires it without leaving France remains taxable there on all of their income.
Nor is Dominican taxation zero: the income tax scale ranges from 0%8 to 35%9, and corporate tax is 25%10.
It is foreign-source income that escapes tax, and only for an actual resident. Capital gains, on the other hand, are not taxed, at a rate of 0%11.
Finally, the value of the passport rests on visa-free access that third countries can withdraw. Vanuatu lost it with the European Union, and its passport fell to about 9512 destinations.
Key points
- Dominica remains the lowest contribution, but the gap has narrowed.
- Its passport opens the fewest destinations of the five programmes.
- Ancillary fees are not refundable if the application is refused.
- The passport does not move tax residency.
- Visa-free access depends on decisions by third countries, and it has already been withdrawn elsewhere.
For a French national, the mobility gain is nil: the French passport opens more destinations than any of these five. Where there is an advantage, it lies in diversifying nationalities or having a fallback option. The reasoning should therefore start from the intended use, with price considered only last.
Please note
Sources and verification dates
- 1.
Dominica: minimum contribution to the Economic Diversification Fund : $200,000
« To qualify for Dominican citizenship through the Citizenship by Investment Programme, applicants must make a non-refundable contribution starting at US$200,000 for the main applicant to the EDF. »
cbiu.gov.dmVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 2.
Antigua and Barbuda: minimum contribution to the National Development Fund : $230,000
« Acquisition of citizenship under the NDF investment option requires a contribution to the National Development Fund in the minimum sum of US$230,000 per application. »
cip.gov.agVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 3.
Grenada: National Transformation Fund contribution for a single applicant or a couple : $235,000
« NTF DONATION Individual Applicant Main Applicant + Spouse Family of four family members Family over four family members Required Contribution Amount USD 235,000 USD 235,000 USD 235,000 (Except for siblings, parents, and grandparents age 55yrs and under) USD 235,000 plus USD 25,000/50,000 per additional dependant after the third dependant, additional sibling USD 75,000 »
Investment Migration Agency Grenada, « Becoming a Citizen — Fees and Costs »Verified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 4.
Saint Lucia: contribution to the National Economic Fund, applicant and up to three dependants : $240,000
« Applicant alone with up to three other qualifying dependents: US $240,000 »
- 5.
Saint Kitts and Nevis: SISC contribution for a single applicant or a family of four : $250,000
« Main Applicant or Family (up to four members): US$250,000 »
ciu.gov.knVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 6.
Dominica passport: visa-free destinations : 145
« Henley Passport Index — classement des passeports par nombre de destinations accessibles sans visa préalable (données IATA), consulté à la date indiquée. Valeur reprise de l’index de l’ancien site (barème à 227 destinations). »
henleyglobal.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 7.
Saint Kitts and Nevis passport: visa-free destinations : 154
« Henley Passport Index — classement des passeports par nombre de destinations accessibles sans visa préalable (données IATA), consulté à la date indiquée. Valeur reprise de l’index de l’ancien site (barème à 227 destinations). »
henleyglobal.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 8.
Dominica: rate of the first personal income tax bracket : 0%
« Personal Income Tax : From $0 to $30,000 — 0% ; From $30,001 to $50,000 — 15% ; From $50,001 to $80,000 — 25% ; From $80,001 and above — 35% — Invest Dominica Authority, page « Taxation » (montants en EC$). »
investdominica.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 9.
Dominica: top marginal personal income tax rate : 35%
« Personal Income Tax : From $0 to $30,000 — 0% ; From $30,001 to $50,000 — 15% ; From $50,001 to $80,000 — 25% ; From $80,001 and above — 35% — Invest Dominica Authority, page « Taxation » (montants en EC$). »
investdominica.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 10.
Dominica: corporate income tax rate : 25%
« Corporate Tax : 25% — Invest Dominica Authority (agence gouvernementale de promotion des investissements), page « Taxation ». Confirmé par l'Inland Revenue Division (« The corporate tax rate is 25% on the net profit », ird.gov.dm/tax-laws/corporate-income-tax, site injoignable depuis ce poste). »
investdominica.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 11.
Dominica: taxation of capital gains : 0%
« There is no capital gains tax in Dominica. — Invest Dominica Authority, page « Taxation ». »
investdominica.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source
- 12.
Vanuatu passport: visa-free destinations : 95
« Henley Passport Index — classement des passeports par nombre de destinations accessibles sans visa préalable (données IATA), consulté à la date indiquée. Valeur reprise de l’index de l’ancien site (barème à 227 destinations). »
henleyglobal.comVerified on Nov 2, 2026Verified source