Dominica strengthens CBI, increases minimum investment threshold

Effective immediately, investors will now have to contribute a minimum of USD$200,000 to be part of the CBI programme.

Sunday, 30th June 2024

Dominica strengthens CBI, increases minimum investment threshold

The Citizenship by Investment Unit of Dominica has announced an increase in the minimum investment amount under the country’s CBI Programme in a groundbreaking move. Effective immediately, investors will now have to contribute a minimum of USD$200,000 to be part of the CBI programme. The development was announced after the five OECS countries offering Citizenship by Investment signed a significant Memorandum of Agreement to curb the challenges, especially related to the pricing mechanism of the programmes.

New prices under the Economic Diversification Fund

According to CBIU Dominica, the main applicant will now have to contribute a minimum US$200,000 to apply under the Economic Diversification Fund. For the main applicant and up to three qualifying dependants, the investment amount has raised to US$250,000 while for additional dependant under the age of 18, it is US$25,000 and for dependants 18 and over, it is US$40,000. In addition to this, the processing fees of EDF is US$1000 per application has been put in place while the due diligence fees for the main applicant stands at US$7500 and for each dependant aged 16 or above US$4000. These changes bring the island in line with the other OECS countries and ensures uniformity while bringing an end to the era of downward spiral price competition. It is to be noted that the Commonwealth of Dominica CBI Regulations were gazetted on June 28, 2024, and came into effect immediately. The unit said that the 2024 regulations repealed the existing amendments and regulations. It continued to say that the 2024 Regulations set out the minimum investment amounts, define major terms, specify the eligibility criteria for the main investor and the dependants as well as detail instances where the applications can be denied, or citizenship could be revoked. This ensures that there is no doubt left among the investors regarding the robust due diligence procedures carried out by the CBI Unit of Dominica.

OECS nations signs historic MOA

The original signatories of the historic Memorandum of Agreement are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. The MOA stated that these five countries would call for common standards and procedures in several areas, including information sharing, pricing, regulation, dispute resolution, security screening, and amendments. Published in March 2024, the agreements aim to ensure cooperation among these countries and stated that from July 1 onwards all countries have agreed that the minimum investment amount for the CBI programmes shall be US$200,000.