Are you thinking of obtaining a second passport for yourself and the whole family? This is a wise move, especially considering the events that have occurred in the political arena in recent years. There are a lot of countries that offer quick and affordable solutions, and you can take advantage of economic citizenship in one of the Caribbean countries, for instance. However, all Caribbean states are about to make the requirements tougher, and Dominica has done it. In this post, we will take a look at what it takes to get a Dominican passport now. If you are interested in more information about economic citizenship programs, please follow the link to the industry portal where you will find a whole section devoted to the existing programs.
Let’s take a look at the main changes in the Dominican program.
Imprisonment
If an individual applied for the Dominican passport, successfully obtained it and was later sentenced to 12 months imprisonment (or more), the citizenship of Dominica will be lost regardless of the country where the respective person was convicted.
Change of Personal Data
If an economic citizen changes his or her name in the first 5 years after acquiring a Dominican passport, he or she may lose the country’s citizenship (if the name is changed due to marriage, this is an exceptional case that does not result in the loss of citizenship). It does not matter what investment option was selected (investment in real estate or donation), the Dominican passport will be lost.
Application forms
The principal applicant for the Dominican citizenship-by-investment program now bears full responsibility for the truthfulness of data in all the forms – in other words, not only the forms that he or she fills out personally but also those that contain the information about all the dependents included in the application. Here are the requirements to be met when you complete and file the forms to be considered:
- The principal applicant has to read each form in person and put a signature in the relevant field to confirm that all the information is accurate (including the photograph forms and fingerprints)
- Each form is also required to be signed and sealed by the following officials:
- A Government officer who has the authority to take oaths of allegiance
- A public notary
- A judge of peace
- A Government officer who has the authority to take fingerprints
Rejected Application
If the applicant has been previously turned down by a country that offers a citizenship-by-investment program, he or she will be rejected by Dominican authorities as well.
Information Exchange
The personal data of foreigners whose applications for Dominican citizenship have been turned down will be shared by the Dominican Citizenship by Investment Unit with similar institutions in other jurisdictions.
The data will be provided by JRCC (Joint Regional Communications Center), a division of CARICOM IMPACTS (the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime & Security). JRCC has the right to provide all the required data to all the other Caribbean countries that offer economic citizenship.
Age of Parents and Grandparents Included as Dependents
The principal applicant has the right to include his or her parents and grandparents in the application as dependents (in the same way as the spouse’s parents and grandparents). The minimum age has been raised, though: they are now required to be at least 65 years of age. In addition, the applicant will have to prove that the parents or grandparents are really financially dependent on him/her (or his/her spouse).
Visa Denial
The application for Dominican economic citizenship will be rejected if the applicant was turned down while applying for a visa to the countries below:
- Canada
- USA
- Great Britain
- Any EU-member country
- Any other country that you can enter without a visa if you have a Dominican passport
The only remedy here is to receive a visa to the country that previously refused to grant it. In this case, the applicant will have a chance of obtaining Dominican citizenship.
Limited-Time Offers and Discounts
The Dominican citizenship-by-investment program will no longer be promoted with the help of special discounts or limited-time offers.
Application Status
In accordance with the new rules, the Dominican Citizenship by Investment Unit has to provide updates to the licensed immigration agent that acts on behalf of a foreign applicant about the application status no later than 3 months following application submission. Possible statuses:
- The application has been rejected.
- The application is being processed, and processing is delayed for a valid reason.
- The application has been provisionally approved.
Child Custody
If the principal applicant and/or the spouse has sole custody of a minor child, the documents have to be supplied to confirm the legality of this status. Sole custody can be ordered by an authorized institution, such as a court of law. In this case, the parent is required to read and sign all the application forms related to the child.
Adding Relatives After Receiving the Passport
A child born to an economic citizen of Dominica in the first 5 years after obtaining the passport can be registered as a Dominican citizen subject to payment of a USD 2,000 registration fee. The same rule is applicable if the economic citizen adopts a child.
If the newly-minted Dominican citizen marries a foreign person within 5 years from the date of obtaining a passport, the spouse can also be registered as a Dominican citizen. In this case, some fees are due:
- The interview fee
- The application processing fee
- The due diligence fee
- An additional payment of USD 75,000
Interviews
A potential Dominican economic citizen will have to attend a personal or online interview to obtain the passport. All dependent family members aged 16 and older have to be present at the interview in addition to the principal applicant. The Dominican citizenship-by-investment will be denied if the principal applicant refuses to have an interview or fails to fulfill the interview requirements. A fixed fee of USD 1,000 is payable for the interview.
Reasons for Amendments
People receive a second passport to get access to many countries without a visa. However, Great Britain canceled visa-free access for Dominican citizens, and many countries seem to be planning to follow suit: they are afraid that passports sold in return for investment may get into the wrong hands. Caribbean countries do not want their programs to lose attractiveness, so they impose tighter requirements in response to that. Follow the above link to ask your questions and get updates!
