DOMINICA
Investor Program
Advantages
• Citizenship and a second passport for life for the applicant and dependent family members • Travel visa-free to more than 115 countries
• Visa Free access to Schengen Area countries granted in May 2015
• Enjoy tax free status
• No requirement to reside in Dominica
• No management or educational requirements
• No country restrictions (Open to all applicants)
Requirements
• Applicants can make a non-refundable donation to the government fund or invest
in a government approved real-estate project
• Be over 18 years old
• Have no criminal record
• Provide all the documents are required in English
• Provide a letter of application for economic citizenship addressed to the Minister
responsible for Citizenship
• Have basic knowledge of the English language
• Make a deposit in a bank account at the National Commercial Bank of Dominica
• Must use a government authorised agent
Investment Options
1. The Government Fund option (non-refundable) Minimum to be invested:
• USD 100,000 for a single applicant
• USD 175,000 for applicant accompanied by a spouse
• USD 175,000 for applicant accompanied by up to two children under 18 years old
• USD 200,000 for applicant accompanied by a spouse and two children under 18
years old
• Add USD 50,000 for each additional dependent of the main applicant other than
a spouse 2. The Real Estate option (saleable after 3 years) Purchase authorised
real estate with a minimum value of USD 200,000, which must be held for at least
three years. In addition to the cost of the real-estate the following additional
government fees apply:
• Main applicant: USD 50,000
• Spouse: USD 25,000
• Dependent under 18: USD 20,000
• Dependant aged 18-25: USD 50,000
Process (3-4 months)
• Prepare all the documents required and submit them via an authorised agent, and
pay due diligence fees
• After approval, every applicant must sign an oath of allegiance in front of a Notary
Public, Justice of Peace or Commissioner of Oaths
• Obtain the passport after the citizenship confirmation
Maldives: Pearl Residence Opens the Atolls
The Corporate Resident Visa is being phased out; in its place, the Henley-designed Pearl Residence began accepting applications in April 2026 — leasehold luxury from roughly US$250,000, with zero personal income tax on offshore earnings.
The context
The legacy route, the Corporate Resident Visa under Regulation 2021/R-115, still admits investors on three tracks: a US$250,000 fixed deposit held five years in a Maldivian bank, US$250,000 in a government-approved project, or US$1 million invested over three financial years with at least 50% Maldivian employment — a five-year renewable permit covering spouse, children, parents and grandparents, with no minimum stay and an application fee of MVR 15,000. But the strategic story is Pearl Residence, announced with Henley & Partners in July 2025 under the Vision 2040 diversification agenda and live since April 2026.Programme mechanics
Pearl Residence offers strata-title units from about US$250,000 and villas from US$1 million to US$10 million-plus, held on 50–99-year leaseholds in four designated zones (three in Kaafu Atoll, a fourth added in January 2026). Real estate is the primary pathway, with government bonds, bank deposits and approved-sector investment as alternatives. Due diligence is rigorous by design: clean records worldwide, verified source of funds, insurance requirements, and processing of roughly one month for complete files.
PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE — JULY 2026
ENTRY LEVEL : ~US$250,000
TENU RE50–99-yr leasehold
TAX : None on offshore income
CITIZENSHIP : No investor path
Strategic analysis
The fiscal draw is real — no personal income tax on offshore income, no wealth or inheritance tax — with important caveats: freehold remains constitutionally barred, there is no path from investor residence to a passport (citizenship requires, among other things, the Muslim faith), and an April 2025 entry ban on Israeli passport holders complicates the compliance picture for some families. This is a residence for living, banking and privacy — not a mobility play.
Startup & Entrepreneur Route
Entrepreneurial entry runs through the Maldives Foreign Investment Act (Law 25/79): ventures register with the Ministry of Economic Development (tourism projects with the Ministry of Tourism), obtain a foreign investment permit, and their shareholders, directors, partners or senior managers become eligible for the Corporate Resident Visa's business tracks — US$250,000 into an approved project, or US$1 million deployed over three financial years, verified through audited statements, with at least 50% Maldivian full-time employment and a minimum US$100,000 annual revenue in one of the past three years.The ecosystem is narrow but deep: tourism, hospitality-tech, marine logistics and renewable energy dominate approvals, incorporation and visa processing through the business.egov.mv portal can run same-day for complete files, and the 15% corporate rate (no tax on the founder's offshore income) keeps holding structures simple. This is not a startup hub in the accelerator sense; it is a concession economy in which an operating licence is the residency.
INVESTOR CASES — ANONYMISED COMPOSITE PROFILES
The Mumbai pharmaceuticals heir, 41Took the legacy US$250,000 fixed-deposit route in the final quarter before its phase-out — liquidity preserved, same-day business processing, and a five-year multi-generational permit covering his parents. He regards the deposit's forgone yield as rent on a four-hour escape hatch from Mumbai with no income tax on the family's offshore holdings.The Zurich private banker couple, 55 and 57Reserved a US$1.4m Pearl Residence villa on a 50-year residential lease in the new Kaafu zone, structuring the purchase through the programme's due-diligence framework rather than around it. Their calculus is purely lifestyle-and-ledger: a tax-neutral second base between European and Asian client books, with the leasehold's finite term priced into the family balance sheet like a very long charter.
