שיקול דעת שר / ויתור על מגורים (נסיבות מיוחדות)

This route is the ministerial discretion to count earlier residence and, in special circumstances, to WAIVE the residence requirement for naturalisation — the section 8(2) power of the Citizenship Act Chapter 1:10. It is a discretionary track distinct from ordinary seven-year naturalisation (DM-NAT-01): instead of relaxing eligibility for the ordinary applicant who is close to the seven-year mark, it is the statutory mechanism through which citizenship by investment is administered. Under section 8(2) the Minister may, in such cases as he thinks fit, (a) treat a twelve-month continuous period ending up to six months before the application as if it immediately preceded it; (b) reckon residence or service earlier than the five years preceding the application toward the seven-year aggregate; and (c) waive the residence requirement in special circumstances. The section 8(2)(c) residence waiver (the Regulations' Form 12) is what allows a CBI applicant — who has no residence in Dominica at all — to be naturalised. The route is therefore the legal bridge between the Citizenship Act's residence-based naturalisation and the investment-based CBI programme that runs on the regulations made under section 20 (SRO 8 of 2024, as amended by SRO 46 of 2025). Even so, the oath of allegiance (section 9) is never waived.

Eligibility for the section 8(2) discretionary waiver is, by design, open-textured: the power is exercised 'in such cases as he thinks fit'. There is no fixed checklist that triggers a waiver as of right. Two distinct use-cases arise in practice. First, the ordinary near-miss applicant: someone who is a few months short of the twelve-month continuous-residence rule (relieved under section 8(2)(a)) or who has older periods of residence/service that the Minister may count toward the seven-year aggregate (section 8(2)(b)). Second, and dominant for Dominica, the CBI applicant: a non-national with no Dominican residence who obtains naturalisation because the Minister waives the residence requirement entirely under section 8(2)(c) on the strength of an approved investment. For the CBI use-case, the substantive 'eligibility' is set by the regulations — a qualifying Economic Diversification Fund contribution or approved real-estate purchase, satisfaction of multi-tier due diligence, a mandatory interview for all applicants aged 16 or over, and lawful source of funds — rather than by section 8(1)'s residence conditions. The non-residence conditions of section 8(1) (good character; knowledge of responsibilities and English; intention) remain relevant unless and to the extent the Minister addresses them within the special-circumstances power.

The operative provision is Citizenship Act Chapter 1:10 section 8(2), which in the decoded text reads: 'The Minister may, in such cases as he thinks fit — (a) allow a continuous period of twelve months ending not later than six months before the date of the application to be reckoned for the purpose of subsection (1)(b) as if it had immediately preceded that date; (b) allow periods of residence or of service earlier than the five years preceding the date of the application to be reckoned in computing the aggregate period mentioned in subsection (1)(c); and (c) waive the residence requirement in special circumstances.' The power operates within the section 8 naturalisation framework — it modifies the residence conditions in section 8(1)(b) and (c) but does not itself create a registration entitlement. The constitutional authority to provide for acquisition by persons not otherwise eligible is Constitution section 101. Where the 'special circumstances' are a qualifying investment, the discretion is structured by the CBI Regulations made under the Act's reg-making power, section 20: SRO No. 8 of 2024 (gazetted 28 June 2024) and SRO No. 46 of 2025 (gazetted 27 November 2025). The CBIU's own legislation page describes the CBI naturalisation certificate as issued under Citizenship Act 'sections 8 and 9'.