Descent — first-generation-born-abroad limit

This signature route isolates the single most important nuance of Dominican descent: the first-generation-born-abroad limit. Section 99 of the Constitution transmits citizenship to a person born abroad ONLY where, at the date of birth, the qualifying parent is a citizen by section 97 (independence) or section 98 (born in Dominica). It conspicuously does NOT include a parent who is a citizen by descent under section 99 itself. The practical consequence is that descent runs exactly one generation outside Dominica and then stops: a child born abroad to a born-in-Dominica parent is a citizen, but THAT child's own children, if also born abroad, do not automatically acquire citizenship, because their parent's citizenship rests on section 99, not section 97 or 98. There is no standalone grandparent-registration route in Dominican law to rescue the second generation. This route therefore exists to flag the boundary, to explain why a parent's possession of a Dominican passport is not by itself decisive (the BASIS of the parent's citizenship matters), and to redirect barred second-generation persons to the registration and naturalisation channels where their own independent eligibility may exist.

The determinative question is the BASIS of the parent's citizenship, tested at the applicant's date of birth. A descent claim under section 99 succeeds only if the qualifying parent is a citizen by section 97 (became a citizen on 3 November 1978) or section 98 (born in Dominica). The claim FAILS where the parent is a citizen only by descent under section 99 — i.e. the parent was themselves born abroad to a Dominican. Two illustrative configurations: (a) Grandparent born in Dominica -> parent born abroad (parent is a s.99 descent citizen) -> applicant born abroad: the applicant does NOT acquire citizenship, because the parent's status is by descent, not s.97/s.98. (b) Parent born in Dominica (s.98) -> applicant born abroad: the applicant DOES acquire citizenship (first generation). The limit applies regardless of how strongly the family identifies as Dominican or whether the parent holds a Dominican passport; passport possession does not reveal whether the parent is a s.98 (transmitting) or s.99 (non-transmitting) citizen. A person barred by this limit has no automatic entitlement and must satisfy an independent registration or naturalisation ground to acquire citizenship.

The limit is not a separate section but the structural consequence of how section 99 of the Constitution defines the qualifying parent. The verified text confers citizenship on a person born abroad 'if, at that date, his father or mother is a citizen of Dominica by virtue of the provisions of subsection (1) or (2) of section 97 or section 98 of this Constitution.' Section 99 lists section 97 (independence citizens) and section 98 (born in Dominica) as the qualifying bases — and pointedly omits section 99. Because a citizen-by-descent holds their citizenship 'by virtue of' section 99, not section 97 or 98, that parent falls outside the enumerated list and cannot transmit automatically. This is the classic Westminster-model first-generation-born-abroad cap, and the seed verification confirms it as 'effectively FIRST-GENERATION-BORN-ABROAD only'. The absence of any general grandparent-descent or ancestry-registration entitlement was specifically searched for and not found in the Constitution or the Citizenship Act; the closest parent-level connection in Dominican law is the s.12(2) 'qualifying connection' test, but that operates only for RESUMPTION after renunciation (route DM-RST-01), not as a standalone descent or grandparent route.