Citizenship by Investment — Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) donation
Citizenship in Dominica
- Eligibility
- A non-national may acquire citizenship by a non-refundable contribution to the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF): US$200,000 for a single applicant; US$250,000 for the main applicant plus up to three qualifying dependants; +US$25,000 per additional dependant under 18 and +US$40,000 per additional dependant 18 or older (SRO 8/2024 Schedule 1 para 1, made under Citizenship Act s.20). No residency, physical-presence or language requirement; a mandatory interview applies to all applicants aged 16+.
- Timeline
- medium
- Renunciation
- Not required
Overview
The Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) donation is Dominica's flagship Citizenship by Investment pathway and the crown route of the Commonwealth of Dominica's programme. A non-national may acquire full Dominican citizenship by making a single non-refundable contribution to a Government fund used to finance national development. Dominica's CBI programme is one of the world's oldest, continuous since 1993, and the EDF is its lowest-entry option: US$200,000 for a single applicant (as of 2024-06-28, SRO 8/2024 Schedule 1). The route demands no residency, no physical presence in Dominica, and no language test; documents are submitted in English through a licensed Authorised Agent. Citizenship is granted by naturalisation under section 8 of the Citizenship Act, Chap 1:10, with the Minister exercising the special-circumstances discretion that waives the ordinary residence requirement. A mandatory interview applies to every applicant aged 16 or over, and the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CBIU) must notify the outcome within three months. Dominica is NOT a United States E-2 treaty country (unlike Grenada), so the EDF route confers citizenship and mobility but no E-2 investor-visa pathway to the US.
Who qualifies
To qualify on the EDF route a main applicant must be at least 18 years of age, must make the qualifying investment, must certify in writing that he or she will not change name within five years of the certificate of naturalisation (otherwise than by marriage), and must meet the other applicable requirements (reg 4(1)(a)-(d)). The application proceeds under section 8 of the Citizenship Act. An applicant is barred from approval if he or she has a non-minor criminal record, is the subject of an undisclosed criminal investigation, has been denied citizenship or a visa by another country (including an EU or UK visa) without subsequent regularisation, is deemed a security risk, has supplied materially false information, or has been involved in activity likely to bring Dominica into disrepute (reg 6(1)(a)-(h)); a minor-offence record may still be approved (reg 6(3)). Source of funds must be lawful and is tested through the Financial Intelligence Unit and approved due-diligence agencies. There is no nationality-of-origin eligibility bar in the regulations themselves; instead, nationals of a Gazette-specified country or region face enhanced due diligence (reg 11). No residency, presence, or language condition gates eligibility.
Legal basis
The EDF route rests on a three-layer legal stack. At the constitutional level, section 101 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica empowers Parliament to provide for the acquisition of citizenship by persons not otherwise eligible, which is the constitutional hook for an investment-based grant. At the statutory level, the Commonwealth of Dominica Citizenship Act, Chap 1:10, supplies the grant mechanism: section 8 governs naturalisation (with section 8(2) allowing the Minister to count earlier service and waive residence in special circumstances), and section 20 empowers the Minister to make regulations to give effect to the Act. At the subsidiary level, the Citizenship by Investment Regulations 2024 (S.R.O. No. 8 of 2024), gazetted 28 June 2024 and made under section 20, are the principal operative instrument; reg 4(1) provides that a qualifying investor may apply 'pursuant to section 8 of the Act', and Schedule 1 para 1(3)(a) fixes the EDF contribution amounts. The 2025 amendment (S.R.O. No. 46 of 2025, gazetted 27 November 2025) touched only the post-citizenship newborn window and left every EDF figure and condition of the 2024 regulations intact, so the 2024 monetary stack is current as of 2026-06-14.
Example scenarios
Eligible for Dominican citizenship via EDF, but the E-2 goal CANNOT be met: Dominica is not a US E-2 treaty country.
The applicant qualifies for citizenship on the EDF route (US$250,000 for the couple under Sch.1 para 1(3)(a)(ii)), but the underlying objective fails. Dominica is NOT a US E-2 treaty country (US State Department treaty-country list; only Grenada and Jamaica in the Caribbean), so a Dominican passport confers no E-2 eligibility. This is the key honest counsel for US-oriented clients and must be stated plainly; no E-2 route is created for Dominica.
Eligible. Single-applicant EDF contribution of US$200,000 plus prescribed fees; citizenship granted by naturalisation with no residency or presence requirement.
A non-national over 18 of good character may apply as a single main applicant under reg 4(1) and section 8 of the Act, contributing US$200,000 to the EDF (SRO 8/2024 Sch.1 para 1(3)(a)(i), as of 2024-06-28). No residency or physical-presence requirement applies (reg 4(7)(e) waiver-of-residence form; no contrary provision), and there is no language test (English documents, reg 4(3)). The applicant must still attend a mandatory interview as an over-16 applicant (reg 4(10), reg 9) and clear due diligence. SRO 46/2025 changed no EDF figure.
Eligible as a family of four. EDF contribution of US$250,000 (main applicant plus up to three qualifying dependants) plus per-person integrity fees.
The spouse and the two minor children are dependants under reg 2(a) and (b). The family-of-four EDF amount is US$250,000 (SRO 8/2024 Sch.1 para 1(3)(a)(ii)); because there are only three dependants, no additional per-dependant add-on applies. Each child under 16 is outside the mandatory-interview and due-diligence-fee requirement that attaches to applicants 16 and over, but the spouse pays the US$4,000 dependant due-diligence fee and attends the interview. No residency, presence, or language condition gates the application.
High risk of denial; if granted on false information, citizenship is revocable under s.10 with no refund.
Denial grounds in reg 6(1) include having been denied a visa to the EU or UK without subsequent regularisation (reg 6(1)(d)) and providing materially false information (reg 6(1)(g)). As a national of a Gazette-specified country or region the applicant would also face enhanced due diligence and the US$25,000 enhanced-DD fee (reg 11(4)(b)(i)). If citizenship were obtained by concealment, deprivation under Citizenship Act s.10(2)/(3) follows with no refund (reg 6(2)) - exactly the mechanism used in SRO 4/2024, which revoked 68 fraudulently-obtained citizenships.
Informational summary compiled from primary legal sources — not legal advice. Citizenship law changes; verify with the competent authority before acting. Last verified 2026-06-17.
Track changes to this route
Descent and naturalization rules change. We'll email you in plain English when anything affecting Dominica updates — no spam.