Visa-free travelling with Dominica passport: second citizenship for the whole family
I still remember the map we hung in the kitchen as soon as we got married. We marked on it with a felt-tip pen where we wanted to fly. Then the children were born, Diana took care of them, and I threw myself into work. There was no time or possibility for us to travel together.
Now it has become easier, as the company no longer needs to be monitored 24 hours a day. And I want to make up for lost time.
Anar,
A co-owner of a construction company
Clients’ names and photos have been changed
This case was provided by our expert
Investment programs expert
Visa-free travelling with Dominica passport: second citizenship for the whole family
A family from Baku obtained Dominica passports to travel the world visa-free.
Anar has been in the construction business for 23 years. During this time, his initial project has grown into a company with an annual turnover of 57 million dollars. The standard processes and procedures in the company have already been established and do not require constant monitoring. Therefore, Anar plans to retire and spend more time with his family.
Anar had always dreamed of traveling extensively with his wife Diana. However, they had always either lacked the financial resources or time to do so. Anar was working in a construction company as an engineer and at the same time he was trying to start his own business.
In July 2021, Anar approached Immigrant Invest for advice on the recommendation of a friend: his business partner received a Dominica passport with our help in 2019.
Choosing a citizenship by investment program
Anar wanted to become a Dominica citizen. However, as a licensed agent we do not submit an application for participation in the citizenship program on behalf of our client until after completing our preliminary Due Diligence on them.
1. Preliminary Due Diligence check. At this stage, as a licensed agent, we assesse the risk of rejection of the investor’s application for citizenship by investment.
Zlata Erlach,
Head of the Austrian office
Our in-house Certified Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer carries out a preliminary Due Diligence check. Immigrant Invest’s lawyers study the investor’s situation in detail and wa hem about any potential risks of rejection of their application.
Anar’s financial history is clean and transparent: he has had no convictions or visa refusals, he receives income only from his company and pays taxes on time. This means that Anar is eligible to participate in any state program for investors.
2. Program selection. Anar chose the Dominica citizenship program because his friend had started participating in the Dominica citizenship program two years ago. Anar was familiar with the culture of Dominica from his friend’s stories, and was also encouraged by his friend’s recommendation and positive experience.
Anar,
A co-owner of a construction company
I don’t want to take risks and worry. I just want to pay the money and start traveling with my family. I know the Dominica Citizenship by Investment program: my friend got his passport a couple of years ago. It helped me make my decision on selecting a program for my family and myself.
The other five citizenship by investment programs in the Caribbean and Vanuatu are similar to the Dominica citizenship program. They suit investors in terms of costs and the benefits of becoming a citizen in any of these countries. With a passport issued by one of these Caribbean countries or Vanuatu, you can travel without a visa to the Schengen countries for up to 90 days in any six-month period and to the UK for up to 180 days in a year. Citizens of these countries are also eligible to get a US visa for 10 years.
Immigrant Invest’s team calculated the cost of participation in the Dominica investment program for Anar’s family.
$228,500 — the cost of participation in the Dominica program for a family of five:
$200,000 — non-refundable contribution to the national fund
$23,500 — Due Diligence check
$1,500 — passport fee
$1,250 — fee for the production of a certificate of naturalization
$1,250 — administrative fees
3. Collecting and submitting documents. Immigrant Invest’s lawyers prepared all the necessary documents in three weeks and submitted them to the Dominica citizenship program department.
At this stage, the investor paid $23,500 for the Due Diligence check and $5,000 in government fees.
4. Fulfillment of investment conditions. Anar transferred the investment contribution to the citizenship program department when he received approval to participate in the Dominica citizenship program. The approval was sent to the licensed agent by e-mail.
As soon as the citizenship program department received the investment contribution it immediately proceeded to produce the investor and his family’s passports and naturalization certificates.
Dominica is known as the «Nature Island» due to its vast array of geographic features such as rivers, waterfalls, mountains, forest and volcanoes
Unforeseen difficulties
A licensed agent must check the new passports and certificates when they are received. However, Immigrant Invest’s lawyers always ask the citizenship program department to send scans of all documents before they are issued. In the case of the documents to be issued for Anar and his family, we found two errors in the scans.
The date of birth was incorrectly indicated in the certificate. In the passport the place of birth was indicated as Azerbaijan, not the USSR. However, Anar was born in 1978.
Immigrant Invest’s lawyers immediately asked the program department to correct the mistakes before issuing the investor’s certificate and passport. We had to explain in writing why and when the name USSR was changed to Azerbaijan. The correspondence lasted two weeks.
No affidavit was required. We informed the investor that we now expected to receive his documents later than planned and explained the reasons for the delay. Anar did not have to do anything. Immigrant Invest’s lawyers dealt with these issues on their own.
Zlata Erlach,
Head of the Austrian office
Immigrant Invest’s lawyers carefully control every step of the paperwork for the investor and their family members. In this case, it turned out that the dates on which the passports of the investor and his wife are issued are different, but this is not important. The family received the documents at the same time.
Getting a Dominica passport
The delay in obtaining passports was 2.5 months. If Immigrant Invest’s lawyers had not checked the documents until receiving them in Baku, the delay would have been a month longer.
On October 27, Anar and his family received their naturalization certificates and second passports.
Stages of Anar's participation in the Dominican citizenship program
Anar applied to Immigrant Invest
Preliminary Due Diligence check
Preparation of documents, application submitted
Due Diligence check
Application approved
Correction of errors in documents prepared by the government department
Passports sent to Baku
New passports received
Results of our cooperation
On November 1, 2021 Anar called Immigrant Invest and said that his wife had already traveled to France in the last weekend in October using her new Dominican passport. Diana did some shopping on her three-day trip.
Anar,
A co-owner of a construction company
Everything is as we expected, thanks! My wife is delighted. I am still completing business in the company, so I cannot travel, but Diana has already planned her trips. Today she told me at breakfast: “Italy this weekend, Spain next weekend, and we will celebrate the New Year in the United States, won’t we?” I listen to her and am happy.
With a Dominica passport, the investor and his family can travel to the Schengen countries without a visa and spend up to 90 days there in any six-month period.
Dominica citizens can spend up to 180 days in a year without a visa in the UK and can quickly and easily apply for a tourist visa to the United States. A B‑1/B‑2 visa is issued in about two weeks and is valid for ten years.
China is another popular travel destination with a Dominica passport. Dominica citizens can visit China without a visa for up to 30 days.
We told about all the opportunities that open up for the investor’s family in the guide to the Caribbean Citizenship by Investment programs.
Immigrant Invest is a licensed agent for government programs in the European Union and the Caribbean.
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