Dominica Set to Increase Passport Value

During a recent industry webinar featuring Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit and head of the Citizenship by Investment Unit, Emmanuel Nanthan; it was announced that Dominica intends to increase their visa-free travel agreements by up to 25% in 2021.

The Dominican passport already enables the holder to access 152 countries and territories worldwide, which, according to La Vida’s Dominica Passport Value Report, equates to 42.4% of the world’s wealth, measured by GDP and 67.9% of travel popularity. With a 25% increase in the number of countries, Dominica’s passport could potentially become far more powerful although the “quality” of those countries is important in determining the true value.

One of the most interesting additions to Dominica’s visa-free list is set to be China. Prime Minister Skerrit discussed how Dominica has been working on a visa-waiver agreement with China for some time, but they have faced delays over the last year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. He also stated that he is hopeful to conclude negotiations with China this year, along with several other nations. The addition of China alone would cetainly add quality in terms of passport value taking the level of GDP access from 42.4% to 58.3% and global travel access from 67.9% to 72.4%.

Such a move would put the Dominica passport on par with neighbouring island Grenada. Currently Grenada is the only other Caribbean nation that offers a Citizenship by Investment programme with a visa-waiver agreement with China giving it a current reading of 58.4% for GDP and 70.9% for travel access.

Prime Minister Skerrit also stated that Dominica is expanding its diplomatic presence and has opened up several new offices last year, including a new embassy in the UAE (Abu Dhabi).

Full disclosure of the other countries Dominica will be adding to their visa-free list is yet to be announced, but we are very excited at the prospect of the new additions and will be keeping a close eye on this over the coming year.

For more information on Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment programme and our unique passport value reports, please contact La Vida’s expert advisors.