(MENAFNEditorial) Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship planning, has announced that the Commonwealth of Dominica will be increasing the minimum amount of investment required to apply for its citizenship-by-investment program. Currently, the application cost for a single applicant for Dominican citizenship starts at USD 100,000 plus fees, making it the most economical citizenship-by-investment program in the world.
From August 2016, the Dominica Citizenship-by-Investment Program will no longer be the most affordable such program, a factor which for so long has been a key advantage of the program. Although the revised cost structure of the program is yet to be announced by the Dominican government, it is expected to be a significant fee increase.
Bata Racic, Manager of Henley & Partners in the Middle East, said, "We urge those interested in applying for the Dominican citizenship program to start the application process at the earliest to take advantage of the low fee structure of the program before it rises in August 2016. The Dominican citizenship program finds a huge favor among single businessmen as well as families, due to it being an economically viable alternative to other Caribbean citizenship programs.
"In the Middle East, we continue see high demand for the Dominican Citizenship-by-Investment Program, mainly from Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi and Egyptian applicants."
Dominica's Citizenship-by-Investment Program ranks highly year-on-year, according to Henley & Partners' annual Global Residence and Citizenship Programs (GRCP) report. This is mainly due to the low application cost and visa-free travel rights. The passport allows visa-free travel to 119 countries worldwide, including the UK and the Schengen Area. Citizens of Dominica also receive certain limited preferential treatment in the UK due to the country's membership of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth of Dominica's Citizenship-by-Investment Program, established in 1991, was designed to drive economic investment into the island. Since then, a few thousand families have received Dominican citizenship through the program.
The processing time for a citizenship-by-investment application is approximately three months. There are no restrictions on dual citizenship in Dominica and there is no requirement of physically residing on the island. The applicant does, however, have the right to take up residence in Dominica at any time and for any length of time.
"The Dominican government is of course keen to encourage new citizens to become involved further in the economy and substantial incentives are on offer to make this an attractive option," Racic concluded.
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