Dominica has suspended, with immediate effect, applications from nationals of Russia and Belarus seeking citizenship under the island’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CBI).
Under the CBI program, Dominica grants citizenship to foreign investors who make a substantial investment in the island’s socio-economic development. Dominica is among a handful of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries with CBI programs.
Dominica said its position to suspend nationals from Belarus and Russia from the CBI program follows Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decision to condemn Moscow for its action.
Dominica was among 141 UN member states that voted last week to condemn Russia. The coordinator of the CBI Unit, Ambassador Emmanuel Nanton, said agents of the program had been informed of the government’s position.
“In light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the government of Dominica is suspending the process of all new applications from Russians and Belarusians with immediate effect. “This measure is to safeguard the Dominica community and the integrity of the Dominica Citizenship by Investment Program. All authorized agents are kindly requested to disseminate the information to all parties,” he added.
In 2020, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told Parliament that the CBI had earned Dominica EC$1.2 billion (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) over the last three years, and for the fiscal period 2017-2020, 5 814 applications had been approved.
In March last year, Skerrit said his administration had been utilizing the CBI funds to pay off debts, meet current expenditure, and sustain ongoing projects in the public sector.
The Caribbean Community has left the possible imposition of sanctions on Russia to individual member states following hours of intense deliberation on the second day of the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government in Belize.
Since then, several Caribbean nations, including Antigua and Barbuda and the Cayman Islands, have imposed their own sanctions.
Worldwide sanctions that have crippled Russia’s air travel industry have also stranded thousands of Russian tourists worldwide, including the Caribbean.
The European Commission has also issued further restrictive economic sanctions that will isolate Russia from the international financial system.
