DOMINICA-Dominica hopeful of regaining visa-free status in the United Kingdom

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC—Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Monday he remains “hopeful” that an agreement could be reached with the United Kingdom government to reverse its decision to impose visa restrictions on Dominicans entering the country.

On July 19, last year, London said the decision to impose the visa requirements immediately on Dominica and four other countries had been “taken solely for migration and border security reasons” and was not a sign of poor relations with these countries.

The United Kingdom also said that the nationals of these countries will be required to obtain a Direct Airside Transit Visa if they intend to transit via the UK.

The British government said that “careful consideration of Dominica’s…operation of a citizenship by investment scheme “has shown clear and evident abuse of the scheme, including granting citizenship to individuals known to pose a risk to the UK.”

Dominica is among a handful of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries with a Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) through which foreign investors are granted citizenship in return for making substantial investments in the country’s socio-economic development.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Prime Minister Skerrit said that his administration continues to work with the British government and that Roseau had received a letter from James Cleverly, the former home secretary.

‘It was a very positive letter. There is one outstanding ongoing matter that we have to bring to conclusion, and we are working on that,” Skerrit said, adding, “There has been some pushback from a legal standpoint, but I believe we will be pushing hard on it.

“I will write to the new minister to update her on what we have done and are doing and respond to her predecessor’s letter.

“I believe that all things considered and the tone of the engagement with the UK government over the last several months, I am satisfied at some point, we will see visa-free travel to the United Kingdom and, of course, some of the additional actions, which are actions they did not ask for…”

But he said he also believes that Dominica’s continued actions to improve the CBI are important for the programme’s sustainability, improvement, and transparency.

“We believe that those actions will place us in a stronger position to make a case for re-introducing a visa-free regime between Dominica and the United Kingdom.

“So, we remain hopeful, and we continue to engage the (UK) government in a respectful, transparent manner,” Skerrit told reporters.

Among the actions taken recently by Dominica regarding the CBI program is the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with other countries within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), namely St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St Kitts-Nevis, which have a similar CBI program.

The MoU outlines crucial agreements among the participating CBI countries, including the exchange of best practices and due diligence processes, the establishment of a minimum threshold of US$200,000 reflecting actual funds received, and information sharing on applicants.

It also allows for enhanced transparency measures, including financial disclosures.

Independent financial and operational audits create a regional authority to establish standards and adopt common communication and promotion standards, regulate agents, and implement joint training programs for CBI administrations.