Dominica · business and self-employment
Starting a business in Dominica: the entrepreneur visa, checked
The $50,000 business route you keep reading about traces back to one 2020 press release. The permit that is on Dominica's own forms costs EC$800 and runs a year at a time.
Search this visa and you get the same five numbers on twenty sites. We went to Dominica's own pages instead: the investment agency, the immigration ministry, the forms library. Here is what exists today, what it costs, and how an American opens a business on the Nature Isle.
- Capital
- Roseau
- Currency
- East Caribbean Dollar (XCD)
- English proficiency
- 100/100
- Safety index
- 70/100
The announcement everyone is still quoting
On September 7 2020, Dominica said it would launch an Entrepreneur Visa. The terms came out through Advance Global Partners, a Roseau firm named as the program's concessionaire, and they have been copied across relocation sites ever since.
The offer was specific. Put US$50,000 into an existing government-approved company through an investment fund. Alternatively, invest US$100,000 into a start-up registered in Dominica that's employing at least three Dominicans. Or take equity in an approved public or private venture. Park US$100,000 in a Dominica bank, which you're allowed to spend down. Be on the island 90 days a year. Collect a two-year residence permit within 45 days of approval, then apply to naturalize.
Read the same press pack to the end and the firm's managing partner says the Investment Committee hasn't been formed, and the structure still had to go to Parliament for a legal amendment. Six years later, we can't find the program on a single government page. It returns nothing in the Invest Dominica Authority's site search. It's not one of the four services listed on the residency page of dominica.gov.dm. It's not among the forms the Ministry of National Security publishes.
The two-year citizenship promise is the tell. Dominica's Citizenship Act asks for seven years.
Dominica Entrepreneur Visa (Business Visa)
For investors and entrepreneurs seeking to establish business ventures in Dominica and obtain temporary residence.
- Government cost
- $50,000
- Processing time
- ~30 days
- Timeline
- Temporary residence, renewable annually
- Difficulty
- Easy
About that data card
The card above prints "Temporary residence, renewable annually," and that line is honest. It describes the ordinary residence permit, which is what a foreign business owner here really holds. The rest needs context. The $50,000 is an investment threshold lifted from the 2020 announcement, not a fee anybody collects, and the real government charge is a tiny fraction of it. The processing figure on it matches no published service standard we could find. The requirement list is hidden on purpose. Its first three lines are choices, not steps; stacked in a column, they add up to a quarter of a million dollars nobody is asking you for.
The bill before you sell anything
EC$800
Work and residence permit application
about US$295, non-CARICOM
EC$750
To incorporate a limited company
about US$277, plus EC$50 a year
25%
Corporate tax on a Dominica company
VAT is 15 percent on most sales
5 years
Of renewals before permanent residence
citizenship is a seven-year test
What Dominica actually lets you file
There's no investor queue to join. You do what a local does, in the order a local does it.
Register the business first
Incorporation happens at the Companies and Intellectual Property Office under the Companies Act of 1994. A limited company costs EC$750 to register, a trading name EC$90, and the register wants EC$50 a year plus an annual return every 2 April. Then comes the Inland Revenue Division for a tax number, and VAT registration if you're selling. Hire anybody, and you register them with Dominica Social Security inside four days.
Then the permit
Non-nationals who want to work, including people working for a company they own, apply to the Labour Division. The Invest Dominica Authority spells out what a self-employed file adds: a bank statement and the company's certificate of registration. Everyone brings a police record from home, a medical certificate, two testimonials and proof of a return ticket.
Then you wait, on the right status
While the file sits, you need an extension of stay stamped in your passport. Without it, you're on the island illegally and the office won't even hand you a form. A permit runs a year and renews. Work that lasts more than six months carries residency with it.
The conditions nobody quotes
Hiring is the real test
Every version of this route leans on local jobs, not on the size of the wire you send.
Land costs a tenth extra
Non-citizens buying property pay an Alien Land Holding Licence worth 10 percent of its value.
Citizenship is a long test
Naturalizing in Dominica asks for seven years of residence and a year on the island first.
The permit follows the work
It covers the business you named on the form. A different venture means a fresh application.
Payroll carries a second bill
Employers contribute to Dominica Social Security on top of wages, and that rate is stepping up toward 8.5 percent.
Look before you wire
Americans enter Dominica visa free, so you can test the market before you register anything.
Owning the company, and what the IRS wants
Dominica is not a zero-tax island; for an American, that's mostly good news. Residents pay nothing on the first EC$30,000, then 15, 25 and 35 percent, with the top rate starting above EC$80,000, about US$29,600. Companies pay 25 percent. Because real tax gets paid here, a foreign tax credit has something to bite on.
The catches sit on the U.S. side. The Invest Dominica Authority's own tax page lists a double taxation treaty with CARICOM and, with the United States, only an information-sharing agreement. There's no totalization agreement either, so self-employment tax keeps running in the United States whatever you pay in Roseau. The foreign earned income exclusion is US$132,900 for 2026 and it does not touch that bill.
Owning your Dominica company outright also makes it a controlled foreign corporation. That means Form 5471 every year, and possibly tax on profits you never brought home. The bank account the business needs puts you over the FBAR line as soon as it passes $10,000. None of this argues against the island. It argues for pricing in an accountant before you incorporate.
If you want a second opinion
Arton Capital
Golden Visas
If the passport is the real reason you looked at this route, price it properly. Arton Capital handles investor files across the Eastern Caribbean, so ask them to set a citizenship application against two years of permits, payroll and an accountant.
MyExpatTaxes
U.S. Expat Tax Service
MyExpatTaxes handles U.S. returns from abroad. Bring them the ownership structure before you incorporate, because who holds the shares decides whether Form 5471 lands on your desk.
What Americans ask about starting a business here
Can I get Dominica citizenship in two years by investing in a business?
Not under the law as published. Ordinary naturalization here is a seven-year test, and it also wants good character, English, some Dominican civics and a full year on the island immediately before you file. The two-year figure comes from the 2020 announcement, which said itself that Parliament still had to amend the law first.
How much does it cost to start a business in Dominica?
The government charges are small. EC$750 to incorporate a company, EC$90 for a trading name, EC$50 a year to stay on the register, and EC$800 for a work and residence permit if you are not from a CARICOM country. That is about US$625 in government fees. The real money goes on staff, stock, rent and an accountant.
Do I have to live in Dominica to run a business there?
If you want the permit, yes, in practice. A work and residence permit is issued to people working on the island and it turns into residency when the work runs past six months. After five years of renewals you can ask for permanent residence. You can own shares in a Dominica company from anywhere, but shares alone do not give you status.
Is the Dominica Entrepreneur Visa real?
It was announced by the government in September 2020 and the terms have circulated ever since. What we cannot find is any sign of it operating: no entry on the Invest Dominica Authority site, no listing among the residency services on dominica.gov.dm, no form at the Ministry of National Security. Ask a licensed agent in Roseau to show you a current file before you send money.
Is citizenship by investment the faster route?
It is certainly the quicker one. Dominica's citizenship program takes a US$200,000 contribution, closer to US$210,000 once fees are counted, and delivers a passport in months rather than years. It buys travel documents, not a business. If your goal is to trade on the island, the permit route is the one that fits.
What will I pay in tax as an American with a Dominica company?
The company pays 25 percent corporate tax, and you add 15 percent VAT to what you sell. As a resident you also pay personal income tax on a sliding scale that tops out at 35 percent. On the US side you still file, you still owe self-employment tax, and owning the company means Form 5471 with your return.
Could I just work remotely from Dominica instead?
Yes, and for most people that is the easier answer. The Work In Nature visa lets you stay up to 18 months while working remotely for companies that are not registered in Dominica. It rules out local clients and local employment, so it suits a founder whose customers are elsewhere, not a shop or a guesthouse.
Is Dominica the right island for your business?
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