Dominica CIU Most Efficient in Processing Say 40% of International Investment Migration Firms

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In this third report (see the first and second reports) on results from our 2019 Investment Migration Executive Survey, we focus on the CIP-application processing efficiency reported by the top executives of 40 international investment migration firms. To see how we define “international IM firms” and to learn about the survey methodology, read our introduction in the first article on the topic.

By a wide margin, the greatest number of respondents pointed to the Dominica CIU as the most efficient CIP-application processing unit. In fact, the Dominica CIU received more than five times as many votes as the next CIUs on the list.

40% (16 firms) said Dominica had, in their experience, the most efficient processing over the last 12 months, while the Saint Kitts & Nevis CIU, the Antigua & Barbuda CIU, the Cyprus Ministry of the Interior, and the Vanuatu Citizenship Commission were each cited as the most efficient by three firms.

Due to our sample selection method – only international firms that offer a wide range of programs across the globe and, therefore, will have had experiences with most CIUs, were surveyed – the results show non-skewed, apples-to-apples comparisons of the respective CIUs.

The Dominica CIU was famously able to carry on processing applications throughout the havoc wreaked by two hurricanes in 2017 thanks to its automated, offshore processing system. In the 2018-19 fiscal period, Dominica approved no fewer than 2,100 applications (likely issuing three times that number of passports in the same period), a figure second only to that of the Turkey CIP, which surprised the industry in 2019 by becoming the world’s biggest CIP.

Presuming a not atypical rejection rate of 15%, Dominica’s approval of 2,100 applications within a calendar year means they are processing applications at the astonishing clip of 200 a month, a figure many CIUs take a whole year to handle.

Want to know more about the Dominica CIP? To see recent articles, statistics, official links, and more, visit its Program Page. To see which firms can assist with applications to the program, visit the Residence & Citizenship by Investment Company Directory.