Two Caribbean programs, a $35,000 price gap on the donation route, and one structural fact that drives the entire decision. Dominica starts at $200,000 for a single-applicant donation. Grenada starts at $235,000. Both programs deliver a second nationality without a residency requirement, access to Schengen, and a zero-tax structure for non-resident citizens. The difference is not cosmetic. Grenada holds a bilateral treaty with the United States that makes Grenadian citizens eligible to apply for the US E-2 Treaty Investor Visa. Dominica does not. If that matters to your situation, the premium is justified. If it does not, Dominica saves you $35,000 for largely equivalent access.
The rest is detail. This post works through it.
Side-by-Side at a Glance
| Program | Dominica | Grenada |
|---|---|---|
| Donation Minimum | $200,000 | $235,000 |
| Real Estate Minimum | $200,000 | $270,000 + $50,000 NTF |
| Real Estate Hold Period | 3 years | 5 years |
| Processing Time | 3–4 months (standard) | 4–6 months (standard) |
| Visa-Free Countries (Henley 2026) | ~140–145 | ~147 |
| UK Access | No (visa required, revoked July 2023) | ETA required (£20, valid 2 years) |
| US Access | Visa required, no treaty | E-2 treaty eligibility |
| China Visa-Free | No | Yes (30 days) |
| EU Free Movement | No | No |
| Dual Citizenship | Permitted | Permitted |
The $35,000 Question: E-2 Treaty Access
The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa is a US non-immigrant visa. It allows citizens of countries with a qualifying bilateral treaty to live and work in the United States by investing in a US-based business. Grenada’s treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States is what puts Grenadian citizens in the eligible pool. No other Caribbean CBI country has this treaty.
Three things need to be clear before this becomes a planning consideration.
First, E-2 eligibility is not E-2 approval. Grenada citizenship makes you eligible to apply. The US government evaluates every E-2 application on its own merits: the business must be real, operational, and substantially capitalised, typically $100,000 to $500,000 depending on the type and scale of the enterprise. A weak business plan will not produce a visa regardless of which passport you hold. Engage a US immigration attorney to assess your specific business case before treating E-2 access as the headline justification.
Second, the E-2 is a non-immigrant visa. It does not lead to a green card on its own. It is renewable indefinitely as long as the underlying business remains operational and you maintain Grenadian citizenship. If the business closes or the citizenship lapses, the E-2 basis disappears.
Third, the cost structure has two stages. Stage one is the Grenada CBI: $235,000 donation, total all-in roughly $260,000 to $275,000 for a single applicant once due diligence fees, processing fees, and agent costs are added. Stage two is the US business investment itself, separate and additional, typically six figures. The Grenada premium over Dominica is the cheap part of this structure if the E-2 is actually going to be used. The full cost to reach US E-2 residency via this route is materially higher than the CBI cost alone, but remains well below the EB-5 minimum of $800,000.
For applicants with a genuine US business use case, this is the cheapest available route to legal US business residency. For applicants with no US angle, the premium has no structural justification.
UK and Visa-Free Differentials
Dominica lost UK visa-free access in July 2023 following the UK Home Office review of Caribbean CBI programs. A Dominican passport holder now requires a full UK Standard Visitor visa. Grenada is in a different tier: Grenadian passport holders require a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA, £20, valid 2 years), introduced January 2025. The ETA is a pre-travel authorisation, not a visa, and does not involve a consular appointment or the same documentary burden. For applicants who travel regularly to the UK, Grenada holds a practical advantage over Dominica, though it is no longer strictly visa-free access in the pre-2025 sense.
Grenada also carries China visa-free access for stays up to 30 days. This is uncommon among Caribbean CBI passports. For professionals with business relationships in mainland China, the combination of Schengen access, UK ETA eligibility, and China visa-free in a single Caribbean passport is a practically useful access profile that Dominica cannot match.
On visa-free count, the gap is narrow. Grenada sits at approximately 147 countries (Henley 2026) versus Dominica’s 140 to 145. Schengen, Singapore, and Hong Kong are visa-free on both. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand require a visa on both. The meaningful differentials are UK and China, both in Grenada’s favour.
The Real Estate Routes Compared
Both programs offer a real estate route alongside the donation option. The gap is wider here.
Dominica’s real estate route requires a $200,000 investment in a government-approved development, held for three years. Grenada’s real estate route requires $270,000 in an approved development plus a separate $50,000 NTF contribution, held for five years. The all-in Grenada real estate cost for a single applicant runs $346,000 to $363,000 before legal fees. Dominica’s equivalent lands at $225,000 to $235,000.
The practical caveats are the same across both programs. Government-approved CBI developments in the Caribbean are resort and tourism properties. Secondary market liquidity is thin. The exit buyer pool after the hold period is typically other CBI investors seeking a qualifying property, which constrains both price and timing. Neither route suits an applicant looking for liquid real estate exposure or meaningful capital preservation. For most applicants, the donation route is the cleaner structure. The real estate route makes sense only if there is a specific development with credible resale data, or if maintaining a nominal balance-sheet asset matters for structural reasons.
Who Picks Dominica
The European expat building a Plan B passport. A senior executive based in Singapore, Malaysia, or the Gulf who holds a European passport but wants a second nationality as insurance against home-country political change or future mobility restrictions. The Dominican passport delivers Schengen access, clean tax structure, and permanent citizenship at the lowest available Caribbean price point. If UK travel is managed separately through their existing passport, the UK access gap is irrelevant.
The HNW individual building a tax-residency architecture. Someone transitioning to UAE or Singapore residency who wants to reduce dependency on their home-country passport and its associated political risk. Dominican citizenship does not create tax obligations. It removes nationality concentration. The combination of a low-tax residency jurisdiction and Dominican second nationality is structurally clean and cost-efficient.
The family prioritising minimum cost for maximum optionality. No residency, no language requirement, no physical presence at any stage. A family can obtain Dominican citizenship without disrupting their current life. The 3-year real estate hold or EDF donation is the total commitment. A family of four on the Dominica donation route runs $200,000 (main applicant) + $50,000 (spouse) + $25,000 per dependent child, so approximately $300,000 in base contributions before due diligence and legal fees. That still makes it the most affordable direct citizenship route in the Caribbean for a family unit with no US business angle.
Who Picks Grenada
Founders and executives with US business interests. A professional who has identified a US business opportunity, holds a board role with a US entity, or needs extended US presence to develop and direct a business. E-2 status removes the visa interview cycle, provides multi-year US residency on a renewable basis, and costs materially less than the EB-5 route. Grenada is the entry point to this structure.
Asia-based expats with US client bases or operational requirements. A senior professional in Singapore, Hong Kong, or Kuala Lumpur who has a US client base or needs regular, extended US presence. The E-2 framework provides the legal basis for that presence. The Grenada CBI is stage one of a two-stage cost structure, but the alternative, EB-5 at $800,000 plus multi-year queues, makes the comparison straightforward.
Investors who need UK, Schengen, and China access in one passport. The combination is unusual at the Caribbean price point. Grenada passport holders require a UK ETA (£20, valid 2 years, introduced January 2025) rather than a full consular visa — a materially lighter burden than Dominica’s full UK visa requirement. Add Schengen and China visa-free access, and the Grenada access profile justifies the premium over Dominica for globally mobile professionals operating across European and East Asian business corridors, even without the E-2 consideration.
The Decision
Three forks, one of which applies to most applicants:
-
If US E-2 matters now or in the foreseeable future, Grenada is the only Caribbean route and the cheapest available path to E-2 eligibility globally. The $35,000 donation premium is the cost of that optionality. The full cost of using the E-2 pathway is higher once the US business investment is added, but remains the most cost-efficient structure for US operational access short of the EB-5.
-
If UK access matters and US access does not, Grenada passport holders enter the UK via an ETA (£20, valid 2 years), while Dominican passport holders require a full Standard Visitor visa. Both regimes changed in 2023–2025, but Grenada’s burden is materially lighter. At a $35,000 premium on the donation route, avoiding the consular visa cycle for regular UK business travel may justify the difference.
-
If neither US nor UK access is a priority, Dominica saves $35,000 or more for essentially the same Schengen and Asian corridor access. The structural case for paying the Grenada premium disappears. Dominica at $200,000 is the more efficient instrument.
Neither Dominica nor Grenada provides US visa-free access or EU free movement. Grenada’s E-2 treaty creates eligibility to apply for a US non-immigrant visa, not US visa-free entry. Both programs are Plan B citizenships for globally mobile professionals seeking a second nationality with Schengen access and a tax-neutral structure. They are not relocation routes, and neither is a substitute for EU nationality.