Marrying a Dominican
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of The Bahamas on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match The Bahamas to Dominica · Residency through marriage
Marriage to a Dominican is a route to citizenship, not to residence, and it is a slow one. Section 6(a) of the Citizenship Act lets the Minister register the spouse of a citizen after three years of residence or government service immediately before the application, with good character, adequate English, knowledge of a citizen's responsibilities and an intention to go on living here. Three years is a year less than Dominica asks of nobody else and four less than the seven the Constitution asks of a Commonwealth citizen - but it is discretionary throughout: the section says the Minister "may" register, and lets him accept a shorter period in the special circumstances of a case. While the three years run, the spouse has no status of his own: he holds a visitor permit or a section 9 permit like any other foreigner.
At a glance
- Residence before registration as a citizen
- 3 years
Section 6(a) of the Citizenship Act, counted immediately before the application and satisfied by residence, by service of the Government, or partly by each.
- Is it an entitlement?
- No
Section 6 says the Minister "may" register. Compare section 100(1) of the Constitution, which says a Commonwealth citizen resident seven years "shall be entitled" to be registered.
- Shorter period
- At the Minister's discretion
Section 6(a) allows "such shorter period as the Minister may in the special circumstances of any particular case accept". No minimum is stated.
- Language and knowledge test
- Adequate English and knowledge of a citizen's responsibilities
Section 6(a). Regulation 10(2) of the Citizenship Regulations asks the application to contain enough information to satisfy the Minister on residence, character, language and intention.
- Residence status for the spouse while waiting
- None of its own
The Immigration and Passport Act has no spouse category. A married foreigner holds a visitor permit or a section 9 permit like anyone else.
- Registration fee charged by the Ministry
- EC$2,000, plus EC$250 on application
From the Government portal's citizenship page, which also asks for EC$20 in adhesive stamps for the forms and EC$20 for the oath. The Citizenship Act and Regulations as consolidated do not state these amounts.
- Spouse definition in the investment Regulations
- Partner of the opposite sex by marriageas of 2024-06-28
Regulation 2 of the 2024 Regulations defines "spouse" by reference to the Marriage Act and the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act. The Citizenship Act itself does not define the word.
Requirements
- Marriage to a person who is a citizen of Dominica, or was before his or her death, or at the time of the marriage
- Three years of residence in Dominica, or service of the Government, or a mixture of the two, immediately before the application - or a shorter period the Minister accepts in the special circumstances of the case
- Good character, an adequate knowledge of the responsibilities of a citizen and of the English language
- An intention, if registered, to reside in Dominica or to enter or continue in the service of the Government
- The oath or affirmation of allegiance, which must be taken before registration takes effect
- In the meantime, a visitor permit under section 19 or a residence permit under section 9 - marriage gives no immigration status of its own
In detail
Three years, and what they are counted against
Dominica's periods line up in a way worth seeing together. A spouse of a citizen: three years, at the Minister's discretion. A minor child the Constitution does not reach: three years, likewise. A Commonwealth citizen: five years to apply to the Minister under section 6(c), or seven years to be entitled under section 100(1)(a) of the Constitution. An alien with no connection: twelve months immediately before the application and seven years in all, under section 8. Marriage buys the shortest period in the statute, and it buys it as a discretion rather than as a right.
Marriage confers nothing on the immigration side
This is where Dominica differs sharply from the Latin American countries in this comparison, most of which give the spouse of a national a residence category of their own on the day of the marriage. Dominica has no categories at all, so there is nothing for marriage to unlock. The spouse of a Dominican enters as a visitor under section 19 for up to twelve months and then applies, like anybody else, for a permit under section 9 on terms the Minister thinks expedient. The three-year clock for citizenship runs on residence, and the residence has to be lawful, so in practice the two have to be managed together.
What the Ministry charges
The Act and the Citizenship Regulations as consolidated leave fees to a Schedule we could not read in the scan. The Government's citizenship page fills the gap: EC$250 on application, EC$20 in adhesive stamps for the forms, and if the Minister approves, an oath taken at the Registry and a registration fee of EC$2,000. That is the figure a spouse should budget for, and it is published by the Labour Division rather than by any instrument we found.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of The Bahamas
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«(a) that such person is or has been married to a person who is, or was before his death or at the time of the marriage. a citizen of Dominica and that he is of good character and has an adequate knowledge of the responsibilities of a citizen of Dominica and of the English language and has resided in Dominica or has been in the service of the Government of Dominica, or has had partly such residence and partly such service throughout a period of three years, or such shorter period as the Minister may in the special circumstances of any particular case accept, immediately preceding the date of his application and he intends if registered to reside in Dominica or to enter or continue in the service of the Government; or»Three years, and the words "is or has been married" reach a widow or widower as well as a current spouse. The clause also covers a person who was a citizen "at the time of the marriage", which is wider than it first looks.
«7. A person shall not be registered as a citizen of Dominica under the provisions of section 6 until he has first taken the oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form set out in the Schedule, but he shall upon taking the oath or affirmation as aforesaid and being registered, be a citizen of Dominica by registration, as from the date on which he is registered.»Citizenship runs from the date of registration, not from the application or the marriage.
«“spouse” means the partner of the opposite sex by marriage in
accordance with the Marriage Act, and the Marriage
(Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act;»This definition governs the investment Regulations only. The Citizenship Act's own marriage route in section 6(a) does not define the word.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The government's collection: the Revised Laws of 1990 as chapters, plus Acts and Statutory Rules and Orders year by year.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current text of any Act: the chapters are the 1990 revised edition authorised to the mid-nineties, and later amending Acts sit in the collection without being folded in - the immigration chapter prints its last amendment as 1995 while the database lists six later ones. It must not be cited for completeness either: the visa-exemption Regulations actually in force are absent from it entirely, as are three Acts of one recent year, so an absence here is not proof of non-existence. Every chapter is an image-only scan, so a quotation from one is a recognition. And its catalogue titles are unreliable - one instrument is listed under a name that is not its short title.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
Practical notes
This record rests on the Immigration and Passport Act, Chapter 18:01 as consolidated, including sections 5, 7, 9, 10, 18, 19 and 28 and the Immigration (Restrictions) Regulations printed with it, and on the Government portal's residence-permit, permanent-residence and extension-of-stay pages. None of them names a category of the kind this topic describes. The Act's own list of amendments stops at 1995 and six later amending Acts exist that the consolidation does not carry, so this is an absence in what we read.
The EC$250 and EC$2,000 figures come from the Government portal's citizenship service page. We did not trace them to the Citizenship Regulations' fee Schedule, which regulation 23 refers to and which the stored reading of the scanned chapter does not render legibly.
Section 6 of the Citizenship Act in the stored reading is missing its opening words: the capture runs "PART II application for registration to the Minister in the prescribed manner and satisfies the Minister-" straight into paragraph (a). The chapeau - which says who may apply and on what terms - is lost in the scan. Nothing here rests on it, and the paragraphs quoted read continuously.
The Citizenship Act's marriage provision is gender-neutral on its face. The investment Regulations define a spouse as "the partner of the opposite sex by marriage", which is a definition for those Regulations and is reproduced here because it is what the instrument says.
- consolidatesCommonwealth of Dominica Citizenship Act, Chapter 1:10, Revised Laws of Dominica
Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica - Laws of Dominica
About this source
The government's collection: the Revised Laws of 1990 as chapters, plus Acts and Statutory Rules and Orders year by year.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current text of any Act: the chapters are the 1990 revised edition authorised to the mid-nineties, and later amending Acts sit in the collection without being folded in - the immigration chapter prints its last amendment as 1995 while the database lists six later ones. It must not be cited for completeness either: the visa-exemption Regulations actually in force are absent from it entirely, as are three Acts of one recent year, so an absence here is not proof of non-existence. Every chapter is an image-only scan, so a quotation from one is a recognition. And its catalogue titles are unreliable - one instrument is listed under a name that is not its short title.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- administersHow Do I Apply for Citizenship of the Commonwealth of Dominica?
Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica Web Portal
About this source
The labour, immigration and customs account of what the ministries require and charge - the only published source for residence and permanence fees and for the returning-resident concessions.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the law. Its fees contradict the Act by a factor of sixteen, its visa periods contradict the Regulations, and it states a five-year permanent-residence rule that exists in no instrument. Cite it for what a ministry charges and asks for, never for what the law requires, and never for a nationality list.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesCommonwealth of Dominica Citizenship by Investment Regulations, 2024 (S.R.O. 8 of 2024)
Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica - Laws of Dominica
About this source
The government's collection: the Revised Laws of 1990 as chapters, plus Acts and Statutory Rules and Orders year by year.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the current text of any Act: the chapters are the 1990 revised edition authorised to the mid-nineties, and later amending Acts sit in the collection without being folded in - the immigration chapter prints its last amendment as 1995 while the database lists six later ones. It must not be cited for completeness either: the visa-exemption Regulations actually in force are absent from it entirely, as are three Acts of one recent year, so an absence here is not proof of non-existence. Every chapter is an image-only scan, so a quotation from one is a recognition. And its catalogue titles are unreliable - one instrument is listed under a name that is not its short title.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source