Entering Dominica as a Visitor
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 · Visiting as a tourist
Twelve months is the figure in the statute, and it is the longest single visitor permit of any country in this comparison. Section 19 of the Immigration and Passport Act lets an immigration officer grant a visitor or a passenger in transit a permit for up to twelve months, and a shorter permit may be extended by the Commissioner of Police up to that same twelve-month ceiling counted from the date of entry. Whether you need a visa first turns on a distinction the Act draws and most guides miss: only an alien needs one, and an alien is defined as a person who is not a Commonwealth citizen. The list of non-Commonwealth nationalities that are nevertheless exempt is set by the Aliens (Visa Exemption) Regulations - and the version in force is S.R.O. 37 of 2019, which the Government's own law collection does not publish.
At a glance
- Maximum period an officer may grant a visitor
- 12 months
Section 19(1) of the Immigration and Passport Act writes it in words - "not exceeding twelve months". It is a ceiling on the officer's discretion, not an entitlement.
- Maximum a permit can be extended to
- 12 months from the date of entry
Section 19(2). The extension is by the Commissioner of Police and does not add to the twelve months: it runs to twelve months from entry, so an extension cannot take the total past that.
- Who needs a visa
- Aliens only
Section 28(1)(b) requires a visaed passport of an alien; section 2(1) defines an alien as a person who is not a Commonwealth citizen. A Commonwealth citizen needs a passport under section 28(1)(a) and no visa.
- Visa-exempt period for the listed European, Asian and American nationalities
- 6 monthsas of 2015-03-19
Regulation 2(2)(a) of the Aliens (Visa Exemption) Regulations, 2015. Those Regulations have since been replaced: see the note on S.R.O. 37 of 2019.
- Visa exemption on a Schengen, American, British or Canadian visa
- 6 monthsas of 2015-03-19
Regulation 2(2)(b) of the 2015 Regulations. Whether the 2019 Regulations kept it is not something we can state.
- Dominican Republic nationals
- 190 days, visa-free, since 1 February 2026as of 2026-02-01
Inserted as paragraph (q) by S.R.O. 2 of 2026. Under the 2015 Regulations a citizen of the Dominican Republic was expressly shut out of even the twenty-one-day tourist exemption.
- Maldives nationals
- Visa-free, period written two ways in the same sentenceas of 2025-10-16
S.R.O. 37 of 2025 inserts paragraph (p) as "a period not exceeding thirty days from the day of entry for a period not exceeding ninety days". The instrument says both thirty and ninety and we do not resolve it.
- Transit and short tourist exemption
- 21 daysas of 2015-03-19
Regulation 2(2)(g) of the 2015 Regulations, for a passenger in transit or bona fide tourist holding a return ticket.
- Security deposit an officer may require
- EC$1,000 / EC$4,000 / EC$10,000 by region of origin
Regulation 5(1) of the Immigration (Restrictions) Regulations, printed as subsidiary legislation to the Act. It bites only where the immigrant cannot satisfy the officer that he is not likely to become a public charge.
- Cumulative annual ceiling
- None in the Act
Nothing in sections 5, 19 or 28 counts days across trips. Peru counts 183 in a rolling year and Colombia 180; Dominica counts nothing.
Requirements
- A passport, or a document establishing your identity and nationality to an immigration officer's satisfaction
- A visa endorsed in the passport if you are an alien - that is, not a Commonwealth citizen - and not within one of the exemptions
- Evidence of means: employment to return to, a return ticket, or money enough for the visit and the fare home, if the officer asks
- Entry at a port of entry, and immediate presentation in person to the nearest immigration officer if you arrive by air
- A permit from the immigration officer stating the period, which may be up to twelve months
- An application to the Commissioner of Police before the permit expires if you want longer
In detail
Twelve months, which is the longest in this comparison
Most immigration statutes give a visitor thirty, ninety or a hundred and eighty days. Dominica's section 19 gives an immigration officer power to grant up to twelve months in one permit, and section 19(2) lets the Commissioner of Police extend a shorter permit up to that same twelve-month mark measured from the date of entry. Saint Kitts and Nevis caps the single admission at six months but allows extension to six years; Dominica caps both at twelve months. Neither counts days across trips, which is where both differ from Peru, Colombia and Mexico. The figure is a ceiling on discretion and nothing else: section 19(1) says the officer "may" grant, and he may grant a week.
The visa question is a Commonwealth question
Section 28(1) splits travellers in two. A Commonwealth citizen or Commonwealth protected person needs a passport issued by his own government. An alien - which section 2(1) defines as a person who is not a Commonwealth citizen - needs a passport that has been visaed by a Dominican consular officer. That is the whole of the visa requirement in the Act, and everything else is exemption. It means the right question is not "is my country on the list" but "is my country in the Commonwealth", and only if the answer is no does the list matter at all.
The exemption list in force is one we could not read
The Aliens (Visa Exemption) Regulations have been remade and amended repeatedly: the 1988 version is printed in the revised edition of the Act, S.R.O. 7 of 2015 repealed it, and amendments followed in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2025 and 2026. But the 2025 and 2026 amendments both carry a marginal note identifying the principal Regulations as S.R.O. 37 of 2019, and they amend paragraphs (o), (p) and (q) of regulation 2(2) - letters that do not exist in the 2015 version, which stops at (h). S.R.O. 37 of 2019 is therefore the instrument in force, and it is not in the Government's law collection: a search by title returns nothing, and the collection's 2019 holdings stop at S.R.O. 31. So the complete list of visa-exempt nationalities is not stated here. What can be stated is what the two most recent amendments add, and those are quoted.
The published list and the Regulations disagree
The Government portal's page "Do I Need a Visa to Enter into Dominica?" gives Commonwealth countries, CARICOM member states and fifteen European and American nationalities six months, and a second group - Argentina, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany and others - three months. The Regulations of 2015 gave all of those nationalities six months in a single paragraph. The page also lists the People's Republic of China where the Regulations list the Republic of China (Taiwan). A traveller reading the page and a traveller reading the Regulations get different answers, and we have not been able to read the instrument that would settle it.
Country-level policy
Printed as live subsidiary legislation to the Income Tax Act is a rule that no person shall leave or attempt to leave Dominica without a certificate from the Comptroller of Inland Revenue saying he owes no tax, that nobody may issue him a ticket without one, and that it is an immigration officer's duty to stop him boarding. The Regulations date from 1984 and carry a long list of exemptions, the widest of which covers any person temporarily resident in Dominica who has not carried on a business or exercised any employment here - which is to say, an ordinary visitor. The rule matters for anybody who does work or trade in Dominica and then wants to leave, and it is the kind of provision that is invisible until it is not.
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
«19. (1) Where a person desires to remain in the State as a visitor or passenger in transit for a period not exceeding twelve months, an immigration officer may, if so requested and without deciding whether that person is or is not a prohibited immigrant, grant him a permit to remain in the State for such period not exceeding twelve months as may be specified in the permit.»Twelve months is the ceiling on what the officer may write; the period actually granted is his. The same subsection covers a passenger in transit, which is why the two are never distinguished in Dominica the way they are in Argentina.
«(2) If the permit is for a period less than twelve months, it may be extended from time to time by the Commissioner of Police up to a maximum twelve months from the date of entry.»Read carefully: the extension runs to twelve months from entry, not twelve months from the extension. Six months granted at the border can be extended by six, and no further.
«(b) in the case of an alien (other than an alien who is a Commonwealth protected person) he shall have in his possession a passport which has been visaed by a Dominican consular officer or other person duly so authorised;»The visa requirement attaches to the word "alien", which section 2(1) defines as a person who is not a Commonwealth citizen. This is why Dominica's visa rules are organised around the Commonwealth and not around a country list.
«(a) any person who is likely if he entered the State to become a public charge by reason of infirmity of body or mind or who is not in possession of sufficient means to support himself and such of his dependants as he brings with him to the State;»A visitor without sufficient means is a prohibited immigrant on the face of the Act, and a prohibited immigrant may be admitted only on a permit under section 9. In practice section 19 lets the officer sidestep the question for up to twelve months without deciding it.
«(a) one thousand dollars if he belongs to one of the Commonwealth Caribbean territories or to Guyana;
(b) four thousand dollars if he belongs to a country forming part of the continent of America, Europe, or Africa or to any of the islands in the North Atlantic Ocean other than those specified in paragraph (a);
(c) ten thousand dollars if he belongs to any other country;»Printed as subsidiary legislation to the Act and last amended in 1990. The amounts are graded by where the immigrant belongs, with Commonwealth Caribbean and Guyana at the bottom of the scale.
«(3) No temporary permit shall be issued for a period exceeding one month without the sanction of the Commissioner of Police, nor for a period exceeding twelve months without the sanction of the Minister.»The counterpart of section 19 on the administrative side: anything beyond a month needs the Commissioner of Police, anything beyond twelve months needs the Minister.
«(a) citizens of Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Republic of China (Taiwan), Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden,United Kingdom, United States of America, and Venezuela who wish to visit for a period not exceeding 6 months;»Thirty-eight nationalities at six months. Note Croatia, which the equivalent Kittitian schedule omits because it was frozen in 2008; Dominica's 2015 list has it.
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.
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«(3) Subregulation (2)(g) does not apply and shall not be
deemed to apply to citizens of the Dominican Republic.»The twenty-one-day tourist exemption was expressly withheld from citizens of the Dominican Republic. S.R.O. 2 of 2026 now gives them a hundred and ninety days visa-free, which is the sharpest reversal in the chain.
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.
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«“(q) to a citizen of the Dominican Republic
who holds a valid diplomatic, official,
or ordinary passport of the Dominican
Republic who wishes to visit for a
period not exceeding one hundred and
ninety days.”.»Cite the resulting regulation, not the amending one. S.R.O. 2 of 2026 is the instrument that put the paragraph there, with effect from 1 February 2026.
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
«“(p) to a citizen of the Republic of Maldives
who holds a valid diplomatic, official,
or ordinary passport of the Republic
of Maldives who wishes to visit for a
period not exceeding thirty days from
the day of entry for a period not
exceeding ninety days.”.»The period is written twice and the two do not agree. We publish the sentence rather than a number.
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.
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«Interpretation.
SRO No. 37 of 2019.»This marginal note is the only evidence we found of which instrument is the principal one. It names S.R.O. 37 of 2019, and S.R.O. 2 of 2026 repeats it. The Government's law collection does not publish S.R.O. 37 of 2019.
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
The six months that circulates for Dominica is the visa-exemption period in the Aliens (Visa Exemption) Regulations, not the length of stay. The length of stay is whatever the officer writes on the permit under section 19, up to twelve months, and the two are different questions decided by different people.
Nothing in sections 5, 19 or 28 of the Immigration and Passport Act, or in the Immigration (Restrictions) Regulations as printed in the revised edition, imposes a health-insurance requirement, a published proof-of-funds threshold or a mandatory onward ticket. Regulation 5(2) lets an officer ask for evidence of employment elsewhere, a return ticket or sufficient money, in the alternative and at his discretion. That is an absence in those provisions as read, not a survey of what is asked at Douglas-Charles.
The Government's extension-of-stay page charges EC$25 or EC$50 to a CARICOM national and EC$50 or EC$100 to everyone else, according to whether the extension is under a month or one to three months. The Act prescribes no fee for an extension under section 19 and no fee scale by nationality; section 9(3) prescribes a flat fifty dollars for a permit application. We did not find the instrument that sets the extension fees.
The Immigration and Passport Act as consolidated shows its last amendment as Act 32 of 1995 and a revision date of 1 January 1994. The Government's own collection lists amending Acts of 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007 (twice) and 2013 that are not in the consolidated text. Nothing in this record rests on a section those Acts may have changed without our seeing it.
- consolidatesImmigration and Passport Act, Chapter 18:01, 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
- consolidatesAliens (Visa Exemption) Regulations, 2015 (S.R.O. 7 of 2015)
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
- consolidatesAliens (Visa Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (S.R.O. 37 of 2025)
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
- consolidatesAliens (Visa Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (S.R.O. 2 of 2026)
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
- administersDo I Need a Visa to Enter into 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
- administersWhat are the Entry Requirements for 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
- administersHow Do I Apply for an Extension of Stay?
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