Dominica to Lift Visa Restrictions for Dominican Republic Citizens, Skerrit Signals Broader Policy Shift

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has announced that his government will be lifting visa restrictions for citizens of the Dominican Republic, signalling a significant shift in Dominica’s immigration policy.

Skerrit made the disclosure during a recent New Year sit-down interview with journalists, stating that he has long opposed the existing visa requirements.

“I have always been against this visa restriction that the Government of Dominica has,” the Prime Minister said. “As a matter of fact, we will be lifting in a dramatic way the visa restriction on citizens of the Dominican Republic to allow people to come in, because there are so many things that can be done.”

He went further to express his personal preference for a more open approach to entry into Dominica.

“Left to me, I would remove visa requirements for all nationals coming to Dominica,” Skerrit added, noting the inconsistency between Dominica’s expectations abroad and its own policies at home.

“We cannot be asking people for visa-free access for us to come to their country and we have all kinds of visa restrictions for people coming to our country,” he said.

The Prime Minister also suggested that similar consideration should be extended to nationals of Haiti, strongly criticising what he described as discriminatory treatment.

“We cannot continue to treat our Haitian brothers and sisters as if they have leprosy and then banish them, as was done in the past,” Skerrit stated.

While acknowledging that criminal elements exist in all societies, he cautioned against broad generalisations.

“Obviously, in every society you have people with criminal intentions, but we cannot paint every Haitian in such a manner,” he said.

Skerrit also underscored Haiti’s historic significance, describing a moral responsibility toward its people.

“We have a duty and an obligation to the first country where slavery was emancipated and from which all of us got our motivation,” he added.

No timeline has yet been announced for the implementation of the revised visa policy, but the Prime Minister’s remarks suggest a broader reassessment of Dominica’s approach to regional mobility and immigration.