Secret Bay Sees 66% Increase in Enquiries from Americans Seeking Second Citizenship

As the six month mark of the coronavirus global pandemic nears and much of the world remains in lockdown, there’s an increased interest in the desire for dual citizenship.

 The Residences at Secret Bay, the six-star all-villa resort in Dominica, the Caribbean’s  “Nature Island,”  is reporting a 66% increase in enquiries from Americans who are now seeking second citizenship as an invaluable add on to a traditional real estate investment. The catalyst driving this new interest can be attributed to several factors including:  the United States’ inability to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the strict travel limitations imposed on U.S. travelers by nearly all countries — except for Caribbean nations — and the overall economic uncertainty and instability related to both the pandemic and the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections.

With Citizenship by Investment programmes, like that of Dominica, offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 140 countries, Americans now have access to the luxury of a Golden Passport or Plan B. Obtaining citizenship through investment in approved real estate, like Secret Bay, is an increasingly popular path to dual citizenship as it’s attractive to high-end buyers who, in addition to obtaining an ownership interest in a luxury property that can serve both as a place to escape to and an astute investment, also gain a second passport for their entire family.

“We've had success selling amid the pandemic and most recently reached near sell out of our Phase 1 of built product,”  said Gregor Nassief, proprietor of Secret Bay and Chairman and CEO of GEMS Holdings Limited. “And now, we are seeing American’s discovering this path to second citizenship. Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme was recognized by the Financial Times as the ‘World’s Best Country for Second Citizenship’ three years in a row and Secret Bay is Dominica’s only government-approved real estate project offering purchase options to both vacation home buyers and citizenship investors, making our offering unmatched and a perfect fit for this new wave of interested buyers.”

With the secret out, expect to see more Americans acquiring second passports through CBI programmes like COVID-resilient Dominica, and specifically through real estate investments like Secret Bay.

 Buyers interested in The Residences at Secret Bay can acquire whole or fractional ownership of a freestanding, residential-style villa priced at $1.4M to $4.05M per villa or $218K per share, with or without the option to pursue citizenship. Each fully-equipped residence, sited on a private lot complete with gardens and plunge pool, offers unmatched seclusion and privacy. 

To date, The Residences at Secret Bay has nearly sold out Phase 1 and is set to release Phase 2, which includes four new villas to be completed this November with a fifth by January 2021. The awarding-winning Green Globe certified resort and residences, which was recently named the  #1 Resort Hotel in the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas and #6 Hotel in the World in Travel + Leisure’s 2020 World’s Best Awards, has also recently been recognised by such global publications as Architectural Digest, CNN, Fortune, National Geographic, Outside, the cover of Travel + Leisure, and The Telegraph.

Dominica was recently recognized as among the top 15 COVID-19 recovering countries in the world, achieved by maintaining the confirmed case numbers below 20, with zero deaths and full recovery, and reopened its borders to international travellers on August 7 with clear entry protocols. Further, Roosevelt Skerrit, Dominica’s prime minister, reported that in addition to the modernization of the country’s main hospitals, construction is underway on the New Marigot Hospital Project, which will result in the construction of a 40,000 square-foot, two-floor hospital to be fully funded by CBI. The hospital will add capacity of 75 beds, and will provide important services including emergency care, intensive care (ICU), laboratory and radiology services and a trauma centre, among others. CBI funds have also contributed to the construction of polyclinics in 14 communities and the restoration of six health centres, thereby expanding the island’s healthcare infrastructure.

To learn more about The Residences at Secret Bay, visit: https://secretbay.dm/residences/.  For a consultation, please email [email protected].

Images courtesy of The Residences at Secret Bay