Week one is about one thing: your passport stamp. Everything else — permits, social security, tax number, bank account — hangs off keeping your immigration status valid.
Overview
Dominica imposes no residence-registration deadline on arrival — there is no town hall to report to and no ID number issued to foreigners — but the clock that matters starts the moment you clear immigration: your entry stamp defines how long your visitor status lasts, and every application (work permit, residence permit, eventually permanent residence) requires that status to remain valid throughout processing. The government portal warns that a visitor without a current Extension of Stay is on island illegally and will be refused even an application form. So the first month sequences around the Immigration Department and the Labour Division in Roseau, with the Treasury Department (or eservices.gov.dm) for every fee, Dominica Social Security registration if you are employed (the employer's deadline is 7 days), and the Inland Revenue Division for a taxpayer number. Roseau's government offices cluster around Government Headquarters on Kennedy Avenue, which makes the bureaucratic circuit physically short — the friction is processing time, not distance. Verified against dominica.gov.dm, labour.gov.dm, dss.dm and ird.gov.dm as of June 2026.
Week 1 — Status and Paper
- Check your entry stamp: Note exactly how long the Immigration officer granted you. This date drives everything; diarise an Extension of Stay application well before it lapses (Immigration Department; the Visa Section of the Ministry of National Security is at +1 767 266-3212/4640).
- SIM and connectivity: Local SIM with ID (passport). Government offices communicate by phone — a working local number matters.
- Locate your offices: Government Headquarters, Kennedy Avenue, Roseau houses the immigration/labour ministry floors and is next to the Treasury; the CBIU sits in the Financial Center on the same avenue. One street covers most of your first-month errands.
- Medical examination: If you will apply for a work or residence permit, book the medical early — the residence permit medical form requires a doctor's examination with HIV test and chest X-ray results recorded on the form, and labs take time on a small island.
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See Paid Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most important deadline in my first month?
Your visitor status expiry. Dominica has no arrival-registration requirement, so the only statutory clock is the date the Immigration officer stamped into your passport. Before it lapses you must either have a permit decision or an Extension of Stay from the Immigration Department recorded in your passport. The government portal states that without it you are on island illegally and will not be given a permit application form until your status is regularised — which means one missed date can freeze your entire migration plan.
In what order should I do the bureaucracy in Roseau?
1) Immigration Department — confirm or extend your visitor status. 2) Medical practitioner — get the examination done early because the form needs recorded HIV and chest X-ray results. 3) Treasury Department — pay the application fee and keep the receipt (EC$250/EC$800 for a residence permit depending on CARICOM status). 4) Labour Division at Government Headquarters — submit the complete application. 5) Dominica Social Security and the Inland Revenue Division — registration once employment starts. The offices cluster on and around Kennedy Avenue, so the constraint is opening hours and processing, not travel.
I have started a job. What must happen administratively in the first week?
Your employer must hold (or have applied for) your work permit — the Ministry generally requires you on island during processing — and must register as an employer with Dominica Social Security within 7 days of employing their first employee, then register you and deduct monthly contributions from insurable earnings. You should register with the Inland Revenue Division for a Taxpayer Identification Number. Keep your own copies of the permit application, Treasury receipts and the employer's letter — the PR application five years later asks for copies of every permit you have held.
How do I open a bank account as a newcomer?
Expect documentary KYC heavier than the island's size suggests: passport, proof of local address (lease agreement plus a utility bill), bank or professional reference letters, and evidence of your immigration status or pending application. Eastern Caribbean banks are cautious post-derisking, and onboarding can take weeks rather than days. Bring reference letters from your home bank with you — requesting them remotely later is the single biggest avoidable delay. The Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD) is pegged to the US dollar at EC$2.70, which simplifies budgeting from USD.
Can I drive on my foreign licence?
Short-term, the established practice is a local visitor's driving permit obtained through the police Traffic Department or arranged by car-hire companies on presentation of your home licence; Dominica drives on the left. The government does not publish the current visitor-permit fee or the licence-conversion procedure online, so confirm both with the Traffic Department at Police Headquarters, Bath Road, Roseau (+1 767 266-5100) rather than relying on third-party summaries. If you will stay beyond a visitor timeframe, raise conversion requirements when you collect your visitor permit so you only queue once.
I became a citizen through CBI and am visiting for the first time. Does any of this apply to me?
Very little. As a citizen you need no Extension of Stay, no work permit and no residence permit — the CBI programme imposes no residency requirement and your entry is as a national. What still applies if you settle: Social Security registration through your employer if you take a job, an Inland Revenue Division TIN for any local income, a Dominican driving licence in due course, and ordinary banking KYC. Many CBI citizens also use the first visit to collect original naturalisation documents and register births or marriages affecting their Dominican civil status at the Registry.