Dominica
Work In Nature (WIN) Extended Stay Visa: health insurance requirements
Yes: health insurance is required
Dominica's Work In Nature (WIN) Extended Stay visa lets remote workers and their families live on the island for up to 18 months while working for employers or clients outside Dominica. It requires expected income of US$50,000 or more over the next 12 months and valid health insurance covering you and all accompanying family. WIN holders pay no Dominica income, capital gains or dividend tax for the duration of the stay.
The requirements at a glance
| Repatriation required | Not required |
|---|---|
| Local-licensed insurer required | No: compliant international IPMI is accepted |
| Accepted proof | A certificate or policy from a recognised insurance company clearly showing you are a valid policyholder, with cover valid in Dominica for you and all accompanying family members. |
Income of US$50,000 or more expected over the next 12 months (or equivalent means to support yourself and family); applicant aged 18+ and of good character with no criminal record; work performed for companies or clients not registered in Dominica; passport valid for the stay; police records, bank reference and proof of family relationships. Fees: US$100 non-refundable application fee, then US$800 (individual) or US$1,200 (family) on approval. Visa valid up to 18 months from arrival.
Who qualifies for the Dominica nomad visa
The income bar is what decides most applications, and it is the number people look for first. Here is the current one, with the conditions that come attached to it.
- Income required
- $50,000/yr
- Length of permit
- 18 monthsnot renewable
- Who can apply
- Employed remotely, Freelancer, Business owner
Maximum 18 months and not renewable — reapply to stay longer.
Tax
Income-tax waiver on foreign earnings.
That is a summary of the rule, not tax advice. Residence for immigration and residence for tax are decided separately, and the second one tends to arrive quietly, usually after you have been in the country long enough to stop thinking about it. Take proper advice before the year you need it.
What the income bar really means
Two things get people rejected on income even when they earn enough. The first is proving it: consulates want a documented, repeating history, usually bank statements and contracts covering several months, not a screenshot of a good quarter. Irregular freelance income clears the bar on average and fails on paper. The second is dependants, who almost always raise the threshold, and by a percentage of the base figure rather than a flat amount.
Treat the number above as the floor for the paperwork, not as a comfortable income for living there. It is set by the country’s own cost of living or minimum wage, which means it moves, and in several countries it is re-set every year.
The WIN Extended Stay visa runs for up to 18 months and requires expected income of US$50,000 over the next 12 months, yet names no minimum health-insurance coverage figure: it requires only a policy valid in Dominica covering the applicant and all family members.
Our take
The WIN visa names health insurance valid in Dominica covering you and all family members as a condition of approval, but it publishes no minimum coverage figure. That makes the headline number a non-issue and the policy contents the real test: on a small volcanic island the limiting factor is medical evacuation, since serious cases are flown to Martinique, Guadeloupe or the US.
Treat the visa insurance requirement and the on-the-ground risk as one decision. Pick a policy that is valid in Dominica, names you as policyholder so it satisfies the application, and explicitly includes emergency medical evacuation and repatriation, because home-country plans rarely pay for care or a medical flight here.
What happens if you get it wrong
A policy with no medical evacuation cover. It may tick the visa box, but the bill that actually lands here is an air ambulance off the island, and a treatment-only plan leaves you exposed to the one cost that matters most.
Assuming a home-country or travel card plan counts. The government wants cover valid in Dominica naming you as policyholder, and local providers commonly expect cash up front and will not bill an insurer directly, so a vague or non-local policy can fail both the application and the moment you need to claim.
Interactive
Estimated levelWhat would it cost in Dominica without insurance?
Healthcare cost level
Low
National health spending is about $492 per person a year (2023), around the global median of about $470. That is a rough signal of how pricey private care tends to be, not a price you would be quoted.
The one bill that is the same everywhere
A medical evacuation costs the same wherever you are, and it dwarfs everything else.
That is the bill you carry alone. Insurance exists for exactly this.
See what cover costsEstimated cost level from national health-spending data, not local quotes. We haven't hand-verified local prices here yet. Get a quote for a real figure.
FAQ
Yes. Applicants must show health insurance valid in Dominica covering them and all accompanying family members, evidenced by a certificate or policy naming them as a valid policyholder.
No official minimum sum is published. The requirement is simply valid health insurance covering you and your family, so the practical priority is whether the policy includes medical evacuation rather than hitting a set figure.
It is valid for up to 18 months from arrival. The non-refundable application fee is US$100, and on approval the visa fee is US$800 for an individual or US$1,200 for a family.
You must expect to earn US$50,000 or more over the next 12 months, or show equivalent means to support yourself and any accompanying family during the stay.
No. WIN holders are not subject to Dominica income, capital gains or dividend tax for the duration of their stay, though they remain responsible for tax in their home country or tax domicile.
How to apply
- Processing time
- Approval letter within 14 to 28 days.
- Government fee
- US$100 non-refundable application fee, then a US$800 (individual) or US$1,200 (family) visa fee on approval.
- Where to apply
- Entirely online at windominica.gov.dm. Pay the visa fee within 30 days of the approval letter and arrive in Dominica within 90 days.
- 1
Submit the online application at windominica.gov.dm and pay the non-refundable US$100 application fee.
- 2
Upload documents for yourself and any family: passport bio page, proof of relationships, police record, bank reference, employment or business letter, photos and health insurance.
- 3
The WIN Tourism Department checks completeness, then the application goes through due-diligence, National Security review and ministerial approval.
- 4
If approved, you receive an approval letter and must pay the WIN visa fee within 30 days: US$800 for an individual or US$1,200 for a family (a 30-day extension can be requested).
- 5
Travel to Dominica within 90 days of approval and notify your WIN officer of your flight and arrival details; the stamp is valid for up to 18 months.
Fees and processing times move, sometimes without announcement, and a consulate can add a document the published checklist does not mention. Treat the above as the shape of the process rather than a guarantee, and check the current requirement with the mission handling your application before you book anything.
What policy actually satisfies this visa
Dominica does not publish a minimum figure, which sounds permissive and is not. It means you are judged against somebody's unwritten idea of adequate, and the safe reading of adequate is enough to cover a serious hospital admission in Dominica, not the cheapest policy that technically exists.
A compliant international policy is accepted, so you are not forced into a local insurer. That matters more than it sounds: it means one policy can follow you when you leave, instead of expiring at the border.
Repatriation is not named as a condition, though it is the benefit you would most want to have if the worst happened, and it costs very little to add.
And the dates. The policy has to run for the whole permit, which a standard travel policy cannot do because it stops at around 90 days. An officer comparing your policy period with your permit period does not have to look hard to see it expire in the middle.
Ask your insurer for a certificate of cover that states your full name as it appears on your passport, the exact policy period, the territory covered, and the benefit amounts. That is a normal request and any decent insurer issues it without fuss. The insurance being real and the paperwork still failing is a more common way to lose an application than being uninsured.
The visa tells you the minimum. It does not tell you what to actually carry. Those are different questions, and the paperwork minimum is nearly always the smaller of the two answers.
Get a policy that satisfies this visa
Three minutes of honest questions, then we'll match you to insurance that meets Dominica'srequirements and actually works where you're going.
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