Dominica

Dominica works for a specific type of person: someone who wants a quiet, English-speaking Caribbean island, doesn't need a retirement visa to justify the move, and is fine trading nightlife and infrastructure for nature and low rent. There's no digital nomad visa and no dedicated retirement or passive-income visa here, so anyone planning to stay long-term is working through standard residence permits, not a marketed expat track. This is a better fit for someone already drawn to diving, hiking, and a slower pace than for someone chasing a visa-run-free remote work setup.

The baseline numbers look good on paper: $973.70 a month for a single person's costs before rent, and $283.68 for a 1BR near the city center. Add those together and you're near $1,260 a month for a modest but real budget, before flights, imported goods, or anything resembling specialized healthcare. Public healthcare services are free, though limited, and private care exists mainly for those willing to pay out of pocket or seek specialized care elsewhere.

Internet is the practical friction point most people underestimate: average speeds around 25 Mbps mean video calls and remote work are workable but not seamless, and outages during storm season are a real planning variable, not a footnote. Banking, imports, and anything requiring fast bureaucratic turnaround move slower than US expectations, and the lack of a digital nomad visa means remote workers need to sort out their legal status on a case-by-case basis rather than relying on a template.

For US tax purposes, Dominica's local income tax runs on a bracket system up to 35% at the top, with 0% up to EC$30,000, climbing through 15% up to EC$50,000, 25% up to EC$80,000, and then 35% with no upper cap. Capital gains for individuals are untaxed, and dividends paid to non-residents are taxed at 15% (residents' dividends are generally exempt), both relevant if you're generating investment income while there. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion for 2026 lets you shield up to $132,900 of earned income from US tax, with a foreign housing exclusion on top (base $21,264, cap $39,870), which matters if you're actually earning a salary or self-employment income while resident rather than living off US-sourced passive income that doesn't qualify for the FEIE. Citizenship by residence requires just one year, notably fast, but that's a separate track from the tax question and doesn't change your US filing obligations, which continue regardless of where you live.