ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) -- In a rapidly globalizing world, some Caribbean islands are discovering a new business: selling "economic citizenships."
For about $50,000, a legal passport -- under a new name, perhaps -- can be had in as little as three weeks.The government of Dominica advertises its "economic citizenship program" as a "passport to paradise" -- a not inaccurate description of the lush, mountainous island dotted with waterfalls, hot springs and black volcanic beaches.
But critics, led by Washington, say it is a racket that attracts criminals, be they corrupt officials from the former Soviet Union or tax evaders from the United States.
"Offshore financial centers and 'economic citizenships' granted by some Caribbean nations are being exploited by international criminals to conceal their identities and their illicit financial gains," said Emilia Puma, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Barbados, which is responsible for relations with states in the eastern Caribbean. "These nations become safe havens for fugitives."
The Caribbeans argue the citizenship programs bring in capital at a time when their fragile economies are being battered by globalization, especially a successful U.S. challenge to Europe's preferential terms for Caribbean bananas -- Dominica's biggest source of foreign income.
Dominica's finance minister, Julius Timothy, said Dominica officially has about 1,000 economic citizens, with fewer than 100 actually living on the island.
Grenada, farther south, says it has 250 economic citizens.
Timothy said the Caribbean states got the idea from countries like the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia, which offer "investor visas."
"It's the same thing," said Timothy. "Only we ask for $50,000 and the Americans for a million."
American officials say that applicants for U.S. citizenship are carefully screened and that the United States does not offer instant citizenship.
The U.S. program applies to approved people who invest $1 million in a business employing at least 10 people or $500,000 in designated economically depressed areas. In two years, the investor can apply for permanent residence, and then must wait five more years to apply for citizenship.