Dominica is one of five Caribbean countries including Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago being considered for visa-free status.

According to an EU statement released on Wednesday the European Union's security and policy committee gave its final endorsement for the visa waiver. The full parliament is expected to vote on the resolution within a few weeks, and it is widely expected to be approved.

The Schenzen Area covers an area of 4,312,099 sq kmwith roughly 420 million people. Its member states include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania will join in the next few years, while EU member states the UK and Ireland have not joined the area.

Dominica however already enjoys visa free entry into the United Kingdom.