Foreign Citizenship by Investment: All Available Options

Are you planning to acquire foreign citizenship and a second passport in 2023? There are quite a number of countries in the world that grant citizenship to foreigners who are prepared to make investments in their economies, but which option is better: to become a citizen of a Caribbean country or an EU country? Or maybe you are looking in other directions, too? We are here to help you find the optimal path to foreign citizenship by investment on the basis of your personal preferences and financial opportunities.

Citizenship by investment is the process that results in obtaining a foreign identification document and citizenship status after you have invested a certain amount in the economy of the host state.

The countries that grant citizenship by investment anonymously and quickly are listed below, and we are talking about the western states that offer prestigious second passports. These ID documents are appreciated by international businessmen and VIP travelers who do not want to waste time waiting for a visa to be granted by the consulate.

Note that the status of a citizen in a western state offers much more than just cross-border trips. In fact, this is the way to overcome restrictions imposed by your home country, expand business opportunities, receive better education, and build a career in a more effective manner. Western citizenship also simplifies the opening of bank accounts, investment and tax planning, and allows you to protect your assets and ensure that your loved ones are safe.

You can get a second passport in a matter of one and a half months if you agree to spend a reasonable amount on it. For example, the minimum donation required from a Caribbean program participant is $100,000. Moreover, the financial conditions of Caribbean options are becoming more and more attractive due to a high level of competition. If you are seeking to obtain an identification document from an EU country, you will have to pay more as its status is higher. But the price is not the only difference.

Anyway, which option is better? Should I get a Caribbean passport, an EU document, or invest in another country that offers a citizenship by investment program? Well, giving a general recommendation intended to fit everyone would be a mistake. We rely on a case-by-case approach and take into account the capabilities and needs of each individual candidate.

There is another reason for the ever-increasing complexity of the selection procedure: host states are making increasingly favorable offers by changing prices/deadlines/requirements for document packages, which increases the lists of visa-free jurisdictions.

Do you want to simplify the process of finding the best option? We offer up-to-date information about the countries that grant citizenship by investment!

Western citizenship by investment: avoiding traps and pitfalls

Before we go on to discuss national citizenship-by-investment programs, we have to issue a couple of warnings. As the sale of national passports is a rather profitable business, fraudsters try to get a piece of the pie as should be expected. This is the first danger to look out for.

Secondly, even if you manage to avoid falling into fraudsters’ traps, you may still opt for the wrong path to foreign citizenship. Some countries such as Bulgaria, for instance, will offer European citizenship to foreign investors that can be acquired quite legally. The matter is that Bulgaria and a few other countries in Europe offer legal residence in exchange for investment, which is not equivalent to full citizenship of the country.

Thus, you have to make sure that the country that you are considering really offers a full-fledged citizenship-by-investment scheme. Such a scheme must meet the following criteria: 

• First, the process of acquiring foreign citizenship should be relatively fast. As a rule, it lasts for three to six months only. Malta is an exception, however, as acquiring its citizenship takes twelve months or even a bit more.
• Second, the scheme has to be commoditized. This means that any person who has enough money at his or her disposal and a clean criminal record should be able to apply for foreign citizenship by investment. A crooked or poorly informed immigration agent may advertise Austria, for example, as a country where you can acquire foreign citizenship. In reality, however, Austrian citizenship can be granted to a foreigner only for some ‘outstanding achievements’. This is a blurred notion without any doubt and what is more, the opportunity to obtain Austrian citizenship heavily depends on the political relations between Austria and the applicant’s home country. If these relations are tense, any achievement can be deemed not outstanding enough, and thus any application from a citizen of an ‘unfriendly’ country is likely to be rejected.
• Third, the national citizenship-by-investment program has to be well structured and governed by the corresponding legislation. This means that there has to be a national law that regulates the functioning of such a program and the path to citizenship should be very clear. Citizenship-by-investment programs are run in the same way as a business venture. Any jurisdiction that offers an opaque way to its citizenship should fall outside the scope of your interests.  

Now let us compare the national citizenship-by-investment programs.

Citizenship by investment in Grenada

In the 2000s, Grenada closed the citizenship by investment program in the Caribbean as it followed US recommendations in the wake of the 2001 New York attacks. However, the Caribbean country returned to the market a decade later to offer an attractive product that was meant to drive competitors out.

If your priorities include speed and affordability, Grenada is perfectly suited for you. Take advantage of its impeccable reputation, favorable conditions, valuable benefits, and unique bonuses (in addition to the standard visa-free Schengen):

• Visa-free visits to Russia and China
• The right to obtain a United States E-2 investment visa (not available to applicants with a Russian, Belarusian, Chinese, or Indian identification document)

You can become a citizen of Grenada by making a non-refundable donation of US$ 150,000 (if you are a single applicant) or US$ 200,000 (if you are applying for Grenadian citizenship with your spouse). You can also purchase government-approved real estate that you will be entitled to sell after a few years – and you will still retain the Grenadian passport! The minimum required amount of investment in real estate in Grenada is US$ 220,000 (you will be allowed to sell the property after 5 years of mandatory ownership, which is a standard for the world market of investment passports).

Note that this option is the most prestigious one in the region! In 2021, the representatives of the Government of the United States of America (embassy workers in Barbados) acknowledged the Grenada program as the best one in the Caribbean in terms of effectiveness and thorough vetting of applicants.

Citizenship by investment in Saint Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis was the first country in history to launch a national citizenship-by-investment program back in 1984. Other Caribbean states that now offer citizenship-by-investment opportunities have simply copied the St Kitts and Nevis program while making small amendments to it. At the moment, this country allows acquiring foreign citizenship in the fastest way, and this is its undeniable advantage.  

The requirements for foreign nationals wishing to become citizens of St Kitts and Nevis have always been quite clear 

• buying government-approved real property in the country
• making a donation to the government fund that cannot be recovered

If you decide to make a donation, you will not have to choose from multiple pieces of real property that you can invest in. On the other hand, the property can be resold at a higher price and used as a source of passive income from rental over the 5 years of mandatory ownership. You can get your passport by making a non-refundable donation of $ 200,000 or buying real estate at a price of $200,000.

Key advantages:

• an accelerated application procedure that allows acquiring the passport of St Kitts and Nevis within 45-50 days only (for an additional fee, of course)
• Visa-free entry to the Schengen area, UK and Russia
• zero tax on personal income regardless of where the income comes from (applicable only to the fiscal residents that spend more than 6 months in ST. Kitts).

Citizenship by investment in Dominica

Dominica’s passport combines high quality and a reasonable price! Applicants will obtain the most accessible identification document and take advantage of standard Caribbean benefits.

The second passport of Dominica costs $100,000. Only St Lucia and Antigua offer as inexpensive citizenship-by-investment opportunities as Dominica does while all other countries in the world charge more. However, the Dominican citizenship-by-investment program has been running for a longer period, since the 1990s. As far as the list of countries that citizens of Dominica can enter without visas is concerned, it is very much the same as St Kitts and Nevis list but it does not contain the Russian Federation. 

In September 2022, the rules for changing personal data after obtaining citizenship by investment in Dominica were tightened (from now on, you will need to permanently reside in the country for 2 years and be its citizen for at least 5 years). You can no longer add brothers/sisters to the application, and the minimum age of the spouse’s grandparents/parents to be added was increased to 65 years.

Citizenship by investment in Saint Lucia

The St Lucian citizenship-by-investment program is the newest one in the region. Originally, the requirements to foreigners wishing to become citizens of St Lucia were rather tough. The authorities required that the net worth of the applicant should be not less than three million dollars and the yearly quota for the applications was set at five hundred.

However, the islanders gave up the overly tough requirements and lowered the required donation amount to US$ 100,000. St Lucian Government also allows investing in approved real property in the country, buying securities, or investing in a business project.

You can invest US$ 500,000 (twice as little until the end of 2020) into Government bonds and hold them in your possession for five years thus obtaining a passport of St Lucia. You can also invest a minimum of US$ 300,000 into real estate in order to become a citizen of St Lucia. In case you decide to invest in a business venture in the country, you will have to bring in at least 3.5 million dollars and create a minimum of three new jobs. In addition, St Lucia imposes lesser additional charges on family applicants in comparison to other countries.

Saint Lucia periodically offers a discounted passport. Please contact InternationalWealth directly if you want to know if there are any current discounted price offers!

Citizenship by investment in Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda launched its citizenship-by-investment program in 2012. It is the only country that requires new citizens to spend five days on the islands during the first five years of holding their passports. This is not an extravagant requirement as the country is beautiful indeed and you could celebrate acquiring its passport by spending your vacation on the islands. The investment options are as follows:

• a non-returnable donation of US$ 100,000
• a donation of US$150 000 to the fund of the University of the West Indies
• a returnable investment of US$ 200,000 into real estate for 5 years
• a returnable investment of US$ 1,500,000 into business in the country. There is an interesting joint investment opportunity, however. You can put only US$ 400,000 into a business project if you become part of a group of investors who are prepared to make a joint investment of US$ 5,000,000 into this project.

By choosing a donation to the University of the West Indies, a family of 6 people receives a set of identification documents without overpayments and a year of study at the appropriate university for one of the children. In other words, if you are looking for the cheapest citizenship for a large family, opt for Antigua.

As the 2022 parliamentary elections in Antigua are approaching, the local opposition announced its intention to suspend the investment citizenship program and replace this source of treasury replenishment and economic capitalization with a wealth tax. Given the possible change of power in the country, the experts recommend submitting an application quickly or looking for alternatives.

Citizenship by investment in Vanuatu

We must also bring to your attention the citizenship-by-investment program run by the Pacific state of Vanuatu. The local scheme is unique by the possibility to acquire a foreign passport by investing a cryptocurrency in it (the digital money is transferred through a hired immigration agent). Vanuatu offers foreign applicants for its citizenship the only option: a non-returnable donation to the state fund. The total cost of acquiring Vanuatu citizenship is $145,000. The timeframe for citizenship acquisition is about two months. From August 2021, you can pay in Australian dollars, New Zealand dollars, and yens.

The passport of Vanuatu gives visa-free access to the EU countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Russian Federation. An important bonus is the absence of personal income tax for fiscal residents (similarly to Saint Kitts and Antigua).

Since May 2022, Vanuatu citizens cannot enter the Schengen area without a visa. The visa-free regime is expected to be resumed in February 2023 at the earliest.

Now let us leave the exotic Caribbean basin as well as the faraway Pacific Ocean and move to Europe where some citizenship-by-investment opportunities can also be found.

Citizenship by investment in Montenegro

In October 2019, one more citizenship-by-investment program was launched in Europe. We are talking about Montenegro, an official candidate for EU membership. There is no “pure” citizenship by investment opportunity available. You will need to make a donation of €100,000 to the development fund and €100,000 directly to the state budget. Additionally, five-year capital investment in the following assets is required:

• Property in a mountainous area — €250,000
• Real estate in the capital region/coastal zones — €350,000
• Primary agricultural production — €2,000,000 (+ creation of 10 jobs)
• Woodworking/fishing (including the production of processed products of the relevant raw materials) — €4,000,000/€3,500,000, respectively (+ the creation of 20 jobs).

According to the official announcements, the applications will no longer be accepted from January 1, 2023. The list of approved development projects (current as of 31.12.2021) is not subject to expansion. In 2021, candidate vetting was further tightened due to pressure from the European Commission.

European Union: Cyprus (program suspended) / Malta

In 2020, the Cypriot and Maltese authorities stopped granting European Union citizenship by investment. The Maltese restarted the scheme in early 2022, while the Cypriots announced a longer suspension of the second passport program due to a corruption scandal. 

Before the pause, the following conditions were proposed:

Economic citizenship in Cyprus was granted for €2,200,000 (a donation of €200,000 + an investment of €500,000 in real estate for perpetual ownership + an investment of €1,500,000 in real estate for 5 years OR €2,000,000 in business/securities). The registration was completed within six months.

Will the Cyprus program be relaunched? Nobody knows. However, the conditions are highly likely to become more stringent (both in terms of price and in terms of candidate vetting).

As for Malta, the second passport and citizenship by investment now cost from €700 000 (non-refundable donation) + €80 000 for the 5-year housing rental. The registration is completed within 3 years, but you can accelerate the procedure by 3 times if you increase the amount invested.

Wish to apply for EU citizenship by investment? You can try Malta or wait for the Cypriot program to be relaunched. Otherwise, we recommend applying for a second investor passport in another country.

On the other hand, it is now possible for foreigners to acquire Portuguese citizenship by proving the existence of Sephardic Jews among their ancestors. Find out more by contacting the portal team!

Finally, let’s consider the proposals of Middle Eastern jurisdictions…

Citizenship by investment in Turkey

Turkey started its citizenship-by-investment program in January 2017 in an attempt to restore the national economy: the Turkish Government made an offer to foreign investors to ‘buy’ the passports of Turkey. But this offer was made to millionaires only as the minimum required investment amount was one million US dollars. This price tag disallowed the Turkish citizenship-by-investment program to become a bestseller. 

The situation changed in 2018, however, when the prices were cut by 75%. The number of beneficiaries increased by tens of thousands. The Turks saw that the product was in high demand and increased the threshold to $400,000 once again in June 2022. The current price looks as follows (regardless of the option chosen, the acquired asset will have to be held for a 3-year period):

• Investment of $400,000 in Turkish real estate
• Deposit of $500,000 in the authorized capital of the company/fund/state bonds or with a Turkish bank
• Providing employment to 50 local workers

In the autumn of 2021, the Turks forbade real estate sellers, including developers, to independently choose appraisers to confirm the value of an asset acquired by an applicant for citizenship by investment. To combat price manipulation, all appraisers are currently appointed by the state. You can make investments in US dollars or other foreign currency (investments in Turkish Lira were prohibited in January 2022).

Originally, the Turkish citizenship-by-investment program was targeted at residents of Arabic countries wishing to find a new home in an Islamic country. With the price cuts mentioned above, the program may look attractive for people from other parts of the world as well.

Important: unlike Montenegro or Caribbean states, there is no need to invest money exclusively in the development projects approved by the authorities when you acquire citizenship by purchasing real estate.

Citizenship by investment in Jordan

In February 2018, Jordan joined the group of countries that offer their citizenship to foreigners in exchange for investments. Following the example of Turkey, the Jordanian authorities considerably decreased the financial requirements for citizenship by investment. The current price looks as follows (regardless of the selected option, the asset will have to be held for a 3-year period):

• Deposit of $1,000,000 at a zero-interest rate with the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ)
• Purchase of Treasury Bonds for $1,000,000 at an interest rate determined by CBJ
• Acquisition of securities for $1,000,000 from the active investment portfolio
• Investing $750,000 in a small business

Investment of $1,500,000 in new business in the capital of Amman/$1,000,000 anywhere else (the project should create at least 20 jobs for a three-year period).

Free consultation with an expert and a mini-FAQ section to help you choose the best option

Why do national citizenship-by-investment programs appear one after another? Because the demand for second passports is growing. The recent events in the world show that you can never be too cautious. Emergencies can happen in any country and if you have a spare passport (or two) to fall back on, you are going to feel much safer.

Dual citizenship opens up numerous new perspectives. You can use your foreign passport to travel, buy property in different countries, open accounts in foreign banks, or relocate to the country whose passport you have purchased.

We have listed all viable opportunities to obtain foreign citizenship by investment above. Which country should you choose? Evidently, every one of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Caribbean states offer the most affordable citizenship by investment opportunities while Malta’s passport is simply superb for traveling around the globe. You have to define the priorities and choose the country of second citizenship that suits your goals better than others do.

Offshore Pro Group will be delighted to assist you in making the best choice and in acquiring citizenship of any of the countries listed above. Please apply for a consultation on the matter by writing to info@offshore-pro.info and we will get back to you promptly. 

Contact our experienced experts via live chat or using the phone numbers (linked to messengers) on the portal page with contacts.