However, the people who benefit the most from investing in economic citizenships are those with passports from emerging world countries with bad visa-free travel. Finally, in both St. Lucia and Malta, you can buy non-interest-bearing government bonds and hold them for a given period of time to qualify for citizenship. Almost all citizenship by investment programs – with the exception of Turkey – require you to buy real estate that has been pre-approved by the government. These citizenship programs operate almost like a business; any country that offers a murky path to a second passport most likely falls under another category.
Prepare to spend $175K for Grenada citizenship plus $100K investment in US for E-2 visa. You will also need a US immigration lawyer to prepare the filing. The important condition for E-2 visa is creation of atleast 5 jobs. The Tier1 investor route offers entry clearance approved within 1-2 weeks for an investment of GBP 2 million invested as share capital in UK businesses. Ireland offers immediate 5 year permanent residency from day one through the following investment routes. Greece has zero residency requirement, but if you want citizenship option, you have to spend considerable amount of time living in Greece.
Who Buys a Second Passport?
One of the more popular citizenship by investment programs as of late is Turkey’s. The least expensive of the application’s seven different investment options is to purchase $400,000 worth of real estate, according to the official government website. Once all the economic requirements are fully met, Cyprus will grant full citizenship. The best part about this island Mediterranean nation is that it has easy access to all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and the cost of living is around $1,600 a month for an individual.
- Grenada, Montenegro, Turkey, Bulgaria are the only CBI countries that have E-2 investor visa agreement with United States.
- While Spain and Greece also offer similar property-for-visa-programs, Portugal has been the most successful, with about 1.53 billion euros of home sales since it started in 2012.
- According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1236, an insurance policy must be issued for the entire period of stay in Ukraine.
- A husband and wife and their two children can qualify with a fund donation of $175,000 USD as opposed to a total cost of $235,000 USD if buying real estate.
Portugal has announced proposed changes to their “Golden Visa” program. If implemented, only real estate purchased in the country’s interior, or on an island, would be eligible under the program. Properties along the coast or in major cities such as Lisbon or Porto would no longer qualify for a Golden Visa. Non-European nationals interested in obtaining EU residency in exchange for buying property in Portugal should act quickly if they want to purchase near the ocean. Applicants and family members who apply for CBI programs may be refused for several reasons. These include ineligible country, failing background checks, visa denials, failing to prove source of origin of funds, sanctioned list, false information in application, wanted list, imprisonment etc.
Which countries offer Citizenship by investment?
Or, you can invest 250,000 euros to development projects in northern or central Montenegro, but not in Podgorica. There’s also an additional 200,000-euro government fee per application. Once you’ve shelled out your life savings, the processing time is six-to-eight months. The good news is that you can get by on a little more than $1,000 a month.
Want To Escape From America? 12 Countries Where You Can Buy Citizenship (And A Second Passport)
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson recently made headlines when they became honorary Greek buying citizenship with bitcoin and received second passports. Malta, an island nation off the coast of Italy and member of the European Union, was the subject of an investigation regarding “loopholes” in its citizenship by investment application. The least expensive option is a $100,000 donation to the island’s National Economic Fund. Applicants who prefer to invest in real estate can purchase property worth at least $300,000, which cannot be sold for five years. There arethree waysto qualify for St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship by investment program, according to the official government website. There are two ways to qualify for the Caribbean island of Dominica’s citizenship by investment program, according to the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica.