Economic citizenship programs give immediate citizenship to investors and their family members a life time citizenship that can be passed on to future generations. Only qualifying investments recommended by Government qualify for citizenship.

The easiest and cheapest route is donation route (one time payment) or to a Government fund. Investments in real estate, business capital are usually very expensive and take long processing times. Many also like buying Government bonds for citizenship because you get back the entire money paid after 5 years from Government with no interest. You keep the citizenship even after getting the money back. Cash deposit in banks usually do not qualify for citizenship in many countries except Cyprus.

So the most popular routes for buying citizenship are

Donation to Government fund
Government bonds
Real estate investment
Business investment

There are about 8 countries offering economic citizenship to foreign investors. You also legally qualify for passport once you become a citizen.

1. Dominica

USD 100,000 one time payment to Dominica or USD 200,000 property investment
Cheapest and easiest citizenship to get
No residency requirement
Citizenship for life against one time investment.
Dominica common wealth passport in 6 months.
Best second passport business travel
Travel visa free to over 119 countries including UK, Ireland and EU schengen.
No interviews or language tests. No visit to Dominica required to get citizenship.
Passport issued with 10 year validity.
No wealth, gift, inheritance, foreign income or capital gains tax and no personal income tax for residents.

2. St Kitts and Nevis

USD 150,000 (SGF until 30 March 2018) payment to St Kitts or USD 400,000 property investment
Oldest and most popular citizenship program.
No residence requirements (before or after getting passport).
No interviews, no business experience, no english tests.
Citizenship for family members (spouse and children)
Lifetime citizenship with one time investment
Confidential citizenship application process.
No visit to country required for citizenship process.
St Kitts passport offers visa free travel to EU schengen, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Singapore etc.

3. Malta

EUR 800,000 for citizenship (donation+bonds+residence)
Malta individual investor program (MIIP)
European citizenship by investment program (EU-CIP)
No military service. language tests. No citizenship tests.
Maltese passport after 12-15 months
Must prove genuine link to Malta by satisfying 1 year residency requirement
Visa free travel to over 160 countries including Europe, United Kingdom including United States (ESTA).
Live, work, study, settle in any EU member states (Germany, Switzerland, France, Denmark etc..)
No requirement to live in Malta after receiving maltese citizenship

4. Cyprus

EUR 2,000,000 property investment or EUR 5,000,000 Government bonds/bank deposit/business
European citizenship by investment program (EU-CIP)
No physical residency requirements.
No military service. No cypriot language tests.
No restrictions on dual citizenships.
Visa free travel to UK, EU member states, Canada, Singapore etc. over 160 countries
Live, work, study in 35 EU member states (Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, UK, Sweden etc..)
Future children automatically acquire EU citizenship.
Easy application process with high approval rates.
Citizenship scheme open to all country nationals.

5. Grenada

USD 150,000 one time payment or USD 350,000 real estate investment (property)
Lifetime citizenship to family and children (citizenship passed on to future generations).
Apply for E2 US visa as grenada citizen (cheapest alternative to EB-5 route to United States)
Confidential application process with no exchange of information with other Governments
Very fast processing approval time within 60 days
No interviews, No language tests, No military service, No business experience
Visa free travel to China using Grenada passport
Grenada passport valid for 5 years.
Confidential application process through authorized agents and service providers.
no income, wealth or inheritance taxes.

6. St Lucia

USD 100,000 one time payment or USD 300,000 property investment or USD 500,000 in government bonds
Newest citizenship by investment program launched in 2015
Visa free travel to visit over 120 countries including UK, EU Schengen states
Fast processing within 2 months
No requirement to live or visit the country
Very fast processing approval time within 60 days
Confidential application process.
No income, wealth or inheritance taxes

7. Antigua and Barbuda

USD 100,000 one time payment to NDF (from Nov, 2017) or USD 400,000 property investment
Lifetime citizenship by investment
No personal visit to Antigua required.
Passport issued valid for 5 years.
Family and children under 26 years can apply for citizenship.
Visa free travel to Canada, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, EU schengen over 130 countries.
No interviews, business experience or language tests.
Maintain dual citizenships with other nations.
No wealth, inheritance, foreign income, personal income taxes.
Must satisfy 5 days in 5 year residency requirement for passport renewal.

8. Moldova

EUR 100,000 one time payment to public fund
Moldova Citizenship by investment program (MCBI)
Visa free travel to 122 countries
Passport issued valid for 5 years.
No taxes. No residence requirements.
No visit to Comoros required.

9. Montenegro

Montenegro citizenship by admission program
Special citizenship program runs for three years for 2000 applications
EUR 250,000 investment in property + EUR 100,000 donation to government
Montenegro is a beautiful candidate country for EU expected to join in 2025
Montenegro passport has visa free travel to 123 countries in 2019

10. Vanuatu

USD 160,000 one time contribution to DSP
Citizenship by investment program in the South Pacific country
Vanuatu Visa free travel to over 100 countries including UK, EU schengen, Russia etc..
No residence requirements.
No visit required.

11. Turkey

Turkish citizenship by investment opened in 2018
USD 250,000 investment in real estate or USD 500,000 bank deposit or investment funds or government bonds
No requirement to live in the country
Turkish passport has visa free travel to 111 countries

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Top 10 economic citizenship by investment programs