Malta
Closed programMalta Citizenship by Investment (Abolished)
Struck down by the EU Court of Justice on 29 April 2025 and abolished by Act XXI of 2025, replaced by citizenship by merit.
- Ran
- 2014 – 2025
- Closed
- Jul 2025
- Last minimum
- €600,000
Repealed Citizenship by Investment Programs
Citizenship by investment programs that have been repealed, abolished or suspended – Malta, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Moldova and Comoros – with what each one offered, when and why it closed, and the open programs to consider instead.
Looking for a program that is open today? Compare current citizenship by investment programs.
Cyprus
Closed programCyprus Citizenship by Investment (Abolished)
Abolished from 1 November 2020 after the Al Jazeera 'Cyprus Papers'; thousands of passports later reviewed.
- Ran
- 2007 – 2020
- Closed
- Nov 2020
- Last minimum
- €2 million
Bulgaria
Closed programBulgaria Citizenship by Investment (Abolished)
Abolished unanimously by parliament in March 2022 under EU pressure; the investor residence route remains.
- Ran
- 2009 – 2022
- Closed
- Apr 2022
- Last minimum
- BGN 1 million
Montenegro
Closed programMontenegro Citizenship by Investment (Closed)
Capped at 2,000 investors, it closed on 31 December 2022 to protect Montenegro's EU accession talks.
- Ran
- 2019 – 2022
- Closed
- Dec 2022
- Last minimum
- €350,000
Moldova
Closed programMoldova Citizenship by Investment (Repealed)
Opened in November 2018, frozen in 2019 and repealed by parliament in 2020 as a condition of EU financial aid.
- Ran
- 2018 – 2020
- Closed
- Sep 2020
- Last minimum
- €100,000
Comoros
Closed programComoros Economic Citizenship (Suspended)
Built on a 2008 deal with the UAE, suspended in January 2018 after a passport sales scandal.
- Ran
- 2008 – 2018
- Closed
- Jan 2018
- Last minimum
- US$45,000
Why citizenship by investment programs close
Most of the programs below closed under pressure from the European Union. The European Commission has long argued that selling citizenship of an EU member state – and with it EU citizenship – is incompatible with EU law, and it opened infringement proceedings against Cyprus and Malta in October 2020. Candidate and neighbouring countries such as Montenegro and Moldova closed their schemes to protect EU accession talks and visa-free travel to the Schengen area. On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled in Commission v Malta (C-181/23) that granting citizenship in exchange for predetermined payments or investments breaches EU law, which ended the last investor citizenship route inside the EU.
Others ended after scandals. Cyprus suspended its program after an undercover Al Jazeera investigation in 2020, and Comoros suspended its economic citizenship in 2018 after a parliamentary inquiry into passport sales.
Can I still get citizenship by investment in Europe?
No EU member state now grants citizenship in return for an investment. In Europe, North Macedonia and Türkiye still offer citizenship by investment, and several EU countries offer residence by investment (golden visas) that can lead to citizenship through ordinary naturalisation after years of residence. Malta, Austria, Bulgaria and others also keep discretionary citizenship for exceptional merit, which is not an investment route.
Which citizenship by investment programs are open today?
The Caribbean programs (St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and St Lucia), Vanuatu, Nauru, São Tomé & Príncipe, Türkiye, Egypt, North Macedonia and others remain open. Compare all open citizenship by investment programs with official prices, visa waiver access and processing times.