Comoros Economic Citizenship (Suspended)

What the program offered

The Comoros adopted a law on economic citizenship in 2008, under President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi. It allowed people who made a significant investment in the country to get Comorian nationality and passports. The scheme was designed with the United Arab Emirates: under the first deal, 4,000 stateless ‘bidoon’ families from the Gulf were to become Comorian citizens in return for US$200 million for infrastructure projects in the Comoros. Kuwait announced talks to join in 2014, but dropped the plan in 2016 after criticism from Kuwaiti lawmakers.

Individual applicants paid:

• US$45,000 for the main applicant;
• US$20,000 for a spouse or adult child;
• US$10,000 for each minor child;
• US$7,500 in processing fees and US$300 per passport.

Why it was suspended

A parliamentary inquiry from June to December 2017 found that the founding legislation had never been properly signed or published. It also found that almost 48,000 passports had been issued, more than 6,000 of them sold outside legal channels, with large gaps between the passports issued and the money the state received. The government suspended the program in January 2018. In August 2018 former president Sambi was charged with corruption, embezzlement and forgery. In November 2022 a court convicted him of high treason over the scheme and sentenced him to life imprisonment, with other defendants jailed for up to 20 years.

Can I still get Comoros citizenship by investment?

No. The economic citizenship program remains suspended, and no new applications are accepted.

Sources

• Wikipedia – Comorian nationality law
• Al Jazeera – Ex-Comoros president given life sentence over passport scandal
• Best Citizenships – What happened to Comoros citizenship by investment?