Quick Comparison of Countries offering CBI/RBI schemes

The following are quick comparison list of countries offering “Citizenship-by-investment” (CBI) vs “Residency-by-investment” (CBI) programs to third nationals of various countries.

The key difference is “Citizenship-by-investment” programs offer investors direct passport to investors within few months or a year. “Residency-by-investment” aka “Golden visa” or “Investor visa” programs initially offer residency to investors, and then after certain number of years of living, it is possible to apply for the Citizenship and passport (indirect route) through naturalisation. The common route is residence permit converted to PR then PR later converted to citizenship.

Note: UK is not a schengen member country. The visas and residence permits issued by schengen countries to non-EU citizens, is not valid to travel to UK. Therefore a separate UK visa needed. Only EU citizens and EU passport holders can visit UK without visa.

 

Country Passport	Minimum Investment	Program Name	Processing Time	Residency by Investment	Real Estate Investment	Business Investment	Minimum Stay Requirements	Permanent Residency (PR)	Naturalisation Time for Citizenship	Dual Citizenship	Passport Reputation (out of 10)
Australia	A$ 1.5 million	Investor stream	4 months	yes		yes	40 days per year	After 4 years	PR + 4 years	yes	9.4
Austria	–	No official citizenship by investment exists		Possible	no	yes		5 year	10 years	no	9.6
Antigua & Barbuda	$ 100,000 (Nov 1, 2017 onwards)	Citizenship by investment	3 months	no	yes (minimum $400,000)	$1.5 million	no requirement	–	–	yes	8.5
Bahamas	$500,000	Economic Investment PR	4 months	yes	yes	yes		Immediate PR	10 years	no	8.4
Bulgaria	€ 512,000	Investor visa	7 months	yes	no	yes	–	Immediate	After 5 years	yes	9.0
Canada (Quebec)	CAD 1,200,000	Quebec Immigrant Investor Program
								5 years	10 years	yes	9.4
Costa Rica	$10 million Investor visa
Croatia	no program exists							5 years	10 years	yes	9.0
Cyprus	€ 2 million (real estate)	Cypriot (EU) Citizenship by Investment	3 months (Immediate passport)	no	yes	€ 5 million	none	5 years	8 years	yes	9.0
Denmark	no program exists							6 years	9 years	yes	9.6
Dominica	$ 100,000	Citizenship by investment	8-10 months	no	$200,000	–	none			yes	7.5
Estonia	no program exists							5 years	8 years	no	9.2
France	Startup visa							5 years	10 years	yes	9.6
Germany	no program exists	no	4 months	no		€ 250,000		5 years	8 years	yes	9.8
Grenada	$ 150,000	Citizenship by investment	3 months	no	$350,000	no				yes	7.8
Greece	€ 250,000 (real estate)	Greece Golden visa	3-4 months	Immediate Residency	yes	no	none	Immediate PR granted	7 years	yes	9.3
Hungary	€ 300,000 closed	Hungarian Residency Bonds (scheme closed from Mar 20, 2017)	4-5 months	Immediate Residency	no	no	none	Immediate PR	8 years	yes	9.2
Hong Kong	HK$ 10 million	Capital Investment Scheme (suspended)	3-5 months	Immediate Residency	no	yes	yes	After 7 years		no	9.1
Iceland	No such program exists							4 years	7 years	yes	9.2
Ireland	Irish Immigrant Investor Program	€1,000,000 enterprise or €2 million (Bonds) or	3 months	Immediate Residency	possible	€ 1 million		5 years	5 years	yes	9.5
Italy	€500,000 million	Golden visa	2 months	Residency	yes	yes		5 years	10 years	yes	9.5
Japan	Investor visa							10 years	5 years	yes	9.4
Malta	Approx € 900,000 (citizenship) or €250,000 Bonds  for Residency EU Citizenship	Malta Individual Investor Program (MIIP)	3 months	no	€ 350,000 (optional)	no	none	5 years (waived)	5 years (waived)	yes	9.5
Monaco (Monte Carlo)	€ 1 million	Investor visa	3 months	Immediate Residency	optional	no limit	6 months per year	5 years	10 years	no	9.9
Netherlands	€ 1.25 million	Dutch Investor visa	3 months	Immediate Residency		yes	yes	5 years	5 years	no	9.6
Poland	no program exists							5 years	8 years	yes	9.2
Portugal	€ 350,000	Portugal Golden visa	3-4 months	yes	yes	€ 1 million	7 days per year	After 5 years	6 years	yes	9.6
Romania								5 years	8 years	yes	9.0
Russia	$ 300,000	pending		yes		yes		2 years year	3-5 years	yes	7.0
Spain	€500,000 (real estate)	Spanish Golden visa	3-4 months	yes	yes	no	none	After 5 years	10 years	only with spanish speaking countries	9.5
Switzerland	CHF 1 million	Swiss Lump Sum Taxation	3 months	yes	no	CHF 1 million turnover	yes	10 years	12 years	yes	9.8
St Lucia	$100,000 from Jan 2017	Citizenship by investment	2-3 months	no	$300,000	$3.5 million	none			yes	7.9
Saint Kitts and Nevis	$150,000 (Sustainable Growth Fund 2018)	Citizenship by investment	8 months	no	$400,000		none			yes	8.3
Slovenia	no program exists							5 years	10 years	yes
Slovakia	no program exists							5 years	13 years	yes
United Kingdom (UK)	GBP 200,000 or GBP 2 million	UK Entrepreneur or Investor visa (tier-1)	2 months	yes	no	yes	9 months per year for UK passport	5 years	6 years	yes	9.8
United States (U.S.A)	$ 500,000 – 1 million	EB-5 Investor visa	10 months	yes	no	yes	50% of time in US (2.5 out of 5 yrs)	Immediate	5 years	yes	9.7
Liechtenstein	no program exists							5 years	30 years	yes	9.9
Latvia	€100,000 (business) or €250,000 (real estate/ government bond)	Latvia Golden visa	4 months	yes	€250,000	€80,000		5 years	10 years	yes	9.4
Lithuania	no program exists							5 years	10 years		9.3
Luxembourg	€500,000 Investor visa							5 years	7 years	yes	9.5
New Zealand	NZ$ 3 million	Business Investor Visa	3-4 months	Immediate Residency	Possible	yes	146 days per year	2 years	5 years	yes	9.6
Norway	no program exists							3 years	7 years	no	9.6
Poland	no program exists							5 years	10 years	yes	9.4
Panama	$300,000	Real Estate		Immediate Residency (PR)	yes	yes			5 years		7.9
Serbia	no program exists							5 years		yes	8.6
Sweden	no program exists							5 years	5 years	yes	9.8
South Korea	Investor visa ($250,000)	F5 PR		yes		no limit			5 years	yes	9.2
Singapore	SG$ 2.5 million (approx US$ 2 million)	Global Investor Program (GIP)		yes	no	yes		Immediate Permanent Residency	2-6 years with PR	no	9.2
Vanuatu	$160,000 Citizenship by Investment	Vanuatu Development Support Program (DSP)								yes	7.2
Moldova	$100,000 MCBI launched in 2018	Citizenship by Investment							10 years	yes	8
Montenegro	€250,000	Special Citizenship by Investment							10 years	yes	8.2
United States	$500,000	EB-5							5 years	yes	9.1
Turkey	$250,000 (real estate) or $500,000 in Bonds or deposit	Citizenship by investment								yes	7.0

 

The table was prepared assuming you are Non-EU/EEA foreign national who wish to immigrate. Please note that most european country passports require electronic registration prior to visiting USA. Please check with the US embassy. Naturalisation time is total number of years spent living (inclusiv of PR). Some countries require PR status before applying for Citizenship through naturalisation.