Citizenship by investment programs (CIP) offer a fast track citizenship to foreign investors against economic contribution to the Government, such as buying a property or one time contribution to the Government fund. All applicants and their family members had to pay the due diligence fee and pass the background vetting checks.
The first citizenship by investment scheme was introduced in 1983 by St Kitts and Nevis, since then the number of such schemes have proliferated to more than 10. Currently the CBI industry is estimated to be worth $10 billion annually. An estimated number of 50,000 people become new citizens by investing every year. The proceeds from CIP were used for economic development and welfare projects. Caribbean countries in the past used citizenship for sale revenues for hurricane recovery, rebuilding and repaying debt.
Why the Demand?
Almost Half of the world countries have worst passports, restricting mobility and travel freedom to its citizens. Visa restrictions affect millions of people worldwide, impacts tourism and business and these industries have lost billions of dollars with slow growth. Wealthy people and their families also go through this time consuming process. The rich and the wealthy are looking to have a second passport with alternative citizenship in their portfolio. In a survey, one in three wealthy persons already hold a second passport and another third are considering to acquire one.
List of Countries
Today there are about 15 citizenship by investment schemes actively running and more countries are expected to join in the future.
| Country | Origin / Start | Investment required | Visa free countries (2023) | Passport time |
| 1. St Kitts and Nevis | 1984 | $250,000 | 155 | 4-6 months |
| 2. Dominica | 1993 | $100,000 | 143 | 4-6 months |
| 3. Saint Lucia | 2015 | $100,000 | 146 | 3 months |
| 4. Cambodia | 1996 | $250,000 | 54 | 6 months |
| 5. Antigua & Barbuda | 2013 | $100,000 | 150 | 4-6 months |
| 6. Grenada | 2013 | $150,000 | 146 | 4-6 months |
| 7. Malta | 2014 | 750,000 € | 187 | 12-15 months |
| 8. Vanuatu | 2015 | $130,000 | 99 | 4-6 months |
| 9. Saint Lucia | 2015 | $100,000 | 146 | 4-6 months |
| 10. Turkey | 2017 | $400,000 | 111 | 3-5 months |
| 11. Samoa | 2017 | $1.2 million | 131 | 36 months |
| 12. Egypt | 2019 | $250,000 | 43 | 3 months |
| `13.Jordan | 2018 | $1 million | 53 | 3 months |
| 14. North Macedonia | 2017 | $200,000 | 125 | 6 months |
Note: Monenegro, Moldova, Comoros, Cyprus and Bulgaria have closed citizenship program for investments.
Source: Visa free countries (Henley Index)
