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 $5 billion annually.  The proceeds from CIP were used for economic development and welfare projects. Caribbean countries used citizenship for sale revenues for hurricane recovery and rebuilding.

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.

Today there are about 15 citizenship by investment schemes actively running and more countries are expected to introduce a CIP in the future.

Country Origin / Start Investment required Visa free countries (2018) HPI Passport time
1. St Kitts and Nevis 1984 $150,000 151 4-6 months
2. Dominica 1993 $100,000 137 4-6 months
3. Cambodia 1996 $250,000 54
4. Antigua and Barbuda 2013 $100,000 150 4-6 months
5. Cyprus 2013 €2 million 173 7 months
6. Grenada 2013 $150,000 144 4-6 months
7. Malta 2014 $1 million 183 12-15 months
8. Vanuatu 2015 $160,000 129 4-6 months
9. Saint Lucia 2015 $100,000 146 4-6 months
10. Turkey 2017 $250,000  111 3-5 months
11. Samoa 2017 $1.5 million 129 36 months
12.  Moldova 2018 €100,000 122 3 months
13. Montenegro 2018 €350,000 123 3 months
14. Bulgaria 2009 €1 million 169 12-15 months
15. Egypt 2019 $250,000 43 3 months