Ciizenship by investment (CBI) is a $3 billion dollar industry annually and the second passports market are growing at an unprecedented rate globally expanded from just five to fourteen countries.
How do we know which country has the the best citizenship by investment passport ?
We aim to answer this through first of the kind mathematical model in the CBI industry, gives answer on which is the best citizenship by investment program in the world.
We have developed a PBS ranking model taking into account 30 very important factors to rank the Best CBI program out of 14 schemes that exist in Europe, Caribbean, Asia and Pacific.
There are currently more than 14 countries offering instant citizenship and passport for investments.
Malta has the best citizenship by investment program in the world, followed closely by Grenada, Cyprus and Bulgaria. Prices of CBI programs start from $100,000. The Caribbean have the cheapest prices, while European CBI programs are the most expensive programs starting from $1million.
The model results are very surprising!
Top Best CBI Rankings
Overall Results
| CBI | PBS Score | Rank |
 Malta |
134 | 1 |
 Grenada |
130 | 2 |
 Cyprus |
126 | 3 |
 Bulgaria |
125 | 4 |
 Montenegro |
118 | 5 |
 Turkey |
116 | 6 |
 Moldova |
114 | 7 |
 St Kitts |
113 | 8 |
 Antigua |
111 | 9 |
 Dominica |
101 | 10 |
 St Lucia |
100 | 11 |
 Vanuatu |
98 | 12 |
 Cambodia |
83 | 13 |
 Samoa |
82 | 14 |
Regional Rankings
1. Caribbean
| CBI | PBS Score | Rank |
| Grenada |
130 | 1 |
| St Kitts |
113 | 2 |
| Antigua |
111 | 3 |
| Dominica |
101 | 4 |
| St Lucia |
100 | 5 |
2. Europe
| CBI | PBS Score | Rank |
| Malta |
134 | 1 |
| Cyprus |
126 | 2 |
| Bulgaria |
125 | 3 |
| Montenegro |
118 | 4 |
| Moldova |
114 | 5 |
3. Asia
| CBI | PBS Score | Rank |
| Turkey |
116 | 1 |
| Cambodia |
83 | 2 |
4. Pacific
| CBI | PBS Score | Rank |
| Vanuatu |
98 | 1 |
| Samoa |
82 | 2 |
CBI is not about visa free travel
A CBI passport is not all about visa free travel., there are so many factors involved when taking a decision. HNW families when applying for a CBI passport, ask about these six fundamental questions and without doubt first comes safety.
- How safe is the country?
- Is my money safe in the country? Does the jurisdiction have strong currency and sound financial system?
- How many visa free countries i can travel to?
- How good is the education and healthcare for my children?
- What is the standard of living in these countries?
- What is the best CBI passport?
- Is english used as the main language?
- How often i should visit the country as a new citizen?
- How is taxation and are there incentives?
Ranking Explanations
- European countries dominate the top spots for Best CBI rankings
- Caribbean countries except Grenada lose top spots, Turkey and Montenegro has gained positions in the CBI rankings.
- Turkey takes 6th spot in the rankings with its exciting new citizenship by investment program.
- Malta is the best citizenship by investment program in the world taking the first spot.
- Grenada takes second spot above Cyprus, because it is cost effective, best education, visa free access to China and Russia, which Malta and Cyprus passports dont have, plus added benefit of E2 treaty. Grenada also provides permanent resident card for real estate buyers.
- Cyprus takes the third best CBI program in the world. It is also the priciest and most expensive CBI scheme in the world. Cyprus also the safest country, has best access to education and healthcare.
- Bulgaria citizenship scheme also offers EU passport but the fast track scheme for EUR 1 million euros, takes more than 1 year to receive citizenship and passport.
- Montenegro is a beautiful country, currently negotiations are on and expected to fully become EU member state in 2025 and will also be a part of schengen area during that time. Investing in Montenegro’s passport is a great investment.
- Grenada and St Kitts are the best CBI programs in the Caribbean.
- Antigua, St Lucia, Valid offer CBI passports only valid for five years, unlike St Kitts, Dominica comes with 10 year validity. This is one of the reasons these countries declined in CBI rankings
- CBI countries that impose residence requirements score low in rankings.
- Turkey is one of the exciting countries to buy a citizenship by investing in real estate at a time when turkish lira has plunged making property prices cheaper. Dont forget Turkey has the biggest $2 trillion dollar economy than any other CBI countries, is a great country to live, work, study and live there with excellent quality of life.
- St Kitts has only 55,000 population compared to Moldova having 4 million residents. Turkey’s population reach 80 million. Population is also an important indicator as it drives the economic growth.
- Dominica charges $1200 per person expedited passport fee while Malta charges EUR 500 passport fee per person under CBI scheme. You have to pay passport prices when the passport expires during the renewal.
- Malta, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Samoa, are the only CBI passports that have visa free (ETA) access to Canada.
- Dominica, Antigua recently signed visa waiver with Russia.
- Malta, Antigua and Grenada are the most transparent citizenship by investment schemes. Malta’s regulator publishes annual reports for Individual investor program (IIP). Grenada and Antigua also publish CBI statistics to public. Other countries score low for not being transparent.
- Montenegro, Malta, Cyprus use Euro which is a strong and stable currency. We used USD index to compare strong currency with US dollar.
- St Lucia and Dominica still do not issue biometric/e-passports for increased security which is one of the reasons for low score in CBI rankings.
- Malta, Cyprus and St Lucia have scored high scores for enhanced due diligence checks.
- Vanuatu leads over Samoa, despite visa free access to Canada.
Download
Download the CBI rankings calculations sheet.
Ranking factors
These are the metrics we have considered to evaluate the best citizenship by investment program.
- CBI Pricing – Lower the price receive more points
- Safety and security in terms of crime rate
- Visa free countries in total
- Visa waiver with EU schengen states
- Visa waiver with UK/Ireland
- Visa waiver with United States
- Visa waiver with Canada
- Visa waiver with Russia
- Visa waiver with China
- GDP output in billion
- Which are Rich CBI countries in terms of GDP per capita?
- Population in CBI countries – We believe population fosters economic growth
- CBI Passport time (months)
- Physical Residency conditions – No residence conditions receive more points
- Does CBI has EU citizenship rights?
- E-2 treaty with US
- Access to Education
- Access to Healthcare
- Human development index HDI Rank which tells standards and quality of living
- Dual citizenship rights
- Privacy – Publish CBI names in Gazette
- Government Debt
- Personal Income Tax – Low taxes receive more points
- Strong currency (USD index)
- Due Diligence
- Transparency of CBI scheme
- CBI Passport Validity
- Biometric or e-passport issued under CBI schemes
- Lifetime Citizenship transferred to all family generations
- Passport fee for renewals
Total: 200 points
