What are the easiest second passports to get in the world?
Southeast Asia is one of our favorite parts of the world for low-cost living. But the countries rarely offer permanent residency or citizenship. So people always ask us where they can get permanent residency and eventual citizenship.
So, today we want to talk about citizenship by investment. Citizenship by investment means you can get citizenship and a second passport. A second passport is a smart backup plan in case your home country becomes less desirable.
At the end, I’ll tell you which path I would take to a second passport and why.
First, I’ll discuss a few countries where you can just buy a second passport and the price range. Then I’ll explain some other options for people with less working capital.
Presently, you can just buy a second passport in São Tomé and Príncipe or Nauru for 90,000 U.S.D.
São Tomé and Príncipe is a small island off the coast of Africa. The problem is you may not want to live in São Tomé and Príncipe, and there are only 58 countries that you can visit visa-free or on a visa on arrival once you have their passport.
Nauru is a small island 2500 Nautical miles northeast of Australia. The problem is you may not want to live in Nauru either, and there are only 84 countries that you can visit visa-free or on a visa on arrival once you have their passport.
And the bigger problem, in my opinion, is that $90,000 USD is just a plain donation to the country. You will never get any of that money back.
The next five that I’m going to share with you cost more money, $200k to $250k, but you can potentially get real estate in your name for that. And, eventually, once the minimum holding period has passed, you can sell that property.
And all five of these countries can go visa-free to 145 or more countries, including the UK and Europe. So they are much better passports for travel mobility. Plus, they are all in the Caribbean, with short flights to the US or Europe.
These five countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, St. Lucia, and Dominica.
But what do you do if you don’t have the $90k donation or the $250k USD you need for real estate in the Caribbean to buy that second passport?
Here are 4 cheaper second passports
And these passports would also be places I would be happy to live. And I know because I’ve already been there. While we discuss each country, we’ll show you video we took with our feet on the ground.
Albania
Albania is perfectly located between Greece and Italy. So you can drive to Greece and take a ferry over to Italy. Once in Italy, you can take the Euro Pass all over Europe. Foreigners who purchase residential real estate in Albania can apply for a temporary residence permit, which may even lead to a second passport.
There is no minimum purchase price or minimum monthly pension amount you must show to qualify. We have American friends we met in Albania who bought a condo near a beautiful lake for about 70k Euros.
So you could have a condo or house somewhere you might like to live, and that puts you on one of the paths to eventual citizenship.
But in Albania, you don’t even have to buy real estate if you don’t want to. Retiree foreigners can also obtain a temporary residence permit with a potential path to citizenship.
Whether buying real estate or retiring, you need to demonstrate that you have adequate financial resources to support yourself without becoming a burden to the public.
Then you must maintain continuous residence for seven years before you may apply for citizenship. Continuous residence means that you never spend six consecutive months outside of Albania and ten months in total until you are awarded citizenship.
You also need language proficiency, a clean criminal record, and tax compliance. Do not attempt this without hiring an immigration lawyer because rules change all the time.
Albania may even be a member country of the EU within a few years, which will likely give you unlimited access to the EU year-round once you are an Albanian Citizen.
When we were in Albania, our favorite cities were Tirana and Saranda. Our on-the-ground YouTube video reports of our favorite cities in Albania are at the first link in the notes below this video in the Albania section.
Costa Rica
Investing a minimum of $200k USD in real estate grants you immediate temporary investor residency in Costa Rica.
You must keep this investor residency for 7 years before you are able to apply for citizenship. Costa Rica also requires a crime-free record and other authenticated documents from your home country. You must also be able to speak and write in Spanish.
Without buying real estate in Costa Rica, … retirees can also obtain a temporary residence permit by showing about $1000 USD monthly pension. After that, the route to citizenship is similar to the real estate purchase visa.
Our favorite cities in Costa Rica include La Fortuna, Quepos, Tamarindo, and Uvita. Our on-the-ground YouTube video reports of our favorite cities in Costa Rica are at the first link in the notes below this video in the Costa Rica Section.
If you’re going to sink $200k USD into property as a potential path to a second passport, you want to get it right the first time. Do not attempt this without hiring an immigration lawyer, as the rules change all the time.
Before I discuss the next country, I want to give you a bit of a warning. Some YouTube creators are saying that citizenship is available through real estate purchase in North Macedonia for about $46k USD.
North Macedonia
There are various paths to citizenship and a second passport in North Macedonia, but real estate is not one of them. Real estate can provide an entry point for a temporary residence that you can renew annually.
But real estate is not an entry point into North Macedonia that leads to citizenship and a second passport. And even temporary residency, through the purchase of real estate, should be approached carefully with an immigration lawyer.
There are only two countries left. The second one I believe, is the best citizenship and passport by investment in the world. But first, …
Georgia (Country)
Some online sources mention Georgia, with a $150k USD real estate purchase leading to a second passport. The correct current amount is $300k USD.
Once purchased, you can apply for temporary residence and hold that temporary residence for five years before you’re eligible for permanent residence. After an additional five years of permanent residence, and continuous ownership of that real estate, you can apply for citizenship.
During that ten-year period, “continuous residence” means no more than 90 days during any year outside the country of Georgia. The bigger problem is that you have to give up any other passports you have.
But if you don’t want to sink $300K USD into property in Georgia, but you really love Georgia, just do what thousands of other people do every year.
A number of Western countries, such as the United States and others, grant 365-day visas upon entry. And at the end of each year, they fly out of Georgia or cross the border, re-enter a day or more later, and are then given another 365-day visa stamp.
And if you don’t want to do visa runs once a year to a nearby country, Georgia offers a renewable temporary residence visa for people who are willing to buy property for 150,000 USD.
If you’re curious why people love Georgia, watch our on-the-ground YouTube video reports of our favorite cities in Georgia are at the first link in the notes below this video in the Costa Rica Section.
If you’re going to sink serious cash into property in Georgia, hire an immigration lawyer, as the rules change all the time.
If you don’t want to jump through so many hoops and you have some money to invest in real estate in a country in one of the most sought-after parts of the world, the Caribbean. Here is what I would do.
If you are like, you are probably thinking, “I don’t want to donate 90k to some country for a passport.” Especially since it is not a very good passport for traveling.
And I don’t want to jump through all these hoops to get a second passport:
- learning languages
- live there continuously for years
- buy health insurance
- renew a bunch of paperwork every year
… then the Caribbean option starts to sound better, if you have the money.
You can buy a piece of real estate and just hold it for a period of time and then sell it if you don’t like it.
And now you have a passport that will allow you to travel to more countries. And you don’t have to renounce your home country citizenship unless you want to. So here’s what I would do.
Antigua & Barbuda
Antigua & Barbuda has a genuine citizenship by investment program. First, I have to say this breaks my rule of saying I’ll never tell you about a place unless I’ve been there first. I’ve never been here.
But here’s why that doesn’t matter. I would never have to live here. I would be buying the property only to get a valuable second passport. Valuable because there is an attractive list of countries I could travel to.
And I would never hand over the money until I had visited first personally. And I would pick Antigua because it has lower government fees than the other Caribbean countries. So almost all of my money would go into a property that I could potentially recover.
Now, I don’t. But if I had an extra $300K plus about 20K in government fees and I wanted a good second passport, I would invest it in Antigua. But you have to hold the property for five years before you can sell it.
You only have to spend five days per year in Antigua during the first five years after obtaining your citizenship. You don’t have to buy health insurance. But you do have to provide typical documentation so Antigua and Barbuda can properly complete their due diligence on you for citizenship.
There is no language requirement. For an additional fee, you can obtain passports for family members, and you generally do not need to relinquish other countries’ passports. And best of all, you do not need to make the real estate investment until you’ve been approved. If you’re actually thinking of doing this, I would do it right away. The EU has been putting pressure on these countries to increase the requirements.
The citizenship rules change all the time, so you can’t do this on your own. If you’re going to sink serious cash into property for a second passport, hire an immigration lawyer.
If you’re really thinking about retiring overseas during your sunset years, there are a lot of things you need to consider other than visas, real estate, medical, safety, and citizenship.
My name is Dan, and I left the United States in 2007, and I lived in and visited 78 countries around the world. One of the most important things when deciding where you want to retire overseas or slow travel the world is finding a country that actually feels like home to you.
I have hundreds of reports that will help you understand many of the problems that people face before and after you relocate to a foreign country. I have both free resources and memberships available to help you find a soft landing overseas that fits your needs best.
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