Today, many countries offer foreigners citizenship or permanent residence in exchange for investments in the economy. Henley & Partners has published annual rankings of programs for obtaining permanent residence or citizenship through investment. Find out more about the best programs of which countries and which countries are worth paying attention to in 2023

Many countries offer foreigners to obtain citizenship or permanent residence in exchange for investment. Thanks to a wide variety of programs, a future investor can choose a country that can solve an individual investor's request: it will expand opportunities for visa-free travel, reduce the tax burden for business, allow the company to enter the international level or become a new home for a family with a high level of education, medicine and job prospects.

Navigating the variety of programs can be quite difficult. Which country should you pay attention to in 2023? Which state's program is the best?

A complete systematic analysis and comparative evaluation of the main options for obtaining permanent residence and citizenship by investment provides rankings of investment programs in the world. The expert company Henley & Partners on February 28, 2023 published the results of its annual analysis.

Ranking of citizenship by investment programs

At the end of 2022, the Maltese citizenship program became the leader of the ranking. A foreigner acquires a country's passport through naturalization for an exceptional contribution to the development of the state. You can become an EU citizen if you meet the conditions for investment and residence, as well as meet other government criteria. It should be noted that Malta is the leader for the eighth year in a row. The second line was occupied by another European country - Austria.

High positions were occupied by the countries of the Caribbean. The procedure for obtaining citizenship here is quite simple and takes several months. Passports of some states of the region can generally be obtained remotely, without the need to visit the country. The benefits of citizenship are the ability to travel without a visa to many countries of the world, including the Schengen countries, the UK, China, etc.

What is citizenship by investment?

These are official government programs introduced to support the economies of countries. A foreigner can become a full-fledged citizen of another country in a short time without knowledge of the language, prior residence or even a visit. However, there are not too many such programs in the world.

How was the analysis done?

Independent experts, investors and government officials from different countries evaluated the following criteria: quality of life, investment requirements, application processing time and quality of information processing, the need to live in the country, visa-free entry, the possibility of moving to other countries, the need to visit the country, transparency procedures, etc.

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Rating of permanent residence programs for investment

Foreign investors prefer programs for obtaining a permanent residence permit for investment in European countries. The leader of the rating was Portugal, which allows you to get European permanent residence when buying real estate. Similar programs also operate in Greece, Spain, Latvia and Cyprus.

Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, subject to certain conditions, allow foreigners to obtain a residence permit, live in their territory and become a tax resident. It is worth noting that the states are quite strict about fulfilling the conditions of the programs.

It is possible to obtain a residence permit in Switzerland subject to the payment of an annual flat tax. A similar program operates in Italy, a residence permit in the country can be issued by contributing to the economy of the state.

Features of programs for obtaining a residence permit based on investment

The main advantage of the residence permit program based on investment is that states most often do not require permanent residence from the investor and do not impose strict conditions for visiting.

Analysis Criteria

When choosing a program, the decisive factors are:

- the term for consideration of the application, because it can range from several weeks to several years;

- prospects for obtaining citizenship - in some countries it is possible to become a citizen of the state after 5 years of residence on the basis of a permit, and in others only after 10 years;

- taxation system;

- investment requirements, etc.

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More articles on the topic: 

The best countries for investment in 2023 - find here.