What if $100,000 could buy you something far more valuable than a house or a car?
In this citizenship by investment guide, you will discover that there are at least nine countries in the world right now where you can legally buy a second passport. There are countries offering you a 2nd passport for as low as $90,000 — the price of a Dodge Ram or a parking spot in Boston (that would not even fit a Dodge Ram).
You might think that “buying” a passport is something shady, or something only billionaires do. It is not.
For a growing number of men looking for true mobility, a second passport is an insurance policy. It’s how you legally optimize your tax bill, build a rock-solid backup plan, and buy real estate even in countries that restrict property purchases by non-citizens — including the one where I live right now.
So the real question is: what kind of freedom does that 2nd passport actually give you – and WHERE can you get it? Let’s look at country number…
9 — Türkiye
This is the most expensive passport on the entire list, and I’m starting here on purpose. Because in this case, the benefits might very well compensate for the higher price, since it is not about paying for a passport, but investing in an asset that gives you unlimited holidays.
Because if in the past, the midlife crisis meant buying a sports car, now you can buy a beach house by the Mediterranean for the price of a sports car.
Turkey spans southeastern Europe and western Asia, with around 86 million people living there. That puts Türkiye in a different category from everywhere else on this list: it has a large domestic economy, big cities, universities, and a huge tourism sector.
The way to obtain a Turkish passport is by buying real estate: a minimum of $400,000 in a qualifying property, with a resale restriction of at least 3 years. And unlike other countries, in Turkey you don’t buy a passport — you buy a property, and the passport comes as extra gift. A property you can live in it, or rent it to make money.
If you’d rather not tie your money up in a building, Türkiye also qualifies you with $500,000 in a bank deposit, bonds, investment funds, or by creating 50 jobs — each held for at least 3 years.
Your spouse and dependent children can be included, and none of it requires you to live in the country first, the opposite of ordinary naturalization.
Living in Europe, I get asked constantly whether a Turkish passport gets you into the EU – not, but also yes. You’re close to Brussels and economically entangled with the European Union, but you get no automatic right to live or work inside it.
And because this is a real asset, not a donation, you’re also making an investment call — interest rates and the property market decide what that $400,000 is worth in 5 years. I had been in Turkey recently and I covered it in more detail in a previous article.
Everything from here down gets cheaper, and every step down trades something else away.
8 — Saint Kitts and Nevis
If Türkiye is the most expensive Citizenship by Investment on this list, this one is the oldest. The government of Saint Kitts and Nevis describes its citizenship program, dating back to 1984, as the original citizenship-by-investment scheme in the world. Every other name of this list is, in some sense, inspired by this one.
Until a few years ago, it was considered a very strong passport, but since there was a huge demand for it, things changed a bit, as citizen from there told us:
“My family invested in the Saint Kitts passport in 2017 back when it cost $150,000 for the 3 of us (me, my mom, and my brother). For that amount it was a great investment because the passport is a very strong one in terms of visa-free travel, and there are no taxes involved. However, now that my brother and I are older, we are realizing that this passport is HEAVILY scrutinized by most countries in the world.”
The federation is tiny — fewer than 50,000 people across two volcanic islands, with Basseterre as the capital on Saint Kitts. Tourism and a well-established high-end property market carry the economy.
The program itself has been rewritten repeatedly since 1984, most recently under the Citizenship by Investment Unit Act of 2024. The main route is the Sustainable Island State Contribution: $250,000, covering the main applicant plus up to 3 dependants, so a family of four pays only once.
There’s also a Public Benefit Option at the same price and there are two real-estate routes: a minimum of $325,000 for a developer project or condominium, or $600,000 for a private single-family home.
What’s changed most is the screening. Every main applicant now sits through a mandatory interview, virtual or at an approved location, and dependants 16 and over may be pulled in too. Government due-diligence fees cost $10,000 for the main applicant, $7,500 per older dependant.
Once your file is acknowledged, the government says it’ll tell you within 120 to 180 days if you’re approved, denied, or delayed, so it is not a fast process.
If you are approved, you get visitor access to the European Union, and dual citizenship with no requirement to relocate. What you don’t get is a large economy behind the passport — Saint Kitts is a boutique country, not a backup homeland.
7 — Saint Lucia
If flexibility is what you’re after, not many passport-by-investment schemes gives you more ways in than the one from Saint Lucia.
Saint Lucia is bigger than most of the other islands we will mention today, with a population of around 180,000 and a capital, Castries, on the island’s northwest coast. It’s known for the Pitons, its mountainous rainforest, and a tourism sector developed enough to support a residential property market.
Its citizenship system runs under the Citizenship by Investment Act of 2015, which gives you 4 separate doors. The National Economic Fund is the simplest contribution — it requires a $240,000 donation, covering the principal applicant and up to 3 dependants.
If you prefer an investment instead of a donation, you can buy the National Action Bonds: it costs around $300,000, you hold it for 5 years, and then get your money back. You can also get their citizenship by buying property above $300,000, or via an enterprise-investment route for a direct stake in a local business.
Like the rest of the Eastern Caribbean cluster, Saint Lucia has added a mandatory interview in recent years. Family eligibility is broad — spouses, children, parents, and others can be included — with no requirement to reside there to obtain citizenship.
Saint Lucia’s edge is flexibility, wrapped around a small domestic economy. The next country has similar benefits, but with an even better point.
Get your copy of Moving Out, Working Abroad and Keeping Your Sanity and start your expat life with the 11 secrets that make it better than you imagine.
6 — Grenada
This nation has a pro none of the other in this ranking have: a bridge into doing business in the United States.
Known as the Spice Island for its nutmeg trade, Grenada is home to around 117,000 people, with St. George’s as its capital.
Its Citizenship by Investment Act dates to 2013, running since that August, administered by the Investment Migration Agency Grenada. The main route is a contribution to the National Transformation Fund: $235,000 for a main applicant plus up to 3 dependants.
The other path is buying real estate — mostly hotels, resorts, and villas built for international buyers — at a minimum of $350,000 under the same rules. The process takes around 3 to 4 months — but delays might happen.
The singular thing about Grenada is their association with the United States’ E-2 Treaty Investor visa. It allows you to apply for E-2 status if you separately invest substantially in an American business and meet the other treaty-investor requirements.
Grenada is not a super tiny island, and can work as a place to live, but compared to the two we’re about to reach, it costs more than double. So get ready, because from here, the price will drop considerably.
However, remember that knowing the rules and actually executing this without a $90,000 mistake are two different things.
5 — Antigua and Barbuda
For families, this archipelago close to Venezuela is an interesting option of citizenship. Antigua and Barbuda has a population of around 90,000, and, thanks to tourism and an international airport, better global connectivity than almost any country that size.
Its Citizenship by Investment Programme was established in 2013 and has run since 2014, through a dedicated Citizenship by Investment Unit. The National Development Fund is the main path for citizenship: $230,000, covering a family of up to 4 people.
Compare that against Saint Kitts, or Saint Lucia, and Antigua is the cheapest way to get a Caribbean citizenship for a family of four.
There are also other ways, like real estate purchases above $300,000, or a business investment above $1.5 million, or a contribution to the University of the West Indies.
As with other Caribbean islands, Antigua & Barbuda got strict with screening applicants, and there might be process delays, so it is important to have specialist help. A local who applied for Antiguan citizenship told us that:
“My process for Antiguan citizenship started in June 2024, and was finally approved in January 2026. I received my passport and certificate of registry by mail in May 2026. Longer than expected but at least it’s over.”
With resorts, marinas, and a high-end property market, Antigua works as a second-home strategy as much as a citizenship strategy. Another plus is that Antigua and Barbuda is one of five Eastern Caribbean states with short-stay EU access, though this might change in the future.
4 — Dominica
And we start with an important disclaimer: we are talking about Dominica, not the Dominican Republic. They are 2 completely different countries.
It’s a mountainous, volcanic island between Guadeloupe and Martinique, home to around 66,000 people, with Roseau as its capital on the southwestern coast. Rainforest and waterfalls define the landscape — tourism is one of the engines of the economy, as well as foreign investors funding projects. Which is exactly how the program of citizenship by investment was designed to work.
Dominica has one of the oldest citizenship-by-investment programs, dating back to 1993. The Economic Diversification Fund is the first route: $200,000 for a single applicant, and currently the lowest contribution of any of the 5 Eastern Caribbean programs.
There is also a path to citizenship by buying real estate above $200,000, and holding it for 3 years (or 5 in some cases).
Dominica now requires a mandatory interview for adult applicants, and there is a $1,000 interview fee. Processing usually takes 3 to 6 months, though the government treats that as an estimate, so it can take longer. You can also include family members without extra fees.
The European Union currently includes Dominica among its visa-exempt countries for short stays. But the European Union Commission has concerns about background checks, application volume, and so on, so this might change.
Dominica’s economy is small, and it was never trying to be otherwise. Its case rests on natural environment, Caribbean identity, and a passport relationship with Europe that, so far, has held.
Which brings us to a very different kind of story — and a cautionary one.
Before we continue, one quick word. If you’re serious about moving abroad, the hardest question isn’t whether to go — it’s where. That’s exactly what our Patreon solves: answer a set of questions about your budget, lifestyle, and priorities, and our matching algorithm gives you a personalized report on the best and worst places for you, across both Europe and South America. All of it for $5, and you can cancel anytime. Join here.
3 — Vanuatu
This is a case every expat should know before wiring a cent anywhere.
Vanuatu is a Pacific archipelago of more than 80 islands, east of Australia and north of New Zealand, with Port Vila as its capital on Efate. Its population, over 300,000, is much larger than some of the microstates on this list, and its citizenship is regulated by the Citizenship Act, originally from 1980.
The government currently runs several parallel programs. The Development Support Program is the main citizenship by investment route, and its price scales with family size: about $130,000 for a single applicant, $150,000 for a married couple, $165,000 with one child, $180,000 with two. Payment is in two steps: 25% before your application, 75% before the certificate is issued.
Anyone with a criminal conviction cannot be approved, and the Citizenship Commission has, on the record, revoked citizenships it decided were improperly granted.
In 2024, the European Union ended Vanuatu’s visa-free access to the Schengen area, citing security risks tied to its investor-citizenship programs — specifically, that people who’d otherwise need a visa to enter Europe could obtain Vanuatu citizenship instead and enter the EU.
The Vanuatu citizenship by investment program still makes sense because of its geographic diversification, quick path to dual citizenship, and a relatively low cost. It stops making sense the moment your goal is European travel.
There are, however, 2 other countries that offer citizenship for MUCH lower prices.
Grab Budget Travelers, Digital Nomads & Expats: The Ultimate Guide for 50 tips, tricks and hacks to travel and live abroad for less.
2 — São Tomé and Príncipe
This is the first country with a price below US$100,000.
This is a small nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the west coast of Central Africa, made up mainly of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. Portuguese is the official language, and the population is just over 200,000 residents.
Their Citizenship by Investment is quite a new program, created by a Decree-Law published in August 2025. The National Development Contribution is the qualifying route, requiring $90,000 for a single applicant, and the money is invested in renewable energy, healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
There are also the government’s own published fees — $5,000 for submission, $5,000 for processing, and $750 for documentation. One extra advantage is that payment is just after the government approves you, a much lower-risk than almost all other countries with citizenship by investment.
Family eligibility is unusually broad. A spouse, financially dependent children under 30, and dependent parents 55 and older can be included, and the government even allows stateless applicants to apply.
Processing takes about 8 weeks, entirely remote, with no requirement to ever set foot on the islands — though you’ll still need police certificates and proof of funds.
São Tomé and Príncipe isn’t on the EU’s visa-exempt list, so its citizens still need a Schengen visa like anyone else. And because the law is so new, there’s no long track record yet for how this program will hold up internationally.
The next country is even cheaper, and it is also the newest name in the game.
1 — Nauru
This island is about as small as a country gets: 21 square kilometers, about 12,000 people, no capital city — government offices are simply concentrated in the Yaren district. It has little domestic economy left; the phosphate wealth that once defined it has largely been mined out.
The program itself is barely two years old. The idea behind the creation of the Citizenship by Investment program was to raise funds for infrastructure, renewable energy, and climate resilience projects.
The standard contribution was $115,000, but in 2026, the government introduced a discounted rate of $90,000 for applications filed before December 31st.
Nauru’s family eligibility is broad too — spouse, children, parents, grandparents, even siblings can qualify as dependants, each adding its own contribution and due-diligence cost.
The process runs through an authorized agent, takes about 3 to 4 months, and the oath of allegiance can be taken over video link if you can’t get to Nauru in person. You never have to visit at all.
But remember: that $90,000 rate is available right now. Once January 2027 comes and it expires, the standard price returns, which is still quite cheap, although not extremelly cheap like it is right now. So if you are interested, schedule a free consultation with a reliable Citizenship-by-Investment consulting firm.
Now, if instead of a 2nd passport, you are looking for a residence visa, then it is even simpler and cheaper. We ranked the easiest countries in Europe to obtain residence — see the ranking in that article.
Get Residence & Citizenship in Europe for a country-by-country guide to visas, residence and EU citizenship.
And join my Patreon for detailed reports of all the countries we covered, plus access to our algorithm that will help you discover what is the best country and city for you.
Levi Borba is the founder of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the YouTube channel The Expat, and a best-selling author. Some of the links in our articles may be affiliated links, meaning the author earns a small commission if you make a purchase.
