Frequently asked questions.

Citizenship is the legal bond between a person and a state. It determines which country you belong to, which passport you can carry, and which government owes you protection. A citizen has rights the state cannot easily take away: the right to live and work in the country, to vote, to hold a passport, and to receive consular help abroad. In return, citizens take on obligations. Depending on the country, these can include paying taxes, serving on juries, or completing military service.

Naturalization is the legal process by which a non-citizen becomes a citizen after meeting specific statutory requirements—residency periods, language proficiency, civics knowledge, and character assessment. It's the formal endpoint of an immigration journey: the moment a foreign national becomes a full citizen with all associated rights and responsibilities.

Nationality and citizenship aren’t the same thing: nationality points to where you “belong” in terms of peoplehood (roots, culture, and heritage) while citizenship is the official, government-recognized legal membership in a state.

Yes, in countries that allow dual citizenship without restrictions. Some countries, like the Netherlands or Singapore, don't allow their citizens to have any other citizenship. Others, like El Salvador or the USA, allow dual citizenship without restrictions, meaning you can acquire a second or third citizenship while keeping any other citizenships you already hold.

Citizenship is your legal status in a country—your formal membership. It usually comes with rights (like voting and access to certain public services) and responsibilities (such as obeying laws and, in some places, paying taxes or fulfilling civic duties).

A passport, by contrast, is the travel document a country issues to its citizens. It proves identity and nationality when crossing borders and requesting entry abroad.

Citizenship is generally meant to last for life. It can be gained by birth, descent, or naturalization, and it doesn’t expire like a document.

A passport is time-limited. It can be lost or replaced, may have different validity periods for adults and children, and must be renewed to keep traveling easily.

The main benefit is having a Plan B, and not depending on a single country. Having a second passport removes the single point of failure of having just one citizenship. Besides that, there are many benefits such as more optionality, privacy, asset protection, global mobility, access to business opportunities, and overall freedom not just for you but also for your future generations who will inherit a second passport from you.

There are five ways to get a second passport: by naturalization, marriage, descent, investment, or exception.

Lawfully acquired citizenship can only be revoked in rare cases, almost always fraud in the original application. That permanence is the point. A residence permit or golden visa can be closed by the next government; citizenship granted under statute survives elections. It's also why the due diligence process exists, and why we only work with official, legally grounded programs.

Citizenship by investment programs allow you to get full citizenship in exchange for predetermined economic contributions. These programs are backed by citizenship laws, and contrary to citizenship by merit programs, have clear due diligence and economic requirements that need to be met in order to get citizenship.

The main benefit of citizenship by investment is the ability to acquire an alternative citizenship without residency or physical presence requirements, language or history tests, or any other complex or lengthy procedures.

Citizenship by investment programs offer the most streamlined path to citizenship. It’s precisely this flexibility and efficiency that high-net-worth individuals and families seek in exchange for their economic contributions to the host country.

As a result, it can be a powerful tool to build a diversified passport portfolio, with greater optionality, global mobility, business opportunities, asset protection, privacy, and freedom for future generations.

African countries with active citizenship by investment programs include São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, and Egypt.

Botswana has also announced a program, but it has not been launched as of 2026.

Nigeria’s House of Representatives passed a citizenship by investment bill in April 2025. However, whether the Senate will take up the bill—and on what timeline—remains unclear.

In Mauritius, Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth announced plans to introduce two CBI-adjacent programs in his 2018/19 budget address to Parliament, but no citizenship by investment program was ever launched.

Rwanda’s cabinet approved a draft bill in October 2020 that would allow foreigners to naturalize on the basis of “sustainable investment activities” and submitted it to Parliament, but a citizenship by investment program has not yet been formalized.

Caribbean countries with active citizenship by investment programs include Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Dominica.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines announced in December 2025 that they would open a CBI program in 2026.

Citizenship by investment costs vary by country, with the cheapest program currently being São Tomé and Príncipe with their minimum donation of $90,000 which yields a total cost of as little as $95,750. Programs can go up to the 7 figures, such as El Salvador with their minimum $1m donation.

In most cases, no. Most citizenship by investment programs have no residency or presence requirements, and you will receive citizenship without ever living there. These countries waive presence requirements in exchange of economic contributions, in order to give global high-net-worth individuals and families the flexibility they're seeking as part of the process. Some countries, however, have very light presence requirements – like Antigua and Barbuda's 5 days during the first 5 years after obtaining citizenship by investment.

Virtually any citizenship can be revoked, although it’s much harder for a country to revoke citizenship than residency rights. Citizenship by investment programs, however, are backed by local citizenship laws—and in some cases the Constitution—which can protect applicants long term, even if the government changes.

This is one of the biggest differences versus citizenship by merit or exception, which is discretionary and can be revoked much more easily if the government changes.

Citizenship by investment timelines vary by country. The fastest programs, like El Salvador, can take as little as 6 weeks. Other citizenship by investment programs, like Caribbean programs, are on the slower end taking as much as 24 months.

Both citizenship by investment and residency by investment are types of investment migration programs. The main difference is that citizenship by investment offers applicants a direct path to citizenship, while residency by investment grants permanent residency—sometimes with a path to naturalization after a certain number of years, but with no guarantee of citizenship.

Citizenship by descent programs are legal pathways that allow you to claim citizenship and obtain a passport based on your ancestry. Many countries allow the world have citizenship laws that allow foreigners to claim citizenship by descent given applicable conditions and requirements are met.

The documents required to claim citizenship by descent vary by country. Typically, a valid passport and clean criminal record are required, as well as documents proving your ancestry. You can check the exact documents required for each program at CitizenX.