Which countries offer citizenship or residency through property investment? Over a dozen countries directly or indirectly give citizenship to foreign investors through property ownership. The process requires purchase of a flat, land, luxury apartment, condominium or a limited share in a hotel room. Citizenship leads to passport.

Beautiful home + Free citizenship, Photo Credit: Marek Kowalik from Freeimages.com

Citizenship in tiny islands of caribbean is a fast track process, easy and simple within few months. In Europe, unless you are ready to buy a property for six or seven figures, it is a slow complicated process as most european countries will not to give you citizenship based on property purchase alone, without living in their soil and fully integrating to their culture and language, which is why golden visas give initial residency which leads to citizenship usually after 5 years. Cyprus is the only country with exception, where they give you citizenship in 90 days if you buy a luxury home worth 2 million euros. Citizenship leads to passport.

Real estate through property ownership for citizenship starts with $200,000 in caribbean and €250,000 euros in Europe. Please note that you have to pay several additional fees on property price, such as property transfer fee, stamp duty, registration fees, Government fees to process citizenship application. Most real estate developers will ask for 10% of initial deposit. With most properties, rental income will cover property maintenance charges and taxes for the property which is taken care by the developer.

We will list 13 countries in Caribbean and Europe offering path to citizenship through property investment. See additional fees listed on the right column which applies on top of the minimum investment.

1. Dominica

Real estate property ownership

Additional fees

$200,000 in real estate property or share

Property: 7.5% of sales fee for registering title deed

Citizenship fees for Government

USD 50,000 for the Main Applicant
USD 25,000 for the Spouse
USD 20,000 for a dependent under the age of 18
USD 50,000 for a dependent aged 18-25 years

Due Diligence fees:

Main Applicant – USD 7,500*
Spouse – USD 7,500
Dependant aged 16 years and above – USD 4,000

Other fees:

Fee for Certificate of Naturalisation : USD 750 per person
Application Processing fees: USD 3,000 per application
Expedited passport fee: USD 1,200 per application

$200,000 property purchase in Dominica qualify for citizenship.
No requirement to visit Dominica
Dominica passport to all family members with visa free travel to Schengen.
Processing time 3-5 months.
Life time citizenship..
Real estate must be held for 3 years.
Rental yields are 4%-5% on property.

2. Antigua & Barbuda

$200,000 property purchase in Antigua. Only properties approved by Government will qualify for citizenship. Joint ownership allowed $200,000 per person.

Property taxes:

Property tax 2.5%, legal and escrow fees (1%) against a property purchase

Citizenship application fees:

Main applicant: $50,000
Spouse: $25,000
Children: $25,000

Due diligence fees: $7500 per adult, $4000 per child

No requirement to visit Antigua for citizenship
Citizenship for family and children
Real estate must be held for 5 years
Antigua passport offers visa free travel to Canada, United Kingdom, Schengen zone
No wealth, inheritance, foreign income, personal income taxes.
Citizenship processing time 3-4 months.
Rental yields for the property is 4-5% which will cover all the maintenance and running costs of property.
Processing time 3 months.

3. Grenada

$220,000 property purchase in Grenada in hotels, condominiums, resorts and holiday homes approved by Government under real estate scheme. Only properties approved by Government will qualify for citizenship

Property: Stamp duty is 1% of property value, property transfer tax for citizens 5%, non citizens 15% on selling the property. Legal fee around 1-2% of property value, plus agent fee 5%. 5% conveyance tax for citizens when selling.

Citizenship fees:

$50,000 main applicant, spouse
$5000 due diligence fee per person
$1500 application fee
$1500 processing fee

Real estate must be held for 5 years
No requirement to visit Grenada for citizenship
Processing time is 2 months.
Grenada passport gives visa travel to over 120 countries including UK, EU Schengen states, China
Rental yields are around 4%.
Lifetime citizenship for family and children.
Processing time 2 months.

4. St Kitts & Nevis

$200,000 property investment held for 7 years or $400,00 held for 5 years in St Kitts or in Nevis islands.

Property: conveyance fees 4–5% of the purchase price of the real estate.

Citizenship fees:

$50,000 per adult
$25,000 per children

Due diligence fee: $7500 per person +
Passport fee: $350 per person +

Life time passable citizenship to family and children
No requirement visit St Kitts for citizenship
Real estate must be held for 5 years
St Kitts passport offers visa free travel to UK, Schengen Europe, and to over 120 countries.
Rental yields are from 4.9% to 5.3% as holiday occupancy rates are very high in summer.
Processing time is 4 months.

5. St Lucia

$300,000 property investment in Saint Lucia in Residential holiday homes, resorts, hotels, beachfront luxury homes. Only properties approved by Government will qualify for citizenship

Property: Buyer pays 3% – 5.50% (includes stamp duty 2%, vendor fee, alien landholding license upto 1%, legal fee, vendor tax 2.5 to 10%) on residential property

Citizenship fees

Processing fees: $2000 per person, $1000 per dependant
Administration fees: $50,000 per adult, $25,000 per children
Due diligence fees: $7,500 per adult, $5000 per children

Eligibility

Only those who have 3,5 million dollars net worth can qualify for citizenship through property purchase.

Lifetime family citizenship in St Lucia
Visa free travel to visit over 120 countries including UK, EU Schengen states
No language tests, No residency requirements
Processing time within 2 months.
Rental yields are around 3.6%
No capital gains or inheritance taxes,
Income taxes for residents on worldwide income.
Processing time 2 months.

6. Portugal

EUR 500,000 euros in property purchase in Portugal or EUR 350,000 refurbished properties outside Lisbon

Government Processing Fee: € 513.75

Initial investor residency permit: € 5173.60

Renewal of residence permit € 2,586.80

Residence permit for family members € 2,586.80

Real estate transfer Tax 8% – € 28,964.75

Financial Management and Fiscal Representation (0.5% per year) € 2,500.-

Real estate stamp duty 0.8% : € 4,000

Property Transfer Service 1.5%: € 7,500

Permanent residency application: € 350

Citizenship application fee: € 250

Golden visa program grants residency with renewals to families.
Leads to citizenship after 6 years of living in Portugal.
Very minimal residency requirements
Visa free travel within schengen using EU residence permit card.
No taxes unless you live more than 6 months in portugal.
Apartment yields in Lisbon run from 5.5% to 7%.
Processing time 3-4 months.

7. Latvia

€250,000 euros in property purchase (single or multiple)

Property: +5% state fees applies

Lawyer fee: 1% to 1.5%

Real estate taxes paid by property owners. General tax rate is 1,5% from cadastral value of property unit. Residential property is taxed at a rate 0,2%-0,4%-0,6% depending on value of the property.

Foreign Investors qualify for permanent residency in latvia through property purchase.
Free movement in Schengen states using pink residence permit card.
Leads to latvian citizenship after 10 years of living.
No minimum stay requirements.
No taxes unless you become tax resident living in Latvia for 6 months or more.
Best places to buy coastal property are Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Coimbra.
Apartment rental yields in Riga (capital) is around 5%.
Processing time 3 months.

8. Spain

€500,000 euro property purchase in Spain (barcelona, madrid, sevilla, grenada)

Property fees: +11 – 12% includes purchase costs, which includes, tax, stamp duty, VAT, notary..

Lawyer fees: €1500 + 21% VAT

Golden visa program offers spanish residency visa against property purchase.
No minimum stay or living requirements in spain.
Family and children can qualify easily.
Unlimited travel throughout the EU Schengen visa countries.
Property can be sold after 5 years.
Apartment rental yields in Madrid and Barcelona, are from 4.8% to 5.5%
Processing time is 3 months.

9. Cyprus

Cyprus Residency granted 300,000 euros on immovable property purchase. Since cyprus is not in schengen, cyprus visas, investors need schengen visas to visit schengen countries.

Fast track Citizenship on 2 million euro property investment within 90 days. Free movement in schengen, UK with Cypriot passport (EU citizenship)

Property transfer fee: 3% to 8% (reduced on multiple ownerships).

Buyer pays 4.60% to 11% of the sales price in Cyprus

Fast track residency or citizenship in Cyprus.
No residency requirements.
Gross rental yields on property 2-4% in Limassol, Paphos, Larnaca coastal properties
EU citizenship for family and children.
Processing time is 3 months.

10. Malta

Maltese Residency against €275,000 euro property ownership. This option does not lead to citizenship.
Maltese Citizenship against €900,000 euro investment (of which €350,000 property ownership) under Malta Individual investor program (Malta IIP)

Please note property ownership is only optional in Malta, property can be rented.

Property transaction costs: Buyer should expect of 5.5% to 7.5% property value (stamp duty, registration). Property transfer tax 5-12% by seller.

Malta IIP:

Fund contribution: € 650,000 euro
Bond Investment: €150,000 euro
Real estate purchase: €350,000 euro
Due diligence fee: 7,500
Lawyer fee: €35,000 to € 50,000

Fast track residency and citizenship in Malta.
Full EU family citizenship for family and children under Malta IIP.
Rental returns are 4.5% in Sliema, St Julians in Malta. Properties in Gozo, Comino are relatively cheap.
No capital gains, death and inheritance taxes in Malta.

11. Greece

€ 250,000 property investment for Greek residency

Property transaction costs:

Property transfer tax: 8%-10%
Notary fees: upto 1%
Legal fees: upto 1%
Agent fee: 1% to 2.5%
Registration fees: upto 0.5%

Buyers should expect addition 5% to 8% total costs on property

Free movement in Schengen countries with residence permit visa issued by Greece.
No requirement to live in Greece
Permanent residency given for family and children against property ownership
Residency leads to Greece citizenship after 7 years of living.
Processing time is 3-4 months.
Rental returns for apartments in Athens and Crete are around 4% to 4.5%

12. Ireland

€ 1 million euros in Irish real estate fun or 2 million in REIT trusts

Property transaction costs: Stamp duty costs 9% over 1 million euros. Buyers must pay 5% to 13% of the property price.

Legal fee: 1% to 1.5%

Ireland residency against property ownership through a real estate trust.
Residency leads to irish citizenship after 5 years
No requirement to live in the country.
Processing time is 3 months
Rental returns around 8% in the dublin city centre.
No visa free access to Schengen (Ireland is not in schengen)

13. Bulgaria

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€ 512,000 property ownership