Citizenship by investment countries and programs in 2026

Donation is the dominant route: a non-refundable contribution to a national fund, typically the lowest modeled entry-cash path across the Caribbean programs currently covered. The money is spent, not invested, so the honest comparison is against what you cannot get back on other routes.

Real estate routes require holding approved property, usually for five to seven years. Sticker prices run higher than donations and the resale market for approved projects is thin; ourreviewed entry-cash modelsseparates entry cash, known fees and uncertain resale value.

Business and bond options exist in several programs but are chosen rarely, and in Türkiye roughly 95 percent of applicants take the state-appraised real estate route over the pricier deposit and bond alternatives. Route selection is a fit question, not only a price question; theProgram-Fit Report provides a preliminary written orientation.

Most currently covered programs allow a spouse and minor children, but the family unit is not universal: Egypt does not include the spouse simultaneously in the same way as its minor-child route. Differences that move the price also include dependent children in education (age caps differ by program), parents and grandparents (minimum ages and dependency tests vary), and siblings (a handful of programs, with conditions). Due diligence is charged per person and by age band, which is why the same program can be priced well for one family shape and badly for another.

The detailed matrix for covered programs lives in ourfamily and dependents guide; each program page carries its own rules with sources.

Most Caribbean citizenship programs were built around little or no physical presence. That is changing, but not through one common rule already in force. Antigua currently requires five days during the first five years, Dominica has announced a future passport- collection visit without an implementation date, and the regional framework commits all five programs to stronger genuine links without publishing one effective national day-count. Ourpresence-rules tracker is reviewed under the material-fact certification cadence and changes when the relevant authority publishes an operative rule.

Applications undergo government-mandated due diligence, interviews are currently standard across the five tracked Caribbean programs, and the vetting keeps getting harder, which is good news for legitimate buyers. Due-diligence fees are generally paid up front and are not refunded on refusal, several programs maintain nationality restriction lists, and the most common failure point is source-of-funds documentation rather than the background check itself. If an agent tells you vetting is a formality, read ourrequirements guide before wiring anything.