Citizenship
Every piece we have published on citizenship. Dated, sourced, and written under a name.
Russian citizenship by ancestry in 2026: quick to get, hard to carry
Parent, RSFSR birth or a grandparent born inside today's Russia: the 2026 rules, the repatriation track, the military catch and our verdict.
How to become an Icelandic citizen: seven winters, one test, no side door
Seven years, an A1–A2 Icelandic test, a long queue and no investor route. What it really takes to get an Icelandic passport, and whether it is worth it.
The cheapest second passport in 2026 is usually free — and most advisers never check
The cheapest route to a second citizenship is not a USD 200,000 contribution. We track 21 ancestry routes and 34 naturalisation routes. Several cost filing fees and deliver an EU passport. Here is how to find out which one is yours.
Citizenship by investment in 2026: eight programmes are open, and every one of them has lost a destination
Every European citizenship-by-investment programme is now closed. Of the 25 we track, eight are open — and each has lost major visa-free access since 2023. What is left, what it costs, and what the passport actually opens.
Investor 2 resident visa: what replaced New Zealand's closed investor routes
New Zealand's Investor 2 resident visa closed in 2022. What replaced it — the Growth and Balanced categories — how they compare, and our verdict.
The climate passport that shrank in a year
Nauru's climate-branded citizenship lost a G7 border within a year of launch. The verdict on whether it buys the mobility it advertises.
Portugal moved the finish line: the 5-year passport is now a 10-year wait
The golden visa is still open. The prize behind it is not what it was. Organic Law 1/2026 doubled the naturalisation clock and reset where it even starts.
Malta's Merit passport is the old scheme in a toga
The CJEU killed the EU's last golden passport in April 2025. Malta's citizenship by merit replacement changes the label, not the transaction. The verdict.
Italy slammed the bloodline door: who still qualifies after Law 74/2025
The great-grandparent route is gone. What Law 74/2025 and the 2026 Constitutional Court ruling left standing. Who is grandfathered, and who is simply out.
El Salvador's Bitcoin passport is real. It just can't take you to Europe.
El Salvador's crypto-native citizenship works exactly as advertised. The problem is what the passport does next. A candid verdict for crypto founders.
Argentina put its passport up for sale. Then a court said no.
Milei decreed a fast-track investor passport for Argentina. A federal court struck down the predecessor. The verdict: buy the country, not the decree.
Will your source of funds pass due diligence?
You have the money. The real question is whether a vetting unit will believe where it came from. Here is how the check works, and how to be ready for it.
The worst passports money can buy
Not every citizenship-for-sale is worth buying. Weak access, reputational baggage, and visa-free deals that keep getting suspended. What a bad passport actually costs you.
The one Caribbean passport that reaches America
Grenada's edge is a US E-2 treaty: a business visa, not a green card, with a three-year catch. Who should buy it? And who's wasting money?
The citizenships that go nowhere
Some passports sound like freedom and deliver a filing cabinet. When the visa-free deal you paid for gets revoked, what's left? How to spot a laminated promise.
The Caribbean passport price war is over, and the bargain-hunters lost
Five islands spent years undercutting each other. Then came a price floor, tougher due diligence and an EU threat. Which one is still worth it in 2026.
Paraguay's three-year passport, and the test nobody mentions
The fastest naturalisation clock in Latin America, from USD 70,000. The catch is an arraigo test and a Supreme Court exam in Spanish or Guarani.
What happens when a citizenship application is denied
Refusal rates run from 1.7% to 14%. What is non-refundable, what is unappealable, and what a claimed 100% approval rate actually tells you.
Reading is not advice
None of this knows anything about you. When you want an answer that does, we are here.