Citizenship
Every piece we have published on citizenship. Dated, sourced, and written under a name.
Thailand Privilege vs LTR visa: no work, no tax break, and when the LTR wins
Thailand Privilege starts at THB 650,000 for five years and buys no work rights, tax relief or residence. When the LTR visa is the better choice.
Active vs passive residency in Andorra: the cheaper way in, the harder way to stay
Since the February 2026 reform, active residency is the cheaper way into Andorra: a stake above 34%, EUR 50,000 to the AFA. The catch is 183 days.
ONE Pass renewal: SGD 30,000 a month gets you in, the renewal is the real test
The ONE Pass needs SGD 30,000 a month to get in and runs five years with no employer tie. The renewal is the real test, and it catches people.
Malta naturalisation requirements: five years of residence, and a minister who decides
Twelve months' unbroken residence before applying, four more years before that, and a minister's discretion. Plus marriage, descent, dual citizenship.
Iceland citizenship absence rule: a 90-day leash for seven years, and A2 Icelandic
Seven years' residence, absences capped at 90 days in any twelve months, an A2 language test and the timeline nobody quotes. Dual citizenship allowed.
Russian passport through grandparents: granted in months, conditional for life
Three ancestry doors, one border test: naturalised in months with no language test, then a military catch and a citizenship conditional for life.
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.
Are golden passports still worth it? Eight are open, and each has lost a destination
Every European programme is shut. Of 25 we track, eight are open and each has lost a visa-free destination. The E-2 trap and the costs nobody quotes.
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.