Citizenship — not just residency — opens doors that no visa can. Voting rights, unconditional stay, passport power, the ability to pass nationality to your children. Some countries make it available in as few as 2 years. Others make it essentially impossible. Here's what the landscape actually looks like in 2026, separated from the marketing.
The Fastest Naturalisations
Argentina — 2 Years
Argentina has one of the world's fastest naturalisation timelines: just 2 years of legal residence. There's no language test, no civic exam, and the income requirements for residency are modest. The Rentista visa requires proof of around USD 1,500/month passive income, and freelancers can qualify through other categories. Buenos Aires offers a high quality of life at reasonable cost.
The catch: an Argentine passport provides visa-free access to around 170 countries, but Argentina's economy is volatile. Inflation has been extreme, currency controls can complicate finances, and the bureaucratic process — while not impossible — requires patience. Still, for pure speed to citizenship, Argentina is hard to beat.
Paraguay — 3 Years
Paraguay offers permanent residency from day one through a bank deposit of roughly USD 5,000. After 3 years of legal residence, you can apply for citizenship. No language test, no continuous presence requirement (though you need to be in Paraguay at least once per year). Paraguay allows dual citizenship with most countries.
Asunción and Ciudad del Este are the main expat hubs. Cost of living is low — USD 800–1,200/month for a comfortable life. The passport provides visa-free access to about 145 countries, including the Schengen Area.
Peru — 2 Years
Peru allows naturalisation after just 2 years of legal residence. The process requires basic Spanish, a clean criminal record, and proof of income or employment. Peru is underrated as a citizenship destination — the passport provides decent global access, and the country's cost of living is very manageable, particularly outside Lima.
EU Citizenship: The Premium Tier
Portugal — 5 Years
The fastest naturalisation in the EU for most applicants. Five years of legal residence, a basic A2 Portuguese language test, and a clean record. Portuguese citizenship gives you the right to live and work in any of 27 EU countries plus free movement across the Schengen Area. The Portuguese passport ranks among the world's most powerful. Multiple visa pathways make Portugal accessible to a wide range of profiles.
Poland — 3 Years (with Polish spouse)
If married to a Polish citizen, you can naturalise after 3 years of residence. Without a spouse, the standard route requires 10 years. Poland also offers citizenship confirmation for those with Polish ancestry — a process that can take 1–3 years but doesn't require living in Poland.
Ireland — 5 Years (4 for spouses)
Ireland's naturalisation requires 5 years of reckonable residence in the previous 9 years, including 1 year of continuous residence immediately before application. No language test, which is unusual in Europe. If you have an Irish grandparent, you can register as an Irish citizen without any residence requirement — one of the most generous ancestry provisions in the world.
Several countries offer citizenship to descendants of their nationals: Italy has no generational limit for paternal-line descent (some restrictions on maternal line before 1948). Ireland extends to grandchildren. Poland, Hungary, Lithuania offer descent-based claims. Israel grants citizenship to Jewish people under the Law of Return. Ghana, Sierra Leone and several other African nations offer citizenship to people of African descent. These routes bypass residency requirements entirely — often costing under €500 in documents and processing.
Citizenship by Investment
Several Caribbean nations offer citizenship in exchange for investment: St Kitts and Nevis (USD 250,000 donation or USD 400,000 real estate), Dominica (USD 200,000 donation), Antigua and Barbuda (USD 230,000 donation), and Grenada (USD 235,000 donation). Processing takes 3–6 months with no residence requirement.
Turkey offers citizenship for USD 400,000 in real estate, processed in 3–6 months. Vanuatu offers it for USD 130,000, making it the cheapest option globally.
These programmes are legitimate but expensive, and the resulting passports have more limited global access than EU or Anglophone passports. They're primarily useful for business mobility, tax planning, or as a backup option — not for most people planning a genuine relocation.
What Doesn't Work
Some countries are essentially closed to naturalisation. UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia almost never grant citizenship to foreign residents regardless of how long you live there. Switzerland requires 10 years of residence plus cantonal requirements. Austria requires 10 years, renunciation of all other citizenships, and actively discourages applications. Japan requires 5 years but generally expects renunciation of other citizenships and deep cultural integration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country gives citizenship the fastest?
Argentina and Peru offer citizenship after just 2 years of residency. El Salvador and Paraguay allow citizenship after 3 years. In Europe, Portugal is the fastest at 5 years. Caribbean citizenship-by-investment programmes (St Kitts, Dominica, Antigua) grant immediate citizenship for $100,000–200,000+ in donations.
Can you buy citizenship?
Several countries offer citizenship through investment: St Kitts & Nevis (from $250,000 donation), Dominica (from $200,000), Antigua & Barbuda (from $230,000), Turkey (from $400,000 property), and others. These are legal programmes but come with increasing international scrutiny and reporting requirements.
Which countries allow dual citizenship?
Most countries now allow dual citizenship, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Ireland, France, and Italy. Notable exceptions include the Netherlands (with some exceptions), Austria, Japan, China, India, and Singapore, which generally require you to renounce other citizenships.
Which citizenship paths match your profile?
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