Best Citizenship by Investment Rankings For 2021 - Best Citizenships

Best Citizenship By Investment Rankings for 2021 - Best Citizenships 07/04/21, 2:45 PM
Best Citizenship By Investment

Rankings for 2021
HOME > ALL POSTS > CITIZENSHIP >
BEST CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT RANKINGS FOR 2021
DECEMBER 14, 2020
https://best-citizenships.com/2020/12/14/best-citizenship-by-investment-rankings-for-2021/ Page 1 of 29
Today we are publishing our rankings on citizenship by investment programs for a second year in a row.
Our PBS (points based scoring) model, which we designed last year, is one of a kind in the industry, ranks
Best CBI program taking into account 37 important factors looking upon clients before deciding on their
favorite investment citizenship program. This year we have integrated important indicators such as
consulate assistance, covid discount, post citizenship additions and being family friendly etc
Covid had made a great impact causing a great shift in CBI rankings for this year, since our rankings last
year. Interest has soared for passport programs that exempt personal visits, due to Covid lockdowns and
worldwide travel shutdowns.
St Lucia has taken No.1 spot in Best CBI rankings for 2021. Dominica in second place, followed by
Grenada in third spot. All in all caribbean countries dominate the top spots.
Caribbean countries have captured top spots due to the significant changes they made to their programs .
For example switching to digital processing of applications, covid discounts and becoming family friendly
to overcome Covid.
It comes as no surprise considering Caribbean is the birthplace of citizenship by investment. All these
countries have made significant legislative changes to CIP during the aftermath of Covid it simple, easy,
affordable and attractive for passport investors while strengthening vetting standards.
CBI Programs that require personal visit or trips have fallen in rankings this year as Covid has made it
impossible to travel for investors..
In recent years St Lucia has emerged as globally respected CIP in the world. From the bottom of table last
year, St Lucia has made a huge leap capturing first place this year. This is due to the fact the government
has made huge improvements to CIP making it one of the best flagship CIP products in the world. The
Government made great strides in improving governance, due diligence, transparency, cutting costs,
introducing Covid bonds, digital processing of application and first to introduce e-payment option
spearheading innovations towards a digital future in the form of virtual citizenship.
Vanuatu has improved its position from bottom to fourth place tied with St Kitts. In 2020, Vanuatu has
made great improvements to the DSP and VCP schemes by processing applications faster than any
country in the world and increasing passport validity to ten years.
St Kitts, Dominica and Vanuatu have made great strides becoming a hugely popular programs for speed
and processing times. Vanuatu still remains the fastest CIP in the world. Cyprus and Moldova have been
removed from the rankings as these programs remain suspended as of today.
Results
Rank CBI PBS score
1 Saint Lucia 252
2 Dominica 250
3 Grenada 248
4 St Kitts and Nevis 235
4 Vanuatu 235
5 Antigua and Barbuda 234
6 Bulgaria 208
7 Malta 202
8 Turkey 196
9 Montenegro 193
10 Samoa 164
10 Egypt 164
11 Jordan 156
Ranking factors
We have considered these 37 important factors into our PBS scoring model. Each ranking factor is
assigned 10 points making it a total of 370 points.
Pricing
Popularity
Easy Application process
Govt bonds
Safety score (low crime)
Visa free to Big 6 – EU schengen, UK, USA, Canada, Russia, China (70 points)
Wealth (GDP per capita)
Passport time (months)
Processing speed (days)
Residence requirement
Voting rights
EU citizenship
E-2 treaty with US
Education Rank
Healthcare Rank
HDI Rank (Human development)
Privacy – Publish CBI names
Tax free advantages
Due Diligence and Vetting
CBI Transparency
Passport Validity
Personal visit exemption
Lifetime Citizenship
Covid discount
Post citizenship additions
Family friendly (siblings, grandparents etc)
Real estate prices
CBI e-platform
Stateless people
Consulates abroad
Limited Quotas
Download
CBI Rankings Brochure – Download pdf
Calculations sheet – Download pdf
Ranking factors
We explain our ranking criteria in great detail
1. Pricing
The pricing is the most important criteria for many clients. The cheaper the program more points are
assigned by our model. St Lucia, Dominica still remain the cheapest CBI programs for one person starting
at $100,000.
Antigua remains cheapest for families with 4 dependants or more.. Malta’s direct investment program
remains the most expensive EU citizenship by investment program in the world after Cypriot scheme has
been suspended in Nov.
CBI Pricing
350,000 € (real estate +

Montenegro
donation)
Malta 750,000 € (donation)
150,000 $ (donation)
St Kitts and Nevis
200,000 $ (real estate)
Antigua and Barbuda
Grenada
Dominica
Saint Lucia
$250,000 (covid bonds)
$500,000 (Govt bonds)
Vanuatu 130,000 $ (donation)

Turkey 500,000 $ (bonds /
investment/ cash deposit)
Bulgaria 1,000,000 € (bonds)
Samoa 1,200,000 $ (business)
Jordan 1,000,000 $ (bonds)
Egypt 250,000 $ (donation)
2. Popularity
The popularity of the programs are based on inquiries received from clients, applications received,
revenues collected and passports issued. St Kitts and Dominica have been around for more than 25 years
gaining massive publicity, still remains all time favorites. Vanuatu in recent years have emerged as the
most popular program in 2020 for its speed and simple application process.
St Kitts
Dominica
Vanuatu
3. Government Bonds
Govt bonds offer an exciting investment option to fully recover the investment. These are risk free
investments (basically buying govt debt) guaranteed by governments. The interest from buying zero
coupon bonds goes to government towards
These are the only countries that offer bonds for citizenship by investment
Saint Lucia – Covid relief bonds (USD 250,000) and USD 500,000
Bulgaria – 1m euro (Bulgarian govt bonds)
Turkey – USD 500,000 (treasury securities and bonds)
Jordan – USD 1 million (treasury securities)
We see this as an important investment option, especially during covid times and clients dont want to risk
lose their investment when travel, tourism and real estate sectories are facing a decline due to pandemic.
4. Safety / Low crime

The safety is based on low crime rate. St Kitts has made significant progress with crime rate from what has
been couple of years ago. The less the crime rate, makes the country more safe and thus more points.
Considering many CBI citizens do not move or live in the country, this factor may seem impractical. What
if a your situation changes? Nonetheless we felt this is important and safety is priceless and cannot be
ignored at all.
5. Visa free countries

The passport power based on visa free travel is also a very important decision factor for many clients. It is
also important selling factor for many agents. A number of CBI countries have been expanding visa waiver
agreements with new countries.
CBI Visa free
Malta 184
Bulgaria 171
St Kitts and
156
Nevis
Antigua and
151
Barbuda
Saint Lucia 146
Grenada 144
Dominica 141
Vanuatu 130
Samoa 130
Montenegro 124
Turkey 111
Jordan 51
Egypt 49
Source: Wiki / Henley
We receive a number of inquiries asking about visa free access to US, Canada and other countries. We see
that visa free travel to BIG-6 countries (eVisa, Visa on arrival, eTA etc) is equally important for passport
investors. Imagine with one powerful second passport, you could visit all the 196 countries in the world.
Here are some of the tips we give you
Only Malta, Bulgaria has visa waiver ETA with Canada. No Caribbean country has visa free access to Canada
and United States
Only Malta has visa waiver program with the United States.
Montenegro has no visa waiver program with United Kingdom.
Turkey is a candidate country but citizens does not have schengen access.
Only Grenada has visa waiver signed with China.
The strength of a passport to visit many countries without visas, especially to most important six BIG
countries in the world is equally important. We have assigned 10 points for each country giving this perk.
Visa Free United States United Kingdom Russia China Schengen Canada
Malta √ √ ˣ ˣ √ √
Bulgaria ˣ √ ˣ ˣ √ √
Grenada ˣ √ √ √ √ ˣ
Antigua ˣ √ √ ˣ √ ˣ
Saint Kitts ˣ √ √ ˣ √ ˣ
Saint Lucia ˣ √ ˣ ˣ √ ˣ
Dominica ˣ √ √ ˣ √ ˣ
Vanuatu ˣ √ √ ˣ √ ˣ
Montenegro ˣ ˣ √ ˣ √ ˣ
Turkey ˣ ˣ ˣ ˣ ˣ ˣ
Samoa ˣ √ √ ˣ √ √
6. Wealth (GDP per capita)

Wealth of a country in terms of per capita income is also important to attract more investments. We
assigned scores to wealth of a country. From the CBI perspective, St Kitts is the richest country in the
Caribbean, similarly Malta in Europe.
7. CBI Passport time

The amount of time take from filing application to receiving passport in hand. This is also the frequent
question asked by clients. Vanuatu is well known for speed and processing times. It is also the fastest
citizenship by investment program in the world.
Take a look at the passport times
Vanuatu – 30 days
Caribbean – 90 to 120 days
Montenegro – 90 days
Turkey – 100 days
Malta – 12 months
Bulgaria – 24 months
Samoa – 12 months
8. Processing speed (days)

This represents the average processing time by CIU units, from the time of launching an application to
issuing of citizenship certificate. St Lucia has greatly reduced its average processing times from 80 days
to 56 days for no additional fee. St Kitts also has accelerated application process and decisions are taken
within 60 days (for an additional fee).
Vanuatu still remains unbeatable when it costs to processing of applications.
Vanuatu – 20 days
St Lucia – 56 days
Grenada – 90 days
Dominica – 90 days
Antigua – 90 days
Montenegro – 90 days
Jordan – 10 to 20 days
Samoa – 30 days
9. Residence conditions
The physical residence conditions sets tone for popularity of CBI programs. Many clients who apply for
passports dont want to visit or live in the country away from home and business. Especially do not want to
travel far away during covid time wanting to remain safe.
As a result, we imposed reduced points on CBI programs that require residence conditions. Those CIPs
that have zero residence condition remain the most attractive for citizenship investors.
CBI Residence conditions
Montenegro ˣ
Malta 12 months
St Kitts and
ˣ
Nevis
Antigua and
ˣ
Barbuda
Grenada ˣ
Dominica ˣ
Saint Lucia ˣ
Vanuatu ˣ
Turkey ˣ
Bulgaria 12 months
Samoa 15 days
Jordan ˣ
Egypt ˣ
10. Right to Vote

The Right to vote is an important democratic right of a citizen. Full citizenship rights come with entering
politics and working for the government.
In ancient rome, citizenship was the path to power engage in politics. Some schemes are not complete
CBI programs, denying these rights. We have assigned reduced scores to countries with CBI legislation
that simply deny these rights
CBI Voting
Montenegro √
Malta √
St Kitts and
ˣ
Nevis
Antigua and
ˣ
Barbuda
Grenada √
HOME ABOUT CITIZENSHIP RESIDENCE BLOG FAQS
Dominica ˣ
CONTACT
Saint Lucia √
Vanuatu ˣ
Turkey √
Bulgaria √
Samoa √
Jordan √
Egypt √
11. EU citizenship
Becoming an EU citizen is everybody’s dream. It does not come easy and takes a lot of hard work. Only
Malta, Bulgaria confer full EU citizenship rights for investment. These are the only two active citizenship
by investment schemes in European Union.
EU citizenship is in great demand due to Brexit and decline in US passport power driving many high
profile persons to invest in a second passport for Plan B. Pandemic passports have become new safe haven
investments offering a safety for families.
Montenegro is not EU member state (remains in Europe) and a strong candidate country to EU by 2025
12. E-2 treaty with US

The E-2 visa benefit should not be ignored by prospective investors who have business interests in the US.
E-2 visas are cheaper, faster and best alternative to EB-5 green card program. The basic difference is E-2
visas are issued for 2 years for business investment in the US (about $100K), costs about $250 visa fee and
processing time is just 3 weeks.
The problem is E-2 visas are available only for treaty countries. If you dont come from a country that dont
have E-2 treaty with US then your only option is seek citizenship in treaty country that has active CBI (eg.
Grenada, Turkey)
These are the only 5 CBI countries that have E-2 treaty with United States
Grenada
Turkey
Montenegro
Jordan
Egypt
13. Education Rank

The scores were assigned based on education system and learning.
UK, Europe, Canada, US and Australia have the most famous universities in the world. The Caribbean has
also very good universities and have produce great leaders and Nobel winners.
Grenada has world famous St George medical university while Antigua has a new University of West
Indies campus. The Government has launched UWI fund as CIP option to raise revenues for the benefit of
education.
14. Healthcare Rank
Healthcare systems cannot be ignored in citizenship rankings during this desperate times of worldwide
pandemic. We have assigned scores based on WHO health care rankings
15. HDI Rank

The High Human development is essential for happy and stress free living. In this chaotic modern world,
it is a must to live and work along side of nature. New technologies also have side effects no one talks
about. Relentless smartphones and social media only develop anxiety, stress and sleep deprivation. Only
spending relaxing time with nature is the cure for these ailments.
Vanuatu is famous for being fourth happiest country in the world.
The higher the HDI rank increased points were assigned to our PBS scoring model.
16. Privacy – Publish CBI names

Few countries publish names of CBI citizens who have made investments. Wealthy citizenship investors
fear for their privacy and dont want their names to be available public.
Malta and Dominica publish names of CBI citizens to public in Government gazette. We value privacy as a
result these countries get zero scores, while all other countries get maximum 10 points.
17. Tax free

The tax free benefits available to citizenship investors are taken into consideration. Taxes are based on
residency not on citizenship. The more the tax free benefits, more the points
St Kitts and Antigua do not have personal income income taxes on local and foreign income. Vanuatu has
zero corporate taxes. Many caribbean countries do not have wealth taxes. Also no capital gain or
inheritance taxes.
18. Due Diligence

Due diligence is at the heart of citizenship by investment . It is these strict vetting checks that keeps the
CBI industry intact from disintegrating. It is an important indicator for the reputation of the CBI schemes.
Governments employ third party due diligence firms as an additional layer of security checks.
It boils down to the process of vetting and background checks on applicants and their family members.
Applicants who can be denied of passport for a number of reasons
19. CBI Transparency

Transparency and full disclosure by governments increases trust among clients and investors thus
increasing the reputation of CBI programs along with increased marketability. Many governments publish
annual reports reports showing cbi revenues, availability of application forms online, appointing agents
etc. vetting process applied, applications received, refused etc.
The most transparent CBI schemes are Malta, Antigua, Grenada and St Lucia etc. These programs received
maximum points for their transparency
St Lucia scored top marks along with Malta as the country greatly improved the transparency of CIP. For
example revamped new website, publishing statistics, free application forms available online for
investors to familiarize with the documentation process.
From what we have seen only St Lucia and Vanuatu have published application forms for free download in
CIU websites, giving CBI investors a great deal of transparency. All the other countries application forms
can only be obtained from authorized agents and law firms (not available online).
20. Passport Validity

The validity of passport greatly influences the decision taken by prospective investors. It is one of the
most important selection criteria. A long validity often 10 years is often desirable than 5 years, for less
hassles. Some countries have lowered the validity to 5 years for vetting purposes to periodically check
investors.
It is worth mentioning that Vanuatu has increased the validity from 5 years to 10 years in 2020 making the
CIP all the more attractive for investors.
CBI Passport Expiry
Montenegro 10 year
Malta 10 years
St Kitts and
10 years
Nevis
Antigua and
5 years
Barbuda
Grenada 5 years
Dominica 10 years
Saint Lucia 5 years
Vanuatu 10 years
Turkey 10 years
Bulgaria 10 years
Samoa 10 years
Jordan 10 years
Egypt 10 years
21. Personal visit exemption

Covid has made trips or visits impossible for the purpose of acquiring citizenship. From what we have
seen, investors hate taking trips to a far away country spending thousands of dollars in travel fares and
dont want to risk contracting covid. Safety and family is more important than investing or anything else.
For many CBI programs, without taking a personal trip it is impossible to fulfill the formalities with real
estate and applying for citizenship is still required. Real estate sales have been stalled as investors dont
want to spend huge sum of money without seeing the property in person and careful avoid any sort of
scams.
The Visit requirement has been waived off by Vanuatu and all caribbean countries to make the process
simple and easy. As a result this one factor created a huge surge in interest for CBI programs that require
no personal visit
22. Lifetime Citizenship

Not all countries that run CBI schemes provide citizenship for life. Some countries offer citizenship upto
third generations only. Only Grenada, Turkey, Malta, Bulgaria, Montenegro, allow citizenship to passed on
to future generations unrestricted. These countries score big scores in the rankings
23. Covid discount

Caribbean countries have cut prices and offered government discount to investors. Those countries that
provided covid discount have scored additional points in our PBS scoring model
St Kitts and Nevis – USD 45,000 savings until Jan 15
Dominica – Prices cut for family of 4 (contribution reduced to $175,000)
St Lucia – Prices cut for family of 4 (contribution cut to $150,000) and 50% discount Covid bond offer until
Dec 31.
Antigua – Prices cuts family prices for family and children
24. Family friendly

All caribbean countries have amended CIP legislation to family friendly, allowing siblings and children to
be added as post citizenship addition. This only brings more convenience to investors giving them a more
relaxed approach to add family members at later stages
Caribbean countries scored additional points for implementing this perk.
25. Real estate prices

Cheaper Real estate prices is also adds interest to clients to pick a country for citizenship. Malta has the
most expensive real estate prices, while Montenegro has the lowest in Europe.
Caribbean countries have slightly higher prices. Vanuatu has the cheapest real estate prices among all CBI
programs but Vanuatu does not have a real estate option for citizenship at the moment.
The cheaper the real estate prices more points are assigned.
26. CBI Platforms

Covid has driven almost all government services towards toward online services. Digital filing and
processing of applications is absolutely essential during pandemic times, eliminating all paperwork.
Caribbean countries (also Vanuatu) were quick to implement CBI online platforms working spearheading
digital innovations towards virtual citizenship for the future.
St Lucia is the first country to implement e-platform for payment processing
As a result these countries were given a boost in our scoring model.
27. Stateless people

This year we assigned more points for CBI programs that accept stateless people, giving them investment
opportunity. As of today, only these countries accept stateless people
Vanuatu
Dominica
Antigua
Turkey
28. Consulate Assistance Abroad

Consulate assistance is very important for CBI citizens. For example to renew their passport,
authentication of documents, and any emergency support, when stranded abroad.
Malta, Turkey, Bulgaria, Montenegro have diplomatic representations around the world. Many Caribbean
countries have diplomatic footprints established in UAE, UK, USA and in many parts Europe.
The more consulates abroad to help citizens, higher the points assigned.
29. Quotas
Few CBI programs have limited quotas to curtail the number of investors.
Malta – 1500 investors (capped 400 per year)
Montenegro – 2000 investors
Jordan – 500 investors
All other CIPs do not impose quota limits.
Our model assigns higher scores for programs that have no limits encouraging more investment.
Q&A
Here are some of the commonly asked questions
What are the Best Citizenship by investment programs for 2021?
St Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts / Vanuatu are the best and most popular CBI programs for 2021,
according to our study which looked at 37 important indicators from a client’s perspective of investing in
second citizenships abroad.
Which programs do not require travel to apply?
Due to Covid, these 6 countries do not require you to take trips abroad – Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St
Kitts, St Lucia, Vanuatu. Applications can be filed electronically and passports can be collected at nearby
consulates where you live.
What is the easiest citizenship by investment program?
Vanuatu is the easiest due to simple and efficient online application process. Oath process can be
completed through video link, instead of visiting consulates. The processing times are very fast and
efficient within 4-6 weeks.
How much time it takes for passport to be issued?
Please allow 3-4 months of time in total. First citizenship is approved then passport is issued. Keep in
mind some passport offices will ask you for original birth certificate to issue your passport.
How do i prepare necessary documents?
You have to have the following documents with certification ready to speed up the application process:
Police certificate, passport copies, birth certificate, marriage certificate, medical certificate. In addition
you will need to provide the credentials of the person who certified and translated documents. Also this is
needed for the medical examiner.
C AT E G O R I E S : Citizenship
" # $ %
You May Also Like
O C TO B E R 3 1 , 2 0 2 0 NOVEMBER 13, 2020
HOW DOMINICA CBI APPLICATION MONTENEGRO EU ACCESSION LIKELY BY

SCREENING WORKS? 2025
CBI Price Latest Popular CBI

Calculator Updates Schemes
Nigeria Police ! Vanuatu ($130K)
Clearance
Certificate
Q&A – Malta
Permanent
Residency ! St Lucia ($100K)
Program (MPRP)
Portugal Golden
Visa Fees
Don’t confuse ! Dominica ($100K)

Golden visas with
Citizenship by
investment
Quebec
Immigrant
Investor program ! St Kitts Nevis (150K)
suspended until
Apr 2023
! Grenada ($150K)
Popular
Golden Visas
! Portugal (€280K)
! Greece (€250K)
! Ireland (€400K)
Latest News About

Nigeria Police Clearance Home
Certificate About us
Best Citizenships (BC) is a global April 7, 2021 Testimonials
brand for citizenship and
Citizenship
residence planning for wealthy Q&A – Malta Permanent
Residence
Residency Program (MPRP)
HNW clients. Our online Quick comparison
April 4, 2021
platform makes it cheaper and Free CBI Guide
faster for clients as we directly CBI Price Calculator
Portugal Golden Visa Fees
with Govt authorized agents, law Best CBI Rankings
April 4, 2021
firms and property developers Best Passport Rankings
approved by Governments Don’t confuse Golden visas with Visa Waiver Tool
Citizenship by investment Legislation & Acts
without any brokers or
April 3, 2021 Family Member Rules
middlemen.
Application Forms
Quebec Immigrant Investor Citizenship Investment Units
Our platform is free to use and
program suspended until Apr (CIU)
we do not charge any fee to 2023
Embassies and Consulates
clients. Serving HNW clients March 31, 2021
Visa Free Countries
since 2011. European Commission Reports
Golden Visa Authorities
Best Citizenships is now a part of Approved Real Estate
Yellow network Glossary
Visas
Abbreviations
" # $ % & Downloads
FAQs
Contact
Search … "
Best Citizenships © 2021. All rights reserved. Terms of use and Privacy Policy

Best Citizenship by Investment Rankings For 2021 - Best Citizenships

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Best Citizenship by Investment Rankings For 2021 - Best Citizenships

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Best Citizenship By Investment Rankings for 2021 - Best Citizenships 07/04/21, 2:45 PM

Best Citizenship By Investment

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Rank CBI PBS score

1 Saint Lucia 252

4 St Kitts and Nevis 235

5 Antigua and Barbuda 234

Easy Application process

Safety score (low crime)

Wealth (GDP per capita)

Passport time (months)

Processing speed (days)

E-2 treaty with US

HDI Rank (Human development)

Privacy – Publish CBI names

Tax free advantages

Due Diligence and Vetting

Personal visit exemption

Post citizenship additions

Family friendly (siblings, grandparents etc)

Real estate prices

Calculations sheet – Download pdf

350,000 € (real estate +

Malta 750,000 € (donation)

Vanuatu 130,000 $ (donation)

250,000 $ (real estate)

Bulgaria 1,000,000 € (bonds)

Samoa 1,200,000 $ (business)

Jordan 1,000,000 $ (bonds)

Egypt 250,000 $ (donation)

Bulgaria – 1m euro (Bulgarian govt bonds)

Turkey – USD 500,000 (treasury securities and bonds)

Jordan – USD 1 million (treasury securities)

4. Safety / Low crime

5. Visa free countries

CBI Visa free

Saint Lucia 146

Source: Wiki / Henley

Here are some of the tips we give you

Montenegro has no visa waiver program with United Kingdom.

Only Grenada has visa waiver signed with China.

6. Wealth (GDP per capita)

7. CBI Passport time

Take a look at the passport times

Caribbean – 90 to 120 days

Turkey – 100 days

8. Processing speed (days)

Vanuatu still remains unbeatable when it costs to processing of applications.

CBI Residence conditions

10. Right to Vote

12. E-2 treaty with US

13. Education Rank

14. Healthcare Rank

15. HDI Rank

Vanuatu is famous for being fourth happiest country in the world.

16. Privacy – Publish CBI names

17. Tax free

18. Due Diligence

19. CBI Transparency

20. Passport Validity

CBI Passport Expiry

Saint Lucia 5 years

21. Personal visit exemption