this map exposes the juiciest

Not all passports are the same. We are not referring to the color, but to the quantity of doors that one passport can open and another cannot. Depending on geopolitics and other factors, each year a list is drawn up in which they order The best and worst passports. The vast majority are achieved by being born in a specific country or passing a citizenship exam. But there are other passports that are obtained in a much more direct way.

Yes we have -a lot- of money.

The passport purchase map. Visual Capitalist has prepared the map that we have on these lines thanks to the data from Henley & Partners (those who make the lists of best and worst passports) and we can see which are the 13 countries that offer something as curious as that “citizenship by investment.” Passport prices are not cheap, but among them we have some like the Malta one, which allows access to 184 countries, making it one of the most “powerful in the world.”

In European territory there is also Montenegro -127 countries- and North Macedonia -128 countries-, with Montenegro being very expensive for the “few” countries to which it opens doors. The prices of these passports, in order, would be as follows:

Money for… what? Something that is obvious is the number of Caribbean countries that have these “citizenship by investment” programs, with extremely similar prices. The big question now is who do you have to pay to have a passport (legal, of course) and where does that money go? The answer is… it is paid to the Government. Or the country, however we want to see it.

In the case of Caribbean countries, you do not have to pass a language exam or reside on the island. We simply pay the amount and, within a period of just a few months, the passport is delivered to us. And more than a payment, it is a donation or investment, depending on the country. For example, we can get a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport if we contribute to the Sustainable Growth Fund for the Islands or if we make a considerable real estate investment.

It is one of the strongest passports in the Caribbean (with visa for 154 countries) and one of the most coveted “golden passports” because it is not the most expensive. Other countries in the area operate in a similar way and the attractions depend. For example, Granada has a visa treaty E-2 that allows citizens to apply for different procedures in the United States. In fact, there are websites that detail not only what you have to pay, but also the period for obtaining the passport and the “countries that being a citizen opens up to you.”

What was given is over. Surely there is something on your mind: to what extent this is an irregularity. It is also something that the European Union itself asked itself not so long ago. Malta appears on the map, but although it was the most expensive and somewhat stricter (because you had to reside for a certain time, buy property and donate to charities), taking into account that it is one of the most powerful in the world, it could be worth putting that amount on the table and getting citizenship.

However, in April of this same 2025, the European Court of Justice ruled that these passport-for-money programs violate Union law. Specifically, they consider that granting European Union citizenship in exchange for investment without having any other requirements or connection with the country violates the principle of cooperation between Member States. Because, basically, getting a Maltese passport is have the doors of European countries open wide open, plus those of almost everyone.

Cyprus and Bulgaria also had these programs, but after the European ruling, they stopped them. North Macedonia, however, is one of the most relaxed… but there is no indication that applications have been processed. And be careful, regardless of the “ease” of obtaining them, an investigation is usually carried out to verify the origin of the funds, the background of the people, proof of identity, financial history and medical history. What there is not are language exams or the obligation to reside in the country.

For the low. Now, there are countries that have this “golden passport”, but not a table with the fees and requirements. For example, Austria, which has another of the most powerful passports, offers citizenship to foreigners who make “extraordinary and significant merits for the country.” It is a highly selective process.

Canada has the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program which requires an investment of one million Canadian dollars over five years, a non-refundable contribution of $200,000, an asset of two million Canadian dollars and passing a B2 French exam. And the United States has the EB-5which requires investments of almost two million dollars and grants the green card of permanent residencealthough you do not become a US citizen.

In the end, although residual in areas such as the European Union, the Golden Passport is something that continues to exist in several countries as a way to improve global mobility or, directly, to obtain certain benefits that come with being a citizen of a specific country.

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