There’s a new country that has introduced a Citizenship by Investment option.
So now, in total, there are 10 countries that are running a Citizenship by Investment program.
What is Citizenship by Investment?
It means that when you invest in a country, they give you citizenship directly through a fast-track process, usually within three to six months.
Among these, the Caribbean countries are the most famous and oldest ones — like Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts, etc.
Then there’s Turkey, which offers citizenship based on real estate investment.
Other countries include Malta, Egypt, Jordan, and even Cambodia.
So, there are quite a few countries offering this program.
The most popular option, however, is the donation-based one, where you directly pay money to the government as a donation, and in return, they give you a passport.
It’s a quick option, since you just have to pay directly and get the passport.
Your family can also be included — your spouse and children can all be part of the same application.
So, in total, there are now 10 countries offering such programs.
Some of them are real estate–based, while most are donation-based.
Now, a new country has joined this list — its name is Nauru.
Nauru is basically a tiny country located in the Pacific Ocean, far from Australia.
It’s close to Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
It’s also an island nation, but smaller.
For example, Vanuatu has a population of over 100,000, but Nauru is one of the most remote countries in the world.
“Most remote” means it’s very far away — right in the middle of the ocean — and veryfew people have ever been able to visit it, even travelers and tourists.
It’s an extremely tiny country, both in land area and population — the third smallest country in the world.
Now, talking about the citizenship program — it’s a good opportunity for this country because it has been heavily affected by climate change and might sink into the ocean in the coming years.
It’s financially beneficial for the government, but not very beneficial for investors compared to other programs like Vanuatu or Dominica.
Here’s why:
For a single applicant, the donation option costs $5,000, which sounds reasonable.
But recently, the Caribbean programs like Dominica and Saint Kitts have increased their prices to $200,000, due to heavy international pressure.
Still, for Nauru, even though $5,000 sounds attractive, the actual total cost reaches around $40,000 for a single applicant — because they charge an extra $25,000 as processing fees, and additional due diligence fees (which means a background check).
So, for one person, it ends up being about $40,000.
If you apply as a family (for example, husband, wife, and two kids), the total can reach around $160,000, including all processing and due diligence fees.
The good thing is, you can also add siblings, parents, andgrandparents to the application — which is a plus point.
However, the price keeps increasing depending on the number of people you include.
On average, you’ll have to add $15,000–20,000 per additional person.
Now, what are the benefits?
Simply, you’ll get a passport that allows visa-free travel to around 80–90 countries.
However, this passport does not provide access to the Schengen area (Europe).
So, you’ll still need a visa to visit European countries.
You can travel visa-free to the UK, Ireland, Singapore, and a few other countries.
But you cannot travel visa-free to Europe or the USA.
Therefore, compared to other programs like Dominica, this passport is much weaker — because Dominica’s passport allows Schengen access, the UK, and many more destinations.
Another important point — you don’t get physical access to Nauru itself.
It’s such a remote country that you’ll only get the passport; you can’t easily visit or settle there.
On the other hand, countries like Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Vanuatu are larger, have solid land, and are not at risk of disappearing underwater soon.
You can actually live there if you want to.
So, overall, the Nauru citizenship program is newly introduced, officially released, and designed by Nolly & Partners, a well-known firm in the citizenship-by-investment industry.
They are running the program on behalf of the Nauru government.
You don’t need to travel there — the entire process can be done remotely, and even the passport will be delivered to you.
The return on investment isn’t good, and the travel freedom is quite limited.
Also, considering its location and risk factors, the price is too high.
If someone is paying $40,000 for a single applicant, it makes more sense to go for Vanuatu, which costs around $65,000 for a family, and you can even get back $70,000–75,000 after 5 years.
Plus, Vanuatu gives visa-free access to nearly 100 countries, and it’s a more stable nation.
So, Nauru’s citizenship would have been a good option if its price for a single applicant was around $50,000–60,000.
At that price point,It could have been recommended it.
But right now, it’s not a very viable or beneficial option.
However, if anyone is still interested, they can go for it — the program is active.
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