Residency
Residency by investment
Residency by investment gives the right to live in a country — and, after years of real presence, sometimes a path to its passport. These are the active programmes. Filter them by what you invest in, what it costs, and how much of your life the country expects on its soil.
The active residency-by-investment programmes
Invest in
22 of 22 programmes
Asia
Malaysia
Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H)
From $32 000
Real total ≈ $42 720 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 3–6 months
- Presence
- Applicants must be at least 25.
- Bank deposit
- Real estate
Latin America
Colombia
Colombia Migrant (M) Investor Visa
From $45 500
Real total ≈ $60 743 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–3 months
- Presence
- This is a live-here visa.
- To citizenship
- 5 years
- Real estate
- Business
Latin America
Paraguay
Paraguay Investor Pass
From $70 000
Real total ≈ $93 450 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 3–6 months
- Presence
- You must enter Paraguay to complete the process.
- To citizenship
- 3 years
- Business
- Real estate
- Investment fund
Latin America
Mexico
Mexico Residency (investment or economic solvency)
From $78 000
Real total ≈ $104 130 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 2–6 months
- Presence
- Temporary residents should not be absent from Mexico for more than two consecutive years to keep the status; permanent residence is more flexible.
- To citizenship
- 5 years
- Capital transfer
- Business
- Bank deposit
Europe
Malta
Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP)
From env. $80 800
Real total ≈ $107 860 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 12–18 months
- Presence
- None.
- Real estate
Latin America
Uruguay
Uruguay Investment Residency (with the foreign-income tax holiday)
From $100 000
Real total ≈ $133 500 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 6–12 months
- Presence
- Uruguay expects genuine presence.
- To citizenship
- 3 years
- Real estate
- Investment fund
Latin America
Costa Rica
Costa Rica Investor Residency (Inversionista)
From $100 000
Real total ≈ $133 500 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 3–6 months
- Presence
- Temporary residence is granted for two years and renewed as long as the investment is kept.
- To citizenship
- 7 years
- Real estate
- Business
Asia
Indonesia
Indonesia Golden Visa and Second Home Visa
From $130 000
Real total ≈ $173 550 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–3 months
- Presence
- There is no minimum-stay requirement to keep the visa, but the qualifying investment or deposit must be maintained for its whole term.
- Bank deposit
- Real estate
- Government bonds
- Business
Middle East
United Arab Emirates
UAE Golden Visa (Long-Term Residence)
From env. $136 000
Real total ≈ $181 734 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–3 months
- Presence
- No minimum stay.
- Real estate
- Bank deposit
- Business
Europe
Portugal
Portugal Golden Visa (Residence Permit for Investment, ARI)
From env. $289 000
Real total ≈ $385 214 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 12–24 months
- Presence
- Seven days in the first year, then fourteen days in each subsequent two-year period.
- To citizenship
- 10 years
- Investment fund
- Business
- Donation
Europe
Greece
Greece Golden Visa (Permanent Residence Permit for Investors)
From env. $289 000
Real total ≈ $385 214 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 4–6 months
- Presence
- None.
- To citizenship
- 7 years
- Real estate
Europe
Italy
Italy Investor Visa
From env. $289 000
Real total ≈ $385 214 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 2–5 months
- Presence
- There is no minimum-stay rule to keep the permit, but the investment must be made within three months of entry and held throughout.
- Business
- Government bonds
- Donation
Europe
Hungary
Hungary Guest Investor Programme
From env. $289 000
Real total ≈ $385 214 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–3 months
- Presence
- The ten-year guest-investor residence permit carries no minimum-stay rule.
- Investment fund
- Donation
Latin America
Panama
Panama Qualified Investor Visa
From $300 000
Real total ≈ $400 500 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–2 months
- Presence
- Applicants must enter Panama to file and collect the residence card.
- To citizenship
- 5 years
- Real estate
- Investment fund
- Bank deposit
Europe
Cyprus
Cyprus Permanent Residence by Investment
From env. $346 000
Real total ≈ $462 257 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 2–4 months
- Presence
- The holder must visit Cyprus at least once every two years to keep the permit — a very light presence rule.
- Real estate
- Business
- Investment fund
Asia
Thailand
Thailand Long-Term Resident (LTR) Visa — Wealthy Global Citizen
From $500 000
Real total ≈ $667 500 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–2 months
- Presence
- No minimum stay is required to keep the visa, and the usual 90-day reporting is relaxed to once a year — well suited to a part-time base rather than full relocation.
- Government bonds
- Business
- Real estate
North America
United States
United States EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
From $800 000
Real total ≈ $1 068 000 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 24–48 months
- Presence
- A green card is a residence you must actually keep: extended absences can be treated as abandonment.
- Business
Europe
Andorra
Andorra Passive Residency (Residency without Gainful Activity)
From env. $1 154 000
Real total ≈ $1 540 857 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 2–4 months
- Presence
- At least 90 days per year of physical presence in Andorra.
- Capital transfer
- Real estate
- Business
- Government bonds
- Bank deposit
North America
Bermuda
Bermuda Economic Investment Residential Certificate
From $2 500 000
Real total ≈ $3 337 500 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 1–3 months
- Presence
- Holders must spend at least 90 days in Bermuda in each calendar year for the five years following the grant, and keep the qualifying investment at 2.5 million or more over the same period; both are verified at the end of year five to retain the certificate.
- Real estate
- Business
- Capital transfer
- Donation
Pacific
New Zealand
New Zealand Active Investor Plus Visa
From $3 000 000
Real total ≈ $4 005 000 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 3–6 months
- Presence
- The Growth route asks for a modest number of days in New Zealand over the three years; the Balanced route asks for less.
- Investment fund
- Business
- Capital transfer
- Government bonds
- Real estate
Asia
Hong Kong
Hong Kong New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)
From $3 830 000
Real total ≈ $5 113 050 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 4–8 months
- Presence
- The visa is renewable and the investment must be maintained.
- Capital transfer
- Real estate
Asia
Singapore
Singapore Global Investor Programme (GIP)
From $7 400 000
Real total ≈ $9 879 000 (family of 4, fees included)
- Processing
- 7–10 months
- Presence
- To renew the five-year Re-Entry Permit that carries permanent residence, GIP holders must keep the investment in place and show real economic ties — typically residence in Singapore and, for many, jobs created.
- Business
- Investment fund
- Capital transfer
Compare two jurisdictions
Pick two and read the differences only.
| — | Malaysia | Colombia |
|---|---|---|
| Official minimum | $32 000lower | $45 500 |
| Real total, family of 4 (fees included) | ≈ $42 720lower | ≈ $60 743 |
| Announced processing | 3–6 months | 1–3 monthsfaster |
| Presence required | Applicants must be at least 25. | This is a live-here visa. |
| Years to citizenship | — | 5 yearsfaster |
| Investment routes | Bank deposit, Real estate | Real estate, Business |
| A route returns the capital | Yes | No |
| Open to Russian applicants | YesIdentical on this line | YesIdentical on this line |
| Region | Asia | Latin America |
Open the country page · MalaysiaOpen the country page · Colombia
Understanding residency by investment
What you are actually buying
A golden visa is a permit, not a nationality. It lets you live, and usually work, in the country. It is renewable, it can be withdrawn, and it stops at your own family — you cannot pass it on. That is the honest difference with citizenship by investment.
Some programmes open a path to naturalisation after five to ten years. That path is a legal route, never a promise: it assumes continuous residence, and often a language or integration exam. Read the years-to-citizenship figure as a condition, not a countdown.
Presence is the real price
The published figure is rarely what decides. What decides is how many days a year the country expects you on its territory, because that is what you cannot buy back. Portugal asks for around a week a year; Greece asks for nothing at all but gives no naturalisation clock in return; others require you to actually move.
And the moment you genuinely live somewhere, you usually become tax resident there. A residence permit is the one migration product that reliably changes where you are taxed — see our tax pages before you commit.
Choosing between them
Filter first by what you are willing to invest in — property you must hold, a fund you cannot exit early, a deposit that sits blocked, a business you must actually run. Then by budget. Then read the presence column. The full comparison puts all of it in one table.
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The other approach
You want the passport itself, not the right to live somewhere: read citizenship by investment.
Citizenship by investment →Freedom. Anywhere.
Find my programme
What we do for you
Citizenship or residence, the honest answer often is not the one you arrived with. We take the whole procedure with you — eligibility, the route that fits your situation, the file, the follow-up — with one person on your side throughout.
- One point of contact, from the first call to the certificate
- Vetted partners on the ground — law firms, licensed agents, banks — introduced, not listed
- It starts with a short qualifying call, and no, it is not a sales call
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