Where Is the Easiest Country to Get Citizenship?

There is no single easiest country to get citizenship. The right answer depends on your situation: where your parents and grandparents were born, which passport you already hold, how much you can afford to invest, and how long you are willing to live somewhere before you qualify. A path that is straightforward for one person can be closed to the next.

There are four main ways to become a citizen of another country. You can claim it by descent if you have the right ancestry, earn it by naturalization after living in a country legally for a set number of years, qualify by investment if you can contribute to a country’s economy, or receive it by birthplace in the countries that grant citizenship to anyone born on their soil. The fastest routes are not always the easiest, and the rules change often, so confirm the current requirements before you commit to any of them.

Which route is easiest for your situation

The quickest way to narrow your options is to match your situation to one of the four routes.

Start with ancestry. If a parent, grandparent, or in some cases a great-grandparent was born in another country, citizenship by descent is usually the cheapest and fastest route, and it often does not require you to move at all. Ireland, Italy, and Poland reach back several generations.

If you have no qualifying ancestry, look at marriage and residency. Marrying a citizen often shortens the naturalization timeline, sometimes substantially. Otherwise, naturalization means living in a country legally for a set number of years, ranging from about two in Argentina to ten or more elsewhere.

If you would rather not wait and you have capital to commit, investment is the fastest route in a handful of countries, though the prices have risen sharply and no EU country offers citizenship this way anymore. And if you are planning to have a child abroad, birthplace matters: a number of countries, mostly in the Americas, grant citizenship to anyone born on their soil.

Types of Citizenship

Citizenship by Birthplace

Some countries grant citizenship to anyone born on their soil, a rule known as jus soli, or the law of the soil. Where it applies, the parents’ nationality and immigration status do not matter. This is almost entirely an Americas phenomenon. No European country grants unrestricted birthright citizenship.

The only people normally excluded are the children of foreign diplomats and, in some countries, the children of occupying forces. Everyone else born in the country qualifies.

Countries that grant unrestricted birthright citizenship include Argentina, Barbados, Canada, Fiji, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, the United States, and Uruguay. Appendix 1 has the full list.

One caveat on the United States. Birthright citizenship there is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, but it is currently being challenged. A 2025 executive order sought to deny it to children of parents who are in the country illegally or only temporarily. Courts have blocked that order, so the rule is unchanged for now, and the Supreme Court is expected to rule on it by mid-2026.

Citizenship by Descent

Many countries let you claim citizenship through ancestry, a rule known as jus sanguinis, or the right of blood. How far back you can reach varies a lot, and several countries have tightened their rules recently, so the generous multi-generation claims that were once common are narrowing.

Ireland

Ireland is one of the most accessible descent routes. If a grandparent was born in Ireland, you can claim Irish citizenship by entering yourself on the Foreign Births Register, whatever your own place or date of birth. You can also qualify through a great-grandparent, but only if your Irish-descended parent registered on the Foreign Births Register before you were born. As an EU country, Irish citizenship also gives you EU citizenship.

Italy

Italy changed its rules dramatically in 2025, and the change is now permanent: the Constitutional Court upheld it in March 2026. For most of its history, Italy let you claim citizenship through an ancestor who was an Italian citizen as far back as 1861, with no limit on the number of generations, as long as the line was unbroken. That route is closed.

Under the current law, you generally qualify only if you have a parent or grandparent who was born in Italy, or a parent who lived in Italy for at least two years after becoming a citizen and before you were born. Claims based only on a great-grandparent or a more distant ancestor are no longer accepted. Applications filed before late March 2025 are still processed under the old rules.

If your Italian connection is closer than a grandparent, it is worth checking. If it is more distant, the descent route is likely closed to you now, and a qualified Italian citizenship lawyer can tell you whether another route applies.

Poland

Poland recognizes citizenship by descent with no fixed generational limit, as long as the citizenship chain is unbroken. You qualify if you can document a direct line to a Polish ancestor who held Polish citizenship and did not lose it before the next person in the line was born. That ancestor can be a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent, and you do not need to live in Poland or speak Polish to claim it. The line turns on documents, so the harder part is usually tracing and proving each link.

Hungary

Hungary offers a simplified naturalization route for people with Hungarian ancestry. You may apply if you descend from someone who was a Hungarian citizen before 1920, when Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or between 1941 and 1945, and there is no limit on how many generations back the connection goes. You do not need to live in Hungary, but you do need to show conversational Hungarian, which is checked in an interview at the consulate rather than through a formal exam.

Other countries that offer some form of ancestry program

Several other countries let you claim citizenship or accelerated naturalization through ancestry, including Armenia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The rules and how far back they reach vary widely, so it is worth checking the specific country if you have a family connection there.

Descendants of those persecuted

Portugal ran a citizenship route for descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the 1490s, but it closed to new applicants in May 2026. People with Sephardic heritage can still move to Portugal and naturalize like any other applicant, but the dedicated ancestry route is no longer open.

Austria and Germany both offer streamlined citizenship to descendants of people who were stripped of their nationality under the Nazi regime. If your family lost German or Austrian citizenship on political, religious, racial, or similar grounds, this can be a direct route to an EU passport.

Israel grants citizenship to Jewish people and their descendants under the Law of Return. If you qualify, citizenship is granted immediately when you make aliyah, along with a national ID card. For the first year you travel on a temporary document, and you become eligible for a full Israeli passport after one year of residence, provided you have spent most of that year in the country.

Citizenship by investment

As of 2025, no European Union country offers direct citizenship by investment. In April 2025 the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta’s program, the last of its kind in the EU, was unlawful, and Malta closed it. If you want an EU passport through money rather than ancestry, the realistic route is now residency first, then citizenship after the required years of legal residence. The programs below grant citizenship directly, and all of them are outside the EU.

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda raised its minimums in 2024 under a regional agreement. A donation to the National Development Fund now starts at $230,000 for a single applicant or a family of up to three, and $245,000 for a family of five or more. The real estate route starts at $300,000, held for at least five years. Government and due diligence fees apply on top. An Antigua passport offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to around 150 countries, including the Schengen Area and the UK, though the EU is currently reviewing visa-free access for citizenship-by-investment countries.

St Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis restructured its program in 2024. The Sustainable Growth Fund donation starts at $250,000 for a single applicant, covering up to three dependants, and the real estate route starts at $400,000. An accelerated process is available for an additional fee.

Vanuatu

Vanuatu runs one of the fastest citizenship-by-investment programs in the world, usually taking around two to four months. A single applicant donates $130,000 to a government development fund, rising to roughly $150,000 for a couple and $180,000 for a family of four, plus due diligence fees of about $5,000. You need to show net assets of at least $250,000. Note that the EU suspended visa-free Schengen access for Vanuatu citizens in December 2024, and the UK and Ireland have done the same, so the passport’s travel value is narrower than it used to be.

Citizenship by naturalization

For most people, naturalization is the realistic route: you move to a country, live there legally for a set number of years, then apply. It takes longer than descent or investment, but it is open to almost anyone willing to relocate.

The process has four steps. Move to the country as a temporary or permanent resident. Stay legally for the required number of years. Pass any language, civics, or cultural exams. Then apply for citizenship and a passport.

You can see our full list of the easiest countries to move to.

Which countries have the quickest citizenship by naturalization?

How long you wait depends on the country and your situation. The range runs from about two years to ten or more, and many countries shorten it for spouses, refugees, adopted children, and certain nationalities.

Bear in mind that the fastest country is not always the easiest. A short residence requirement only helps if you can actually get and keep legal residence there in the first place.

As a rough guide to standard residence requirements: about two years in Argentina and Peru; about three years in Canada (technically 1,095 days within five years), Ecuador, and Israel; and about five years in Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Countries with a three-year residence requirement:

• Canada
• Ecuador
• Honduras (with just one year for Central-American nationals and two years for Spaniards and Ibero-Americans.)
• Israel
• Paraguay
• Serbia

Countries with a four-year residence requirement:

• Brazil (Three years if you own a qualifying property or business.)
• Ethiopia

Some countries with a five-year residence requirement (not a complete list):

• Albania
• Australia
• Barbados
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Chile
• Czech Republic (Czechia)
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Japan
• Latvia
• Malta
• Mexico
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Panama
• Sweden
• Thailand
• United Kingdom (UK)
• Uruguay

Argentina has the fastest standard citizenship by naturalization

Argentina has the shortest standard wait. After two years of continuous legal residence you can apply for citizenship, and that citizenship lets you live and work across the Mercosur countries. One change to watch: since 2025 those two years must be genuinely continuous, and absences can affect the count, so confirm the current rules before you plan around the timeline. Peru also has a two-year requirement.

The easiest countries to get citizenship through residency

The most common route to a second passport is to move somewhere, live there legally, and naturalize over time. Residency is the first step, and some countries make that step much easier than others.

Cross-country agreements

Some groups of countries make it easier for one another’s citizens, or for long-term residents, to move and eventually naturalize. Citizens of the European Economic Area, which is the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, can live and work in any member country and build toward citizenship there. Switzerland is not in the EEA, but separate bilateral agreements give Swiss citizens similar free movement. The Nordic countries also have their own arrangements that ease naturalization between them. If you already hold one of these nationalities, an agreement may be your simplest route to another.

Residency by investment

Several countries grant residency, though not citizenship directly, in exchange for investment. Residency is the first step, with naturalization following years later.

Spain closed its Golden Visa on 3 April 2025, so buying property no longer leads to residency. You can still move to Spain through other routes, including the non-lucrative visa for people with enough passive income and the digital nomad visa for remote workers. Both lead to permanent residency after five years and citizenship after ten, or two years for nationals of former Spanish colonies. Confirm current requirements with a qualified Spanish immigration lawyer before planning around any of them.

Portugal removed the property route from its Golden Visa in October 2023, so buying real estate no longer qualifies. The current options include €500,000 in a qualifying investment fund that holds no real estate, a €250,000 donation to arts or cultural heritage (€200,000 in low-density areas), €500,000 toward scientific research, or creating jobs through a Portuguese business. The visa grants residency. Citizenship comes later through naturalization.

Mauritius grants residency to people who buy approved property worth at least $375,000, and you keep the permit for as long as you own the property. A separate route is open to investors who put at least $50,000 into a Mauritian business, valid for 10 years and renewable. Neither leads straight to a passport. Mauritius does not sell citizenship, so naturalization comes only after several years of legal residence and a separate application. Confirm current requirements with a qualified adviser before committing funds.

Latvia offers EU residency by investment, not citizenship. The main route now is €50,000 into the share capital of a Latvian company, plus a €10,000 state fee, as long as the company pays at least €40,000 a year in taxes. A real estate route of €250,000 in or near Riga still exists, but it carries a 5% state fee and a five-year holding rule, and the government has signaled since 2022 that it means to wind this route down, so confirm it is still open before relying on it. A subordinated bank deposit of €280,000 is also written into the law. Residency leads to permanent residence after five years and citizenship after ten, with a Latvian language requirement that rose to B1 level in 2026.

Income visas

Several countries grant residency if you can show enough regular income to support yourself, usually from a pension, investments, or a business abroad. The thresholds change most years, so treat these as a guide and confirm the current figure before applying.

Spain’s non-lucrative visa requires €28,800 a year for a single applicant in 2026, plus €7,200 for each dependent. You cannot work in Spain on it, but after five years it leads to permanent residency.

Portugal’s D7 is tied to the Portuguese minimum wage, which puts it at about €920 a month, or €11,040 a year, for the main applicant in 2026, with more for family members.

Other countries offer income-based routes too, including Germany’s freelance Freiberufler permit and low-cost options in parts of Central America. Because the thresholds move so often, check each country’s current figure directly.

Easy citizenship for retirement

A number of countries offer residency to retirees who can show a stable pension or passive income, and these permits lead to citizenship over time. The income thresholds change often and vary a lot by country, so rather than list figures that go out of date, see our full guide to countries with retirement visas for the current requirements.

The easiest citizenship using your professional skills

Some countries prioritize people with in-demand skills or qualifications, offering points-based or skilled-migration routes that lead to residency and eventually citizenship. If you have a profession or qualification a country is short of, this can be a faster way in than a general visa. We’ve written a detailed article on Skilled Migration Visas to help you find the best program for you.

Panama Friendly Nations Visa

Panama’s Friendly Nations Visa is open to citizens of more than 50 countries, including the United States, Canada, and the UK. Panama restructured the program in 2021, so it no longer leads straight to permanent residency.

You qualify through one of three routes: a job with a Panamanian company, the purchase of Panamanian real estate worth at least $200,000, or a fixed-term deposit of at least $200,000 held for three years in a Panamanian bank. You then receive two years of temporary residency, after which you can apply for permanent residency. Citizenship becomes possible after about five years of residence, and Panama generally expects basic Spanish at that stage.

The easiest countries to get citizenship in Europe (EU)

The easiest European country depends on your situation, so here are the strongest routes to an EU passport. The fastest route is not always the easiest, depending on how you qualify.

Portugal

Portugal used to be the obvious pick here, but two 2026 changes have narrowed it. The standard naturalization wait doubled from five to ten years, or seven for EU and CPLP nationals, under a law in force from May 2026. The Sephardic Jewish route closed in the same reform. Portugal still has a lot going for it: accessible residency visas like the D7, an active Golden Visa through investment funds, flexible marriage rules, and citizenship by descent through a parent or grandparent. But the great-grandparent route now requires five years of residence and Portuguese language certification, so it is no longer the quick win it once was.

Spain

Spain has a ten-year naturalization period, but it drops to just two years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, the Philippines, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, and Portugal. For people from those countries it is one of the fastest routes to an EU passport, and they can keep their original nationality without renouncing it.

Puerto Ricans qualify for this two-year route too, because Spanish law treats them as Ibero-American, through a Certificate of Puerto Rican Citizenship. But it depends on being Puerto Rican by birth or having a parent born there, not on relocating to the island. Mainland US citizens without that heritage do not get the reduction, and naturalizing through the standard ten-year route technically requires renouncing US citizenship, though in practice the renunciation is a formal declaration the US does not act on.

Austria and Germany

Austria and Germany both offer streamlined citizenship to descendants of people stripped of their nationality under the Nazi regime. If your family lost German or Austrian citizenship on political, religious, racial, or similar grounds, this can be a direct route to an EU passport.

Italy, Ireland, Poland, and Hungary

Ireland, Poland, and Hungary all have accessible citizenship-by-descent routes, so if you have ancestors from any of them it is worth tracing the connection. Italy used to belong on this list, but its 2025 reform cut descent to two generations, so an Italian great-grandparent alone no longer qualifies you.

Buying citizenship in the EU

There is no longer any way to buy citizenship directly in the EU. Malta was the last country to offer it, and the European Court of Justice ruled the program unlawful in April 2025. The investment routes that remain in Europe, such as Portugal’s Golden Visa, lead to residency, with citizenship only later through naturalization.

Finding the right route for you

There is no single easiest country, only the route that fits your situation. Start with what you already have: ancestry first, since it is usually the cheapest and fastest, then residency or investment if descent is not an option. Because the rules change often, and several major programs closed or tightened in the last two years, confirm the current requirements with a qualified immigration lawyer before you commit to any country.

FAQ

What is the easiest EU country to get citizenship?

It depends on your background. If you have a parent or grandparent from Ireland, Poland, or Hungary, citizenship by descent is usually the easiest route, and it often does not require living there. Without qualifying ancestry, you are looking at residency followed by naturalization, where Portugal and Ireland remain among the more accessible options, though Portugal extended its naturalization wait to ten years in 2026, seven for EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals. For nationals of former Spanish colonies, Spain reduces the wait to two years.

What is the easiest EU country to immigrate to?

If your goal is living in the EU rather than a passport straight away, the most accessible routes are income-based residency visas. Portugal’s D7 and Spain’s non-lucrative visa both let people with stable passive income move and live there, and several other countries offer similar permits. These lead to permanent residency after about five years, with citizenship later.

What is the easiest country to get citizenship by investment?

No EU country offers it anymore. Malta was the last, and the European Court of Justice ruled its program unlawful in April 2025. The fastest direct citizenship-by-investment programs are now outside the EU: the Caribbean nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia) start around $200,000, and Vanuatu starts at $130,000. None of these gives you an EU passport.

Appendix 1: Countries with unrestricted birthright citizenship

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

These are the countries generally classified as having unrestricted birthright citizenship. Classifications vary slightly by source, so treat this as a guide rather than an exhaustive legal list.