By Av. Serkan Kara · Istanbul Bar Sicil No. 53770 / TBB 121348
Last updated: 23 June 2026
Serka Law Firm coordinates Citizenship by Investment (CBI) and Golden Visa programs worldwide — across about a dozen countries that currently grant citizenship and more than twenty residence-by-investment routes. We select and execute the right program for your nationality, budget, family, and goals, validate your source of funds, and confirm each program’s live status before you commit, because investment-migration rules change constantly. Citizenship by Investment is our flagship practice — in any qualifying country, not only Türkiye.
What is global Citizenship by Investment and Golden Visa counsel?
It is a single, partner-led engagement that takes you from “which program fits me” to a filed, compliant application — in whichever jurisdiction is right for you. A Citizenship by Investment program is built to deliver a passport; a Golden Visa grants a residence right that may, separately and later, open a path to citizenship. The first decision is always the outcome you actually need — a second passport now, a lawful residence base, or a multi-year route to naturalization — because the legal burden, timeline, and strategic value differ completely. We map your objective to the correct category first, then to the correct country.
Which countries currently offer Citizenship by Investment?
As of 2026, roughly a dozen countries operate active direct Citizenship by Investment programs. The core, indisputably active routes are the Caribbean five — Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia — together with Türkiye, Vanuatu, Nauru, and São Tomé and Príncipe. A further group is available but higher-cost or niche, including Egypt, Jordan, and North Macedonia. Minimum thresholds, holding periods, and approved routes are set by each government and reset often, so every figure must be confirmed against the country’s own Citizenship by Investment Unit before filing.
- Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia): direct citizenship through a state-fund contribution or approved real estate, with strong passports and, for Grenada, treaty access to the United States E-2 visa.
- Türkiye: a passport outcome via a real-estate route (minimum acquisition value plus a mandatory holding commitment) or financial routes such as bank deposit, government bonds, qualifying funds, or fixed capital — our home jurisdiction and one of the most-used direct-citizenship programs in the world.
- Vanuatu, Nauru, São Tomé and Príncipe: contribution-based routes with fast timelines; choose them for the outcome, weighing passport utility carefully (Vanuatu lost EU visa-free access in 2024).
Which countries offer a Golden Visa or residence by investment?
More than twenty residence-by-investment programs remain active worldwide. In Europe these include Greece, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, and Bulgaria, plus residence-focused options in Cyprus and Malta; outside Europe, the United Arab Emirates Golden Visa and the United States EB-5 immigrant investor program are the best-known. Each is a residence right, not an automatic passport: citizenship later runs through a separate naturalization track with its own residence, timing, integration, and clean-record conditions. We match the transaction to the correct tier and route, since assuming the lowest published price applies everywhere produces the wrong deal.
Which programs recently closed — and why it matters
Staying current is the difference between a filed application and a wasted year. Several flagship programs have closed or been disrupted: Malta’s investor-citizenship route ended after the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled against it on 29 April 2025; Spain abolished its Golden Visa with effect from 3 April 2025; Ireland (2023), the United Kingdom (2022), and the Netherlands have all closed their investor-residence routes; and earlier Caribbean-style citizenship schemes in Cyprus (2020) and Montenegro (2022) are no longer open. There is no European Union member state selling citizenship by investment in 2026. We track every opening and closure so the route we recommend is one you can actually use.
How do we choose and execute the right route for you?
One coordinated team runs the whole matter. We begin with an eligibility and objective review (passport, residence, tax, or treaty-nationality goal), then test source-of-funds and sanctions exposure, then shortlist programs by outcome rather than by lowest price. From there we manage the filing end to end: authorized-channel submission, documentation discipline, valuation and banking chain where real estate is involved, and follow-up through approval. The decisive factor in 2026 is the strength of the compliance architecture behind the file, not the headline threshold — a weak funds narrative sinks a high-value case as easily as a low-budget one.
Is Türkiye or a global program our flagship?
Our flagship is Citizenship by Investment itself, wherever a credible program exists. Türkiye is both our home jurisdiction and a leading direct-citizenship route, and it remains the right answer for many clients — particularly those who also want a property or business rationale or treaty-nationality planning for a future United States E-2 application. For others, a Caribbean passport, a fast contribution route, or a European residence base is the better fit. We are not tied to one country’s product; we are tied to your result.
Frequently asked questions
How many countries can you actually help me with?
Around a dozen for direct citizenship and more than twenty for residence-by-investment, plus closely related routes such as the United States E-2 treaty visa. The right shortlist is usually two or three programs once your nationality, source of funds, family, and goals are known — not the whole list.
Can a Golden Visa become citizenship later?
Sometimes, but never automatically. A Golden Visa grants residence; citizenship later runs through a separate naturalization process with its own residence, timing, language, integration, and clean-record requirements, typically measured in years. We tell you up front whether a passport realistically follows.
How current is your program information?
We verify the live status, threshold, and route of every program before any engagement, and we re-check at filing. Investment-migration rules change quickly — a six-month-old comparison can already be wrong — so currency is part of the service, not an afterthought.
Speak with a cross-border investment-migration lawyer
Because thresholds, fees, and program status change frequently, a serious filing should be checked against the current official rules and against your nationality, source-of-funds profile, family structure, and immigration history. We advise international clients on selecting and executing the right route, validating source of funds, and avoiding the structural mistakes that cause applications to fail. To review your options, contact Serka Law Firm through the contact page for a case-specific assessment.
Related reading and services: Turkish Citizenship by Investment, immigration and residence permits, foreign direct investment, and our guide on golden visa and citizenship by investment programs worldwide.
Selected official references
- Court of Justice of the European Union, Malta investor-citizenship ruling (29 April 2025): curia.europa.eu
- Henley & Partners, Citizenship by Investment programs overview: henleyglobal.com
- Council of the European Union, Vanuatu visa-free suspension (13 November 2024): consilium.europa.eu
This article is general information and not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, which forms only by a signed engagement. Program thresholds, fees, eligibility rules, and country statuses change and must be verified against current official sources for your specific circumstances before any decision.