Which EU country offers citizenship by investment?
Malta operates the only direct citizenship-by-investment programme among EU member states. Portugal, Greece, and Spain offer residency-by-investment (Golden Visa) routes that convert to EU citizenship after 5, 7, and 10 years respectively. Cyprus suspended its CBI in 2020 and has not reopened it. The single direct CBI route is Malta; everything else is residency-to-naturalisation.
Malta is the only EU member state operating a citizenship-by-investment programme under formal statute. The 2024 framework reforms introduced the four-tier diligence regime and a residency-uplift requirement; total cost is €600K of contribution + per-dependant fees + legal + property obligations. The end-to-end timeline is 12–14 months. The three other meaningful EU routes are residency-to-naturalisation: Portugal Golden Visa (5-year clock), Greece Golden Visa (7-year clock), Spain Golden Visa (10-year clock). All three require some combination of language proficiency, presence, and integration to convert to citizenship. Cyprus suspended its CBI in 2020 following EU regulatory pressure and has not reopened it. Bulgaria's investor citizenship programme was abolished in 2022. For applicants needing an EU passport now, Malta is the only operative direct route. For applicants who can wait 5–10 years and prefer recoverable investment, the Portuguese, Greek, and Spanish Golden Visa programmes are the alternative path.
4 programmes relevant to this answer
Malta
Portugal
Greece
Related answers on this topic
EU regulatory pressure following the 2020 Al Jazeera investigation into programme governance. The Cypriot government suspended new applications in November 2020. Existing applications continued to process; the programme has not formally reopened.
Unlikely in the near term. EU Commission has consistently pressured member states to close or restrict investor-citizenship programmes. The political direction is toward tighter, not broader, CBI access in Europe.
Greece Golden Visa at €250K (outside prime zones) + 7-year naturalisation. Cheaper than Malta CBI total cost but requires meaningful Greek presence and language proficiency to convert.
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