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Citizenship by Investment Questions

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TopicAll7 Citizenship by investment2 Residency by investment2 Tax & residency1 Family & dependants1 Process & timelines1 Other0

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Citizenship by investment· From United States
How long do I need to live in Malta to naturalise via MEIN?
The Maltese Exceptional Investor Naturalisation (MEIN) is technically a *residency-then-naturalisation* programme — you become a resident first and are granted citizenship after the qualifying period. The two routes differ in qualifying period, not in physical-presence requirement: • 36-month route: €600,000 contribution • 12-month route: €750,000 contribution In both cases, the official requirement is to *establish genuine ties* with Malta — not a strict day-count. In practice, Community Malta Agency expects you to maintain an active residential address (the property you bought or leased), pay residency-related fees, hold valid health insurance, and have demonstrable links such as bank accounts and a tax-number. Most successful applicants visit several times during the qualifying period rather than living in Malta full-time. The practical minimum I see clients spend is roughly 4–6 weeks across the qualifying period, distributed across several visits. Anyone treating it as a pure paperwork exercise without any physical presence risks an enhanced-eligibility review at the citizenship stage.
Adrian Sinclair · Senior Partner & Head of European Programmes
🇲🇹 Malta
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Citizenship by investment
Should I do CBI or RBI? How do I decide?
The framework I use with clients distils to four questions: 1) Why do you actually need the second status? CBI delivers a passport in months; RBI delivers the right to live in a target country immediately but a passport only after 5–10 years of compliance. If your need is a stronger travel document, CBI usually wins. If your need is to live somewhere specific, RBI wins. 2) What's your tolerance for renewals? Many RBI programmes require renewals every 1–5 years and may demand minimum stay. CBI is typically one-time. 3) What's your tax exposure? RBI in a high-tax jurisdiction can change your global tax footprint. CBI alone usually does not. 4) What's recoverable? Most RBI investments are partially or fully recoverable after the holding period (real estate, funds). Most CBI contributions to development funds are not. At USD 600k you have access to all of Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts, St Lucia (CBI) plus Greece (Golden Visa) and Malta MPRP (RBI). I'd be happy to model both scenarios against your specific objectives in a consultation.
Adrian Sinclair · Senior Partner & Head of European Programmes
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Adrian Sinclair

Senior Partner & Head of European Programmes

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