The most difficult countries to obtain citizenship include Vatican City, Liechtenstein, Bhutan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Switzerland, China, and North Korea. If you have ever submitted an application for citizenship, you will know just how difficult the process can be.
Japan. Japan has the longest process to provide citizenship to any foreigner. If you want to have citizenship in japan, you must have lived in the country for about 5 years and taken permission from the Justice Minister. It requires lots of paperwork and a long process of around 6-12 months.
Japanese citizens now hold the most passport power, as they are able to enter 193 nations visa free, or with visa-on-arrival. South Korea and Singapore hold joint second place, with both countries' passports enabling their citizens to access 192 nations without restrictions.
Malta is the country that offers the fastest citizenship program through investment. Residents need to show a one-year residency permit besides contributing the minimum required amount of € 750,000. However, a person with a three-year residency permit gets citizenship with less investment.
The fastest way to obtain citizenship is in Vanuatu; on average, it takes a month. Caribbean citizenship has become popular among entrepreneurs.
"Golden passports," formally known as citizenship by investment (CBI) programs, allow wealthy foreigners to receive citizenship or residency in exchange for investing a certain amount of money in a country. Over a dozen countries, including the US, offer immigrant investor programs.
Vanuatu has the simplest and cheapest citizenship by investment conditions in the world. In our ranking, the country's program ranks third after Malta and Cyprus.
U.S. citizens are allowed to have more than one valid U.S. passport at the same time, according to the National Passport Information Center, which is a division of the U.S. State Department. But in most cases, you are only allowed to have two valid passports at a time, according to the NPIC.
1) Portugal
What make Portugal the easiest country in Europe to gain citizenship is that there are no physical presence requirements. Meaning you only need to hold your resident permit in order to qualify for naturalization. You don't need to spend most of the year in the country like most other countries.
You can have as many citizenships as you want, but how many should you have? Well, it's all up to you. Four passports are usually sufficient, however, for some people, two or three will suffice. The first step is to diversify, and then you should cover all of your bases.
Switzerland. Switzerland is a landlocked and mountainous country located in south-central Europe. It is an advanced society that allows citizenship by marriage.
According to the Association of American Residents Overseas (AARO), US expats can be found in more than 160 countries: 40% opt for the Western hemisphere — Canada, Central and South America. 26% move to Europe. 14% head to East Asia and the Pacific — think Australia and New Zealand as well as China and Japan.
United States — 50.6 million. Germany — 15.8 million. Saudi Arabia — 13.5 million. Russia — 11.6 million.
Paraguay. Paraguay is considered one of the easiest countries to immigrate to because of its investment visa and retirement scheme. Both of these options make it effortless to obtain permanent residency and then citizenship- granted, there is a catch; you need to be well off in terms of financial means.
Canadian government provides wealthy foreigners with the opportunity to obtain citizenship by investing in the country's economy. The investment program allows potential investors to receive permanent residency through the purchase of government bonds.
Germany and Spain's passports have been considered Europe's most powerful ones, according to the Henley Passport Index.
You might lose your U.S. citizenship in specific cases, including if you: Run for public office in a foreign country (under certain conditions) Enter military service in a foreign country (under certain conditions) Apply for citizenship in a foreign country with the intention of giving up U.S. citizenship.
Can you have triple citizenship? Yes, you may hold citizenship in three countries. The same rules apply as for dual citizenship — not every country allows for multiple citizenships, so you would need to check whether your country of origin permits triple citizenship.
There are two countries in the European Union where this is possible: Malta and Cyprus; as well as the five Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia. Additionally the countries of Vanuatu, Montenegro, Turkey and Jordan offer citizenship by investment programs.
Japan once again holds the most powerful passport, allowing visa-free access to 193 countries, according to the Henley Passport Index's third quarter 2022 report released Tuesday.