AmericasArgentina2 years
Two years' residence — among the fastest naturalisations anywhere, via a federal court process.
Presence
Flexible in practice
Dual citizenship
Yes
Mobility · Citizenship
Citizenship by residence.
Naturalise where you actually live.
Most second passports are earned, not bought — by living somewhere legally for a set number of years and then naturalising. It is slower than citizenship by investment, but far cheaper and open to almost everyone. We map the right country to your goals across 35+ routes, model the physical-presence and dual-citizenship rules against your life, and run the residence-to-passport pathway end to end.
Countries
37+
Fastest route
2 years
Most common
5 years
Modelled
Per family
How it works
Residence first, passport later.
Every route below shares the same logic: secure a residence permit (through work, investment, a digital-nomad visa, ancestry or family), maintain it for the required period, satisfy the physical-presence, language and integration tests, and apply to naturalise. The variables that decide which country is right for you are the number of years, the physical-presence requirement (some need only days a year, others most of the year), and whether the country allows dual citizenship.
The timelines below are the headline minimums under current law. Naturalisation rules change and are applied case by case — we confirm the live position and model your specific path before you commit. Note that the UK, unlike many states, has no citizenship-by-investment route at all: settlement then naturalisation is the only way.
Fastest · 2–3 years
The quickest naturalisations in the world — chiefly Latin America, where genuine residence converts to a passport in two to three years.
Americas
CaribbeanDominican Republic2 years
Two years' residence; shorter with investment or marriage.
Presence
Modest
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasPeru2 years
Two years' legal residence with real ties to the country.
Presence
~183 days/yr
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasBolivia3 years
Three years' residence (two with marriage or a local child).
Presence
Required
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasEcuador3 years
Three years' residence; dollarised economy.
Presence
Required
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasParaguay3 years
Three years from permanent residency; territorial tax in the meantime.
Presence
Light in practice
Dual citizenship
Yes
4–5 years
The mainstream window. Most of the EU, the Commonwealth and the Americas grant citizenship after four to five years of lawful residence.
PacificAustralia4 years
Four years' lawful residence, the last as a permanent resident.
Presence
1 yr as PR
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasBrazil1–4 years
Four years (one with a Brazilian spouse or child).
Presence
Presence
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeBelgium5 years
Five years' legal residence with economic and social integration.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasCanada~3–5 years
Three years' physical presence within five as a permanent resident.
Presence
1,095 days / 5 yrs
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasChile5 years
Five years' permanent residence.
Presence
Permanent residence
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeCzechia5 years
Five years' permanent residence with language and integration.
Presence
Permanent residence
Dual citizenship
Limited
EuropeFinland5 years
Five years (four with language); dual permitted.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeFrance5 years
Five years' residence with language and civics; two years for some graduates.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeGermany5 years
Five years after the 2024 reform (three with exceptional integration); dual now allowed.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeIreland5 years
Five of the last nine years, one continuous; EU and Common Travel Area.
Presence
Reckonable
Dual citizenship
Yes
AsiaJapan5 years
Five years' residence; Japan does not permit dual citizenship for adults.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
No
EuropeMalta5–7 years
Standard naturalisation after long residence (separate from the investment route).
Presence
Residence
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasMexico2–5 years
Five years (two if married to a Mexican or Latin-American/Iberian national).
Presence
Presence
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeNetherlands5 years
Five years; renunciation of prior citizenship usually required.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Limited
PacificNew Zealand5 years
Five years' residence with a strong physical-presence test.
Presence
240 days/yr
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasPanama5 years
Five years from residency; territorial tax system.
Presence
Presence
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropePoland3–10 years
Three years with permanent residence; longer by general route. Descent also possible.
Presence
Permanent residence
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropePortugal5 years
Five years' legal residence (incl. golden-visa years) plus A2 Portuguese.
Presence
Low in practice
Dual citizenship
Yes
AsiaSouth Korea5 years
Five years' residence; dual is restricted.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Limited
EuropeSweden5 years
Five years' habitual residence; dual permitted.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
AmericasUruguay3–5 years
Three years if married, five if single, of genuine residence.
Presence
Presence
Dual citizenship
Yes
6–7 years
A slightly longer hold, often with stricter presence or language requirements.
AsiaSingapore~2–6 years
Permanent residence first, then citizenship; dual citizenship is not permitted.
Presence
PR first
Dual citizenship
No
EuropeUnited Kingdom5–6 years
Settlement (ILR) after five years, naturalisation after six — the UK's only citizenship route.
Presence
ILR after 5
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeCyprus~7 years
Seven years' residence (reduced in defined cases).
Presence
Residence
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeGreece7 years
Seven years' legal residence with language and civics.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeNorway7 years
Seven of the last ten years; dual now permitted.
Presence
7 of 10 yrs
Dual citizenship
Yes
8–10 years
Europe's most selective passports — strong presence, language and (sometimes) single-citizenship requirements.
EuropeAndorra10–20 years
Long residence and a language test; dual citizenship not permitted.
Presence
Strong
Dual citizenship
No
EuropeItaly3–10 years
Ten years (four for EU citizens); by descent (jure sanguinis) often available regardless.
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Yes
EuropeSpain2–10 years
Ten years (two for Ibero-American, Sephardic, Filipino and Equatorial-Guinean nationals).
Presence
Continuous
Dual citizenship
Limited
EuropeSwitzerland10 years
Ten years' residence (years aged 8–18 count double); cantonal and communal approval.
Presence
C permit
Dual citizenship
Yes
Exceptional · 10+ years
Long-horizon or nomination-based routes for those building a multi-decade base.
Middle EastUnited Arab Emirates30 years / nomination
Thirty years' residence, or by nomination under the 2021 citizenship law for exceptional talent.
Presence
Long residence
Dual citizenship
Limited
Common questions
Citizenship by residence — answered.
Citizenship by investment grants a passport in months for a qualifying contribution. Citizenship by residence means living in a country legally for several years, then naturalising — slower and cheaper, and available almost everywhere.
Related
Other routes to a second passport.
Citizenship by Investment
A passport in months for a qualifying contribution — Caribbean, EU, and Austria's discretionary route.
Explore CBI →Residency Programmes
50+ residence routes — golden visa, entrepreneur, digital nomad and retiree — many of which start the clock toward the citizenship above.
Explore residency →Which passport, by which route?
A working session with a director: we map citizenship-by-residence against investment routes and your tax position, then put the plan in writing.
Or call a director directly · +852 5161 5505