Every year we publish Rankings on Best citizenship by investment (CBI) Programs which are popular and preferred by clients, This year, we are publishing our sixth edition of Best Citizenship by Investment rankings for 2025. Our PBS (points based scoring) model, which we designed, is one of a kind in the industry, ranks Best CBI taking into account 40+ factors, investors and families consider before deciding their favourite citizenship by investment program.
Best CBI Rankings
Caribbean countries have consistently took top positions in our Best CBI rankings for price affordability, family friendly and visa free perks associated with the strength of their passports. From our research there are 14 nations official run CBI active in 2025. Latest developments with price increase and global policy shifts has a huge impact on CBI rankings every year.
Summary
- Grenada retains No.1 spot for 2026.
- St.Kitts and Nevis secures second place.
- Saint Lucia falls to third place from second last year.
- Antigua & Barbuda moves down to fourth place.
- El Salvador moved up in rankings for offering Bitcoin citizenship to crypto investors.
Top Rankings
Note: Malta has terminated CBI post EU court judgement. Nauru and Sao Tome and Principe launched new CIP programs this year updated in the list.
Ranking Factors
Our model compiled data on 35 factors associated with each CBI program and assigned points. Each factor has been assigned with 10 points. The visa free benefits has been assigned a chunk of points including 70 points for BIG-5 nations.
- CBI Pricing Affordability
- Popularity
- Application Difficulty
- Government bonds Availability
- country Safety score
- Visa Free Access (70 pts) – EU schengen / UK / USA / Canada / Canada (ETA) / Russia / China
- Country Wealth (GDP per capita)
- Passport time (months)
- Processing speed (days)
- Minimal Residence requirement
- Voting rights
- EU citizenship
- Access to E-2 visa with US
- Contry Education Rank
- Country Healthcare Rank
- HDI Rank
- Confidentiality (citizenship disclosure)
- Tax free benefits
- Commonwealth membership
- Due Diligence
- CBI Transparency
- Passport Validity
- Personal visit exemption
- Lifetime Citizenship Govt Discount
- Post citizenship additions
- Family dependents
- Real estate prices
- CBI e-platform
- Stateless people acceptance
- Consulates abroad
- Limited Quotas e-Passport
- Accelerated Applications
- Low Refusal rate
- Taking of Oaths
- Name change
Explanation
Investing in a CBI passport is not all about more visa free previleges., there are so many factors involved when taking a decision. HNW families when applying for a CBI passport, ask about these six fundamental questions and without doubt first comes safety.
- Low Tax – How is taxation handled preferring low tax jurisdictions and are there incentives?
- Speed – How fast i can receive the passport after investing?
- Access to Canada ETA – Three countries (St.Kitts, St.Lucia, Antigua) received inclusion into Canada ETA for US visa holders.
- Safety – How safe is the country? Is my money safe in the country?
- Location / Climate – How far is the country geographically? How is the climate, perhaps not too hot or cold.
- Investing – Is the investment safe and ROI possible?
- Commonwealth status – What are the benefits as commonwealth citizen?
- Stateless people – Can stateless people benefit from acceptance?
- Real Estate – What real estate investments available to acquire citizenship fast? Any rental income?
- Global mobility – How many visa free countries i can travel with the new passport? Ask yourself can i travel to Russia, China, US, UK, Canada, South Africa skipping visas?
- Dual citizenship – is dual citizenship legally permitted? Do i require renouncing previous citizenship?
- Confidentiality – Do you guarantee privacy with the new citizenship? Is it reported elsewhere?
- Education – How does it help my children study abroad in best colleges and universities?
- Personal visit – Do i need to visit the country to get citizenship? How often i should visit the country as a new citizen?
- Residence condition – Do i need to live in the country?
- Living standards – What is the standard of living in these countries?
- Family dependents – What are the conditions to include family members upto 3rd generation (eg. siblings, children, spouse, grandparents)?
- Language – Is english used as the main language?
