Citizenship by investment on a restricted passport: the five programmes that work in 2026

Five citizenship-by-investment programmes lawfully issue a passport to applicants on restricted passports — Russian and Belarusian in particular — as of mid-2026: Turkey, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, Egypt and Vanuatu. Vanuatu is the most predictable. Each of the others has a specific weakness: long delays, revocation risk, wary banks or no track record.

Which programmes accept restricted passports in 2026?

Five, and the list is short. Everything marketed beyond it — Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hungary, Moldova, Serbia, "turnkey" Mexico — is not a working option, however much advertising you see. The figures below are as of mid-2026.

Programme	Route and stated cost	Timeline in practice	Weak point
Turkey	Property from USD 400,000	1.5–2 years, cannot be expedited	Citizenship annulled if the holder is prosecuted at home
Sierra Leone	About USD 180,000 per family	7–9 months, against 3 advertised	Banks and visa services wary of African passports
São Tomé and Príncipe	About USD 120,000 per family	About 9 months — the stated figure has already grown	On sale only since summer 2025, so no track record
Egypt	Property from USD 300,000	8 months stated, a year or more in practice	Designated districts only; compliance rates it below African passports
Vanuatu	About USD 165,000 per family	3.5–4 months, or 2 for a surcharge	Visa-free access to the EU under constant review

Why is Turkey the best-known programme and the most troublesome?

Because two practical drawbacks outweigh its advantages: time and revocability. The route is property from USD 400,000, and it is the most widely known of the five.

• Time. Processing has stretched to 1.5–2 years, and there is no way to speed it up.
• Revocability. Turkey annuls citizenship it has already granted when the holder faces criminal prosecution in the home country. No international wanted notice is required — a direct request is enough — and a large number of annulments have accumulated.

A separate matter is the mass withdrawal of passports issued on inflated cadastral valuations of the property. It caught buyers who had acted honestly and had simply paid an intermediary's inflated price.

How the route is built is covered in Turkish citizenship through property, and the withdrawals in Turkey: revocations and what they teach.

What does a Sierra Leone passport cost, and what does it open?

About USD 180,000 for a family, with processing of 7–9 months in practice rather than the 3 months advertised. The passport gives visa-free access to roughly 60 countries, a significant share of them African.

The main difficulty is not the document but the attitude towards it. Bank compliance teams and the visa services of developed countries treat African passports with caution, and that caution shows up as refused accounts and refused visas.

Is São Tomé and Príncipe too new to rely on?

For anyone who needs predictability, it is an argument for waiting. The programme costs about USD 120,000 for a family and went on sale only in summer 2025, so there is no accumulated record to judge it by.

On paper the terms look attractive. What nobody knows is how the country will behave when an applicant runs into trouble at home. The stated processing time has already grown to about 9 months under the volume of applications.

What limits the Egyptian property route?

Three things: where you may buy, how the passport is received, and how long it takes. The entry point is property from USD 300,000, which sounds attractive until the conditions are read.

• Location. Only property in designated districts qualifies, and the country's most appealing resort areas are outside the programme.
• Compliance. Compliance teams treat an Egyptian passport worse than they treat African ones.
• Timing. Nothing is fixed: the stated 8 months becomes a year or more in practice.

Why is Vanuatu the most predictable of the five?

Because it has a long record, short timelines, no travel requirement and a calm reception from banks. The cost is about USD 165,000 for a family.

• A history since 2012. A large body of cases has built up, and the state's behaviour is understood.
• Speed. The standard timeline is 3.5–4 months; for a surcharge the procedure fits into 2.
• Fully remote. There is no need to fly in, either to obtain the passport or to renew it later.
• Compliance. Banks and visa services treat Vanuatu citizens calmly and understand the nature of such a passport.

Its weak point is the one every island programme shares: visa-free travel to the European Union is under constant review, and it cannot be relied on as long-term value.

Costs and family composition are set out in Vanuatu citizenship by investment, and the pressure on the whole category in Island passports.

Which offers are not real programmes?

Anything outside the five. European programmes are not coming back for Russian and Belarusian applicants: visa-free access to Schengen through purchased citizenship is closed to this category as a matter of system.

Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay and similar destinations do not exist in a "pay and receive" format either. What works there is naturalisation with genuine residence, or family grounds, and nothing else.

Several of these offers are taken apart separately: Bulgaria, Slovenia and Moldova, "Romania in a month", Serbia and "a passport in a year", Mexico and Paraguay.

Does an investment passport let you live in Europe?

No. An investment passport does not by itself give the right to live in Europe. It is a travel document, and residence is a separate step taken on top of it.

The standard pairing has two stages. First comes citizenship of a small country, held as a valid travel document. Then a residence permit in a European country is obtained on that passport, most often by buying property. The first supplies the document; the second supplies the legal basis for being in the EU.

Which countries attach residence to a purchase, and which do not, is covered in Residency by buying property.

The verdict

There are five working options, and each has a price, a timeline and a weak point. Everything else you will be offered lies outside the lawful procedure, with all the consequences that follow.

Investment is also only one way of acquiring a second nationality. The other mechanisms are mapped in Second citizenship: which routes actually work.

Common questions

Which citizenship-by-investment programme is the fastest?

Vanuatu: 3.5–4 months as standard, or 2 months for a surcharge. Sierra Leone takes 7–9 months in practice, São Tomé and Príncipe about 9, Egypt a year or more, and Turkey 1.5–2 years.

Which programme has the lowest stated cost?

São Tomé and Príncipe, at about USD 120,000 for a family, followed by Vanuatu at about USD 165,000 and Sierra Leone at about USD 180,000. Egypt and Turkey are property routes, from USD 300,000 and USD 400,000 respectively.

Can Turkish citizenship be taken away after it has been granted?

Yes. Turkey annuls citizenship when the holder faces criminal prosecution at home, on a direct request and without an international wanted notice. Passports issued on inflated property valuations have also been withdrawn in large numbers.

Do you have to travel to Vanuatu to obtain or renew the passport?

No. Neither obtaining the passport nor renewing it later requires a visit.

Is any European citizenship-by-investment programme open to Russian or Belarusian applicants?

No. Visa-free Schengen access through purchased citizenship is closed to this group systemically, and offers naming Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hungary, Moldova or Serbia are not working options.

How many countries does a Sierra Leone passport open without a visa?

Roughly 60, and a significant share of them are in Africa.