Malta Far Ahead

For the third consecutive year, Malta’s Individual Investor Program (MIIP) is the top-ranking citizenship-by-investment program in the world, with a score of 81 out of 100.

The Mediterranean island-nation is followed by Cyprus in 2nd place (with a score of 72) and Austria in 3rd place (with a score of 63). Antigua and Barbuda ranked 4th, followed very closely by Grenada, which is ranked 5th. The lowest-ranked citizenship program is Dominica’s, with a score of 51.

The eight citizenship programs included in the report were evaluated according to 10 indicators: Reputation, Quality of Life, Visa-free Access, Processing Time and Quality of Processing, Compliance, Financial Requirements, Residence Requirements, Relocation Flexibility, Physical Visit Requirements, and Transparency. Each indicator had an equal weighting of 10, producing a total score out of 100 for each country.

Portugal on Top

Portugal’s Golden Residence Permit Program has emerged as the world’s best residence-by-investment program for the third year in a row, with a score of 79 out of 100. Portugal is very closely followed by Austria in 2nd place (with a score of 78) and Belgium in 3rd place (with a score of 77). In the last and 20th place, and with a score of 36, is Bulgaria’s residence program.

The 20 residence programs surveyed in the report were assessed according to 10 indicators, some of which are very similar to those used in the citizenship index: Reputation, Quality of Life, Taxation, Visa-free Access, Processing Time and Quality of Processing, Compliance, Financial Requirements, Total Costs, Time to Citizenship, and Citizenship Requirements.

Fast Growing Interest

«Interest in the industry has steadily increased over the past decade, and we anticipate that it will continue to do so,» Christian Kaelin, Group Chairman of Henley & Partners, said. «In fact, we expect well over 400 attendees from over 40 countries at this month’s Global Residence and Citizenship Conference in Hong Kong