Methodology

Pillar 1: Standard of Living

The Standard of Living Pillar is a measure of the level of wealth, comfort, and material goods offered by the 12 CBI jurisdictions under assessment.

This pillar is vital to those who yearn to relocate and to secure a prosperous and fulfilling lifestyle as well as for those wanting to take advantage of local business opportunities or seeking additional geographical diversification for their assets.

For this pillar, a wide range of official indicators were considered to allow for an accurate standard of living assessment. Here, establishing an appropriate benchmark was paramount, as a country’s score must be viewed both as an absolute value and as a relative value, within the context of the other CBI countries.

Pillar 2: Freedom of Movement

The freedom to travel within and between countries is of paramount importance to any individual seeking alternative citizenship. This holds true whether the individual wishes to travel for work purposes, to visit family, or for leisure.

In the 2023 CBI Index, the Freedom of Movement Pillar measures the relative strength of each country’s citizenship on the basis of three equally weighted factors: the number of destinations to which a country’s passport allows travel without restriction, the number of prime business hubs to which it provides access, and the degree to which a given citizenship provides settlement rights in other nations.

Emphasis was placed on the total number of countries and territories that may be visited visa-free and visa-on arrival destinations, as neither requires receipt of a visa in advance of travel. Government and other official sources, including data from the UN World Tourism Organization, were used to obtain up-to-date information on visa requirements for holders of each of the 12 passports under evaluation.

Pillar 3: Minimum Investment Outlay

The Minimum Investment Outlay Pillar measures one of the most practical and foremost considerations of CBI: how much capital is required for the investor to become an eligible applicant for the programme of their choosing.

The cost of applying for CBI increases with the number of dependants — or qualifying family members — included in an application. In some jurisdictions, this increase is proportional, while in others the cost only increases following the inclusion of multiple dependants. To remain consistent across all jurisdictions, it was assumed that one applicant was applying for citizenship alone (i.e. the application consisted of a single applicant).

Pillar 4: Mandatory Travel or Residence

The Mandatory Travel or Residence Pillar examines the travel or residence conditions imposed on applicants both before and after the granting of citizenship. Often busy with running a business or with international travel of their own, global citizens have little time to fulfil minimum stay requirements.

A careful examination of the laws, regulations and policies pertaining to each CBI programme was undertaken. First, it was determined whether any such prerequisites applied. Second, post- citizenship requirements were examined, as well as the consequences of failing to fulfil them. Third, the extent of the travel or residence requirements were analysed, with physical visits for the purposes of attending an interview, swearing an oath of allegiance, or giving biometric information all considered.

Pillar 5: Citizenship Timeline

The Citizenship Timeline Pillar looks at the average time taken for citizenship to be secured by the applicant.

The speed at which application forms and supporting documentation are processed, and the steps involved in approving an application, vary between programmes. Therefore, a thorough inspection of applicable laws, regulations, and policies was made to determine the official processing times mandated by each jurisdiction.

Extensive reliance was also placed on qualitative data gleaned from the first-hand experience of applicants, agents and other stakeholders, whose contributions proved to be an invaluable tool in ascertaining citizenship timelines.

As providing a rapid route to alternative citizenship is one of the key merits of CBI programmes, the highest number of points was awarded to the programmes with the shortest turnaround times.

As fast-track processing options are increasingly at odds with broad-based efforts to tighten due diligence and compliance procedures in citizenship by investment, this year’s CBI Index does not give any additional merit to programmes offering such options.

Pillar 6: Ease of Processing

The Ease of Processing Pillar measures the end-to-end complexity of the CBI application process. In some jurisdictions, the application process can be a labour-intensive and painstaking task that is time-consuming for the applicant; in others, it is streamlined, and the applicant receives clear directives on how to proceed.

The overall effortlessness of the application process is a particularly important component, and the promise of a smooth, hassle-free process can generate readiness to engage with a programme.

Multiple indicators were considered, commencing with entry qualifications such as previous business experience, a proven track record of achievement or fluency in a language, and knowledge of local history or culture. As passport renewals have considerable processing requirements, this year’s CBI Index also considers the duration of a passport’s validity, with a longer validity period attracting a higher score.

Pillar 7: Due Diligence

The Due Diligence Pillar focuses on each nation’s commitment to ensuring that their programme remains transparent and effective at evaluating potential candidates for citizenship. It is, therefore, a measure of each programme’s integrity.

The CBI Index focuses on the ability of governments to obtain information on and from applicants, such as by the performance of internal and external due diligence checks. Indicators comprise police certificate requirements — including the number of nations from which a certificate must be provided — as well as requests for fingerprints and biometric data.

Emphasis was also placed on a country’s ability to gather evidence on the applicant’s source of funds, as this is a core step in denying citizenship to those profiting from, or involved in, the financing of illicit activity.

Increasingly, strict anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering legislation has prompted some governments to exclude persons of certain nationalities from their programmes or to restrict funds transferred from certain jurisdictions, in order to ensure compliance with international sanctions. These trends are included among this pillar’s indicators.

This year’s CBI Index also considers programmes that require mandatory interviews both as part of efforts to reduce threats posed by illicit actors and to show a commitment to cooperating with international regulatory demands by tightening up due diligence processes.

Pillar 8: Family

The Family Pillar measures the extent to which investors can obtain citizenship for their immediate and extended family.

The CBI Index recognises that the rise of increasingly complex family relationships is driving investors to seek programmes that allow for a more diverse range of family members to be included under a primary application. Indeed, while the large majority of CBI programmes provide for the inclusion of spouses and minor children, only a handful of countries do so for adult children and extended family.

Introducing an additional layer of nuance to its scoring system, this year’s CBI Index also draws a distinction between family members who are allowed to apply with, and obtain citizenship at the same time as, the main applicant, and those who can apply at a later stage and as a consequence of the main applicant having already received citizenship.

Pillar 9: Certainty of Product

The Certainty of Product Pillar encompasses a range of factors that measure a programme’s certainty across five different dimensions: longevity, popularity and renown, stability, reputation and adaptability. With the CBI industry currently in a state of flux amid a tightening regulatory landscape, it is more important than ever to provide investors with a means of differentiating a programme’s relative robustness.