How soon will you hold your second passport? Processing times of every programme

A passport is a right, not a permission. A visa can be refused or revoked; your citizenship cannot. That is exactly why every week counts with citizenship by investment: as long as the application is pending, you do not yet hold that right.

How long does it take to buy citizenship?

The honest answer: it depends on where you start the clock. The deadlines governments publish almost never begin with your decision. They begin when the application is filed, or even only when the authority acknowledges receipt. Before that come weeks in which you obtain certificates, have them translated and certified, and document where your funds come from.

Every application follows the same pattern, set out step by step on the process page:

1. Preparation: documents, translations, certifications, proof of the source of funds.
2. Submission: in the Caribbean states, through a government-licensed agent.
3. Review: due diligence on every adult applicant, often with a video interview.
4. Approval in principle: the state says yes in principle.
5. Payment: in many programmes the contribution or investment is only paid now; in St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica within a fixed deadline.
6. Certificate, oath and passport: the certificate of naturalisation, an oath in some countries, then the passport.

Once you know the steps, you read the authorities' figures correctly. An approval after 60 working days is not yet a passport. A decision after 180 days can still be the better choice if the programme suits your family and the places you travel to.

Processing times of every programme at a glance

Each programme states its timeline differently and counts from a different point. Where no deadline is published, something else sets your schedule.

You will find the amounts and fees of each programme under costs, and the direct comparison of price, family and travel freedom in the programme comparison.

Which country gives you citizenship the fastest?

Three programmes stand out because they publish short deadlines and require no travel.

Sierra Leone: passport usually after 90-120 days

Sierra Leone usually counts 90 to 120 days from the complete application to the finished passport. If you want speed guaranteed, choose Priority Processing: your passport is then issued and dispatched by DHL within 120 days at the latest, or the submission fee is refunded. The deadline runs from the moment all documents are complete, with certified translations, and the programme fee has arrived in the escrow account.

The whole process runs remotely. You do not travel to Sierra Leone, there is no embassy appointment, and the oath of allegiance and declarations are notarised over Zoom. You need no police certificate, no medical examination and no reference letters; the independent due diligence takes care of the background check. More in the article on the Sierra Leone passport and directly at sierraleonepassport.com.

Grenada: approval within 60 working days

The Investment Migration Agency Grenada puts it plainly: the application is approved within 60 working days of submission, provided the due diligence is satisfactory and the funds have been received. The interview takes place online as part of the review. The agency requires no visit to Grenada before, during or after the process.

60 working days are roughly three calendar months. The certificate and passport follow.

São Tomé and Príncipe: approval in about two months

The Citizenship by Investment Unit of São Tomé and Príncipe gives a usual approval time of about two months. You pay the donation to the National Transformation Fund only after approval in principle. The programme requires neither residence nor a move, during or after the application.

St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica: deadlines set by regulation

These two Caribbean states have written their deadlines not just on a website but into their regulations. That gives you certainty for planning, even if the figures look longer at first glance.

St Kitts and Nevis: 120-180 days to a decision

The Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations of 2024 require the Citizenship by Investment Unit to inform the licensed agent within 120 to 180 days of the acknowledgement of receipt: approved in principle, refused, or delayed for a reason and still being processed. After approval you have at most 90 days to pay the contribution or present proof of ownership of the property. Only then is citizenship granted.

As for the passport itself: since 1 September 2026, passport production has been part of biometric enrolment. The authority initially quotes four to six weeks for production, counted from 1 September 2026 or from enrolment, whichever is later. How enrolment and the passport application come together is explained in the news item on biometrics and the passport application in St Kitts and Nevis.

Dominica: response within three months

In Dominica, the Citizenship by Investment Unit must inform the agent within three months of submission whether the application has been approved in principle, delayed for a reason or refused. After approval you have at most 30 days to make the investment and pay all government fees. The unit itself expects at least three months until approval in principle. The interview is mandatory for every applicant aged 16 and over and usually takes place virtually.

Where no deadline is published: Antigua, St Lucia, Türkiye, Jordan

When an authority gives no figure, that does not mean things move slowly. It means you anchor your timeline elsewhere.

In Antigua and Barbuda, the Citizenship by Investment Unit gives no processing time on its page about the application process. The licensed agent submits the application in person together with the payments due and receives the decision. An interview may be required.

St Lucia gives no deadline either. Since 4 September 2023, every main applicant has an interview with identity verification, and you pay the contribution to the National Economic Fund only after approval.

Türkiye works differently from the Caribbean: here the investment comes first. Only once it has been made and the competent body has confirmed it with a certificate (Uygunluk Belgesi) do you apply for citizenship. The same certificate also serves as the basis for the residence permit under Article 31(1)(j) of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458. For fund units, a three-year holding period applies from the point the minimum investment is reached. The amounts for every route, such as property from USD 400,000, are on the Türkiye page.

Jordan grants citizenship for productive projects, shareholdings or shares on the Amman Stock Exchange. Here your investment project sets the pace, not a form. The routes in detail are on the Jordan page.

Vanuatu and Cambodia: when the oath means a trip

Two programmes require you to be there in person, and that belongs in every timeline.

In Vanuatu you take the oath before a court in Vanuatu, even if you live abroad, and only after approval. Under the Development Support Program the certificate is issued within 90 days of approval, and payment is made in two instalments: 25% before the review by the Commission, 75% before the certificate is issued. So plan your trip to Vanuatu while the application is still running. Everything else about the programme is in the article on the Vanuatu passport.

In Cambodia you are in the country in person when you apply. The review takes at most 45 working days, citizenship is granted by royal decree, and the oath is taken in court.

How long does naturalisation take after applying and after payment?

Almost everyone asks two questions as soon as the application is in: when will the decision come, and how long does it take after payment?

The decision comes within the deadlines the authorities publish. What matters is the starting point: Grenada and Dominica count from submission, St Kitts and Nevis from the authority's acknowledgement of receipt, Sierra Leone from the complete application with the programme fee paid.

For the time after payment, it helps to look at the sequence. In St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and St Lucia you pay the contribution or investment only after approval in principle, not when you apply. That way the large sum is not tied up during the review. Once the payment arrives, the authority checks that the money has been received, issues the certificate, and you apply for the passport. In St Kitts and Nevis, the four to six weeks of passport production come on top.

In Sierra Leone, the programme fee sits in the escrow account until naturalisation. If naturalisation cannot be completed, it is refunded in full, except for the submission and processing costs.

What slows your application down and what speeds it up

Most delays arise not at the authority but before submission or through follow-up questions. These points decide whole weeks:

• Complete documents: birth and marriage certificates, proof of address, passport copies. As long as anything is missing, the clock does not start.
• Translation and certification: documents in a foreign language are translated, and public documents are certified or apostilled. Allow time for this before you submit.
• Source of funds: the more clearly you show where your wealth comes from, the fewer follow-up questions in the review. What exactly the state checks is covered in the article on due diligence in the passport application.
• Legible passport copies: Grenada routes applications through the CBI Web Portal of CARICOM IMPACS into the regional security check. The agency requires high-resolution colour scans with the machine-readable zone fully visible and warns that illegible images can delay processing.
• Availability for the interview: Grenada holds the interview online, Dominica usually virtually, St Kitts and Nevis virtually or in person. If you can make time at short notice, you lose no weeks.
• Family in the application: every additional adult brings their own certificates and their own review. Who can be included is shown on the family page.

Why the wait is worth it: months instead of years

A few months feel long when you check the letterbox every morning. Measured against the alternative, they are short. Naturalisation through residence is the free route and often the better one in the end, but it requires years of genuine residence in the country. How long these routes take country by country is shown in the article on the fastest naturalisations in the world, and for Latin America in the comparison of 21 countries.

One does not rule out the other. Citizenship by investment buys you time: within a few months you hold a second passport and can build up, in parallel, the residence that leads you to another nationality a few years later. Why you should take both routes at the same time is explained in the article on CBI and naturalisation. An overview of all three routes to a second nationality is available in German at wohnsitzausland.com.

Frequently asked questions