The fastest passports to obtain on each continent in 2026

Six continents, six fastest routes to a new passport. Citizenship by investment (CBI) programmes dominate where they exist. Where they do not, naturalisation time determines the race.

Every citizenship by investment programme promises speed. But the true speed to obtain a new passport depends on where you look, and some continents have no CBI programmes at all.

This guide analyses the fastest routes to new citizenship on each of the six inhabited continents in 2026, including programmes, costs, processing times, and the trade-offs associated with each option.

Where CBI programmes exist, they are dominant. Contributions or investments are always faster than years of residency. Where they do not exist, naturalisation time determines the race.

Look up the passport index.

Overview

Continent	Country	Pathway	Processing time	Minimum cost	Visa-free destinations
Africa	São Tomé and Príncipe	CBI (contribution)	6-8 weeks	$90,000	61
Oceania	Vanuatu	CBI (contribution)	30-60 days	$130,000	~90
Asia	Türkiye	CBI (real estate)	3-6 months	$400,000	~120
Asia	Cambodia	CBI (contribution)	3-6 months	$245,000	~53
North America	Saint Kitts and Nevis	CBI (contribution)	4-6 months	$250,000	~157
North America	El Salvador	CBI (contribution)	~2 months	$1,000,000	~137
Europe	Türkiye	CBI (real estate)	3-6 months	$400,000	~120
South America	Argentina	Naturalisation	2 years + processing	~$0*	~172

Africa: São Tomé and Príncipe

Details of São Tomé and Príncipe citizenship by investment services.

Processing time 6-8 weeks, minimum investment 90,000 USD and 61 visa-free destinations.

Africa’s fastest passport is also the world’s most affordable CBI programme. São Tomé and Príncipe launched its citizenship programme on 01/08/2025, and by January 2026 had issued its first passports. The Citizenship by Investment Unit operates as a public-private partnership based in Dubai, and the entire application can be completed remotely.

Single applicants contribute US$90,000 to the National Transformation Fund plus a US$5,000 application fee. A family of up to four pays US$95,000, with an additional US$5,000 per extra dependant.

A São Tomé and Príncipe passport offers more limited global mobility than Caribbean or European travel documents. Visa-free and visa-on-arrival access covers 61 destinations, including South Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore, but travel to the European Union and the United Kingdom still requires a visa.

The strategic value of this passport lies elsewhere: as a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), citizens of São Tomé and Príncipe enjoy preferential immigration access to Portugal and Brazil.

Sierra Leone offers citizenship within 60 to 90 days via its Go-for-Gold programme. The standard fast-track route costs US$140,000 and is processed in about 90 days. The ancestry-based naturalisation route, which targets applicants with African ancestry and requires a DNA test, costs US$100,000 and can grant citizenship in just 60 days.

Oceania: Vanuatu

Details of Vanuatu citizenship by investment services.

Processing time of 30-60 days, minimum investment of US$130,000 and approximately 90 visa-free destinations.

Vanuatu remains one of the fastest CBI programmes in the world, although São Tomé and Príncipe is challenging its leading position. The Development Support Programme (DSP) routinely grants citizenship within 30 to 60 days, and agent surveys by IMI put the average processing time at just 3.3 months when factoring in document preparation and banking procedures.

Single applicants contribute US$130,000 under the DSP. A family of four pays US$180,000. Applicants must demonstrate personal or joint net assets of at least US$250,000. Vanuatu also features alternative CBI routes through the CIIP framework, which include investment-linked options starting at lower price points for families.

The European Union permanently suspended Vanuatu’s visa-free Schengen access in December 2024. The passport remains open to many destinations in Asia, the Middle East and parts of the Americas, but Europe now requires a visa. For applicants who require Schengen access, combining a Vanuatu passport with a European residency programme has become a popular solution.

Nauru launched its Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Programme in November 2024, processing applications in 3 to 4 months. The base contribution is US$115,000, although a promotional window until 30/06/2026 reduces the contribution to US$90,000, matching São Tomé’s level. Nauru lost its visa-free access to the United Kingdom in December 2025 after the UK Home Office cited CBI-related concerns.

Asia: Türkiye and Cambodia

Details of Türkiye citizenship by investment services.

Asia has two active CBI programmes and both grant citizenship within 3 to 6 months.

Türkiye: processing time of 3-6 months, minimum investment of US$400,000 (real estate) and approximately 120 visa-free destinations.

Türkiye’s CBI programme is the world’s most popular direct citizenship programme by volume. More than 13,000 investors and their families have received Turkish citizenship since Ankara lowered the minimum threshold to US$250,000 in 2018 (subsequently raising it to US$400,000 in 2022).

The most popular route is purchasing real estate valued at least US$400,000, to be held for a minimum of 3 years. Alternative options include a US$500,000 bank deposit, purchasing government bonds or contributing to an investment fund. In February 2026, the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Migration Management introduced a same-day biometric procedure for CBI applicants, allowing investors to complete both residence permit approval and citizenship application submission in a single day. Total processing time from application to passport issuance is now under 3 months for well-prepared files.

Türkiye is a transcontinental country, spanning both Europe and Asia. This country appears in both the Asian and European sections of this article.

Turkish citizenship provides one advantage: eligibility to apply for visa E-2 for investors under a treaty with the United States. Applicants who obtain citizenship through investment must maintain a residential address in Türkiye for at least 3 years before filing an E-2 application, but this route remains an attraction for investors seeking indirect access to the United States.

Cambodia: processing time of 3-6 months, minimum investment of US$245,000 and approximately 53 visa-free destinations.

Cambodia operates the only remaining CBI programme in Asia, established under the 1996 Law on Nationality. The contribution route requires US$245,000 to the Royal Government, while the investment route requires US$305,000 in a project approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia. Total actual costs typically reach US$330,000 when accounting for government fees structured across four payment stages.

Applicants must visit Cambodia three times during the process to complete procedures, submit files and collect their passport. The programme permits dual citizenship and grants full real estate ownership rights, including the ability to hold building land in the applicant’s own name.

The Cambodian passport grants visa-free access to all ASEAN member states, which is meaningful for investors focused on the Southeast Asian market. Outside the region, global mobility remains limited. Cambodia is not a party to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which adds a layer of financial privacy that certain applicants appreciate.

North America: Saint Kitts and Nevis and El Salvador

Details of Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship by investment services.

El Salvador technically features the fastest naturalisation route in North America (2 months via its CBI). However, due to the programme’s high price point, ambiguous framework and limited traction so far, Saint Kitts and Nevis is also included in this section.

Saint Kitts and Nevis: processing time of 4-6 months, minimum investment of US$250,000 and approximately 157 visa-free destinations.

The Caribbean dominates the North American CBI market, and Saint Kitts and Nevis operates the world’s oldest programme. Established in 1984, it set the benchmark that every subsequent CBI programme has attempted to replicate.

The Sustainable Island State Contribution (SISC) route requires a non-refundable contribution of US$250,000 for a single applicant or a family of up to four. The real estate route starts at US$325,000 for an approved project with a 7-year holding period, or US$600,000 for a private single-family dwelling. Processing takes 4 to 6 months and the entire application can be completed remotely.

The Saint Kitts and Nevis passport grants visa-free access to approximately 157 destinations, including the Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The government has announced that it will introduce a minimum physical presence requirement of 30 days in 2026, although this regulation is not yet in force.

All five Caribbean countries with CBI programmes (Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Lucia) belong geographically to North America. Dominica offers the lowest entry point at US$200,000. Grenada stands out for its unique access to the E-2 treaty investor visa in the United States. Processing times in the Caribbean range from 4 to 8 months.

El Salvador processes CBI applications in about 2 months, technically making it the fastest CBI programme in the Western Hemisphere. The price point is US$1,000,000, payable in Bitcoin or USDT. The programme launched in late 2023 and industry observers view it as overpriced relative to the passport’s value. El Salvador’s travel document grants access to roughly 137 visa-free destinations, including the Schengen area and the UK, but details regarding programme structure, due diligence procedures and application volume remain limited.

Europe: Türkiye

Europe has two pathways to citizenship by investment, but they differ vastly in cost, timeframe and what you receive.

Türkiye (transcontinental): Türkiye’s CBI programme, detailed in the Asian section above, grants citizenship within 3 to 6 months with a minimum of US$400,000. For investors who classify Türkiye as European (the country is a NATO member, an EU candidate country and partially located on the European continent), this is the fastest citizenship attainable on European soil.

However, Turkish citizenship does not come with EU membership rights. Holders cannot live or work freely across the 27 EU member states.

There are currently no active CBI programmes in Europe. Malta recently introduced a citizenship by merit (CBM) option, and other countries such as Austria operate similar frameworks, but processing times are not fixed.

Some countries such as Poland, Ireland and (currently) Portugal offer naturalisation after 5 years of residence, making them among the fastest routes in Europe. However, no country can compete with the processing times of Türkiye.

South America: Argentina

A residence processing time of 2 years, minimum investment costs limited to residence application fees, and approximately 172 visa-free destinations.

South America has no active CBI programmes. Argentina fills that gap with the fastest naturalisation timeline in the region and one of the fastest globally outside of CBI territories.

Foreigners who establish legal residence in Argentina qualify to apply for citizenship after just 2 years. Qualifying does not equal approval: once eligible, the naturalisation application itself can take many additional months to process. The Rentista Visa requires proof of monthly income from foreign sources of approximately US$2,000, and the process from residence application to naturalisation has historically been faster and more predictable than in neighbouring countries. With Peru recently extending its naturalisation period from 2 to 5 years, only Argentina and the Dominican Republic still offer 2-year citizenship for most applicants.

Decree 366/2025 has changed the calculation. Applicants must now be physically present in Argentina throughout the entire 2-year period, and any departure from the country resets the clock to zero. Prior to this decree, the physical presence requirements in Argentina were more relaxed.

Argentina permits unlimited dual citizenship. The passport grants visa-free access to 172 destinations, including the Schengen Area, and provides residence rights under the Mercosur Residence Agreement across 9 South American countries.

The bigger news is what lies ahead. Argentina formalised the legal framework for its first Latin American CBI programme via Decree 524/2025 in July 2025, creating the Citizenship by Investment Programme Authority. The decree empowers the Ministry of Economy to set investment thresholds, and the ministry has not yet published the final figures, although reports at the time indicated the minimum would be around US$500,000, targeting manufacturing projects. Programme details remain incomplete, with the government currently tendering for firms to design and manage the scheme. Market observers expect applications to open in late 2026 or early 2027.

Comparing the continents

Your choice depends on your purpose for a passport. If you need any second citizenship quickly, São Tomé and Príncipe grants it in 6 weeks for US$90,000.

If you need a second citizenship that serves as both a key to Mercosur residency and includes 172 visa-free destinations, Argentina requires patience but offers one of the most strategically valuable citizenships in the Western Hemisphere. And if CBI is not an option, alternative pathways exist to qualify for a new citizenship within 2 years.