Cheapest Second Citizenship 2026: Official Programme Minimums

Vanuatu's $130,000 minimum contribution remains the cheapest active citizenship-by-investment programme in the world, a Pacific programme. Dominica, at $200,000, is the cheapest of the Caribbean programmes. Neither figure tells the full story: Vanuatu has lost both EU and UK visa-free access, while Dominica retains Schengen access.

The ranking, by official minimum contribution

Ranked purely by the lowest published government contribution for a single applicant, the current field runs: Vanuatu at $130,000, the lowest of any active programme and the only one based in the Pacific rather than the Caribbean; Dominica at $200,000, the lowest of the established Caribbean five; Antigua and Barbuda at $230,000; Grenada at $235,000; St Lucia at $240,000; St Kitts and Nevis at $250,000, the oldest programme in the world but also now the most expensive of the Caribbean five following the region's 2024 price harmonisation; and Turkey at $400,000, structured as a real estate purchase rather than a government fund donation. Each of these figures is a headline minimum only; due diligence fees, processing fees, and family add-ons apply on top in every case, and the full official cost detail for each Caribbean programme is covered in the dedicated country guides linked below.

Malta would historically have appeared toward the top end of this list, but its Malta Exceptional Investor Naturalisation scheme closed permanently on 26 July 2025, following the Court of Justice of the European Union's ruling in Case C-181/23 that the scheme breached EU law. Malta's citizenship route today is a discretionary, merit-based framework with no fixed investment threshold, covered in the dedicated guide to that ruling linked below, and cannot meaningfully be compared on cost to the programmes in this ranking.

Why cheapest is not automatically best value: Vanuatu's position

Vanuatu's $130,000 minimum is the genuine global floor, and the programme remains fast, at around two months from application to passport, and does not require a residence visit. What that headline figure does not capture is what has happened to the passport's travel value since. The European Union partially suspended visa-free access for Vanuatu passport holders in March 2022, moved to full suspension from 4 February 2023, and formally reclassified Vanuatu from visa-exempt to visa-required in a Council decision dated 12 December 2024, citing due diligence failures including citizenship granted to individuals listed in Interpol databases. The United Kingdom separately withdrew visa-free access for Vanuatu citizens from 19 July 2023, citing what the Home Office described as clear and evident abuse of the citizenship-by-investment scheme. A UK citizen weighing Vanuatu specifically for the price should understand that the lowest headline cost on this list also currently carries the narrowest travel access of any programme covered here, a trade-off covered in full in the dedicated guide to Vanuatu's citizenship position linked below.

Dominica: the cheapest programme that still has Schengen access

Dominica's position is more nuanced than a simple price comparison suggests. At $200,000, it is the cheapest of the five established Caribbean programmes, and unlike Vanuatu it currently retains visa-free access to the Schengen Area, generally around 90 days in any 180-day period, which has not been suspended. Where Dominica and Vanuatu do align is on UK access: the same 19 July 2023 UK Home Office announcement that withdrew visa-free access for Vanuatu also withdrew it for Dominica, so Dominica passport holders require a UK visa in the same way Vanuatu passport holders do, even though their EU position differs sharply. For a UK citizen whose main interest is low-cost citizenship with continued European travel freedom specifically, Dominica's combination of the lowest Caribbean price and intact Schengen access is currently the strongest position on this list, though this should not be read as a permanent guarantee, covered next.

The EU review affecting every programme on this list

Since the EU's revised Visa Suspension Mechanism entered into force on 30 December 2025, the mere operation of a citizenship-by-investment programme has, on its own, been sufficient grounds for the European Commission to suspend a country's Schengen visa-free access, without needing to prove a specific security deficiency first. The Commission's December 2025 report named all five established Caribbean states, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia, as under continued scrutiny, and in June 2026 the Commission formally requested that these states phase out their CBI programmes entirely by 1 June 2028, offering a 24-month transition. No Caribbean country's Schengen access has been suspended as of the time of writing, and Caribbean governments have publicly stated their programmes will continue regardless of the deadline, but this is a live, unresolved risk that sits underneath every price comparison on this page, not a settled feature of any of these passports. Vanuatu's experience, where formal suspension followed a multi-year process of exactly this kind, is the clearest precedent for how this could play out region-wide, and is covered in more detail in the dedicated Vanuatu guide linked below.

What actually determines the right choice at this end of the market

For a UK citizen approaching this purely as a cost question, the honest framing is that headline price and travel value move somewhat independently of each other across this list, and the cheapest option is not automatically the one that delivers the most durable travel benefit. Applicants prioritising the lowest possible entry cost with no particular reliance on European access are best served by looking directly at Vanuatu, understanding what it does and does not currently offer. Applicants specifically prioritising low cost combined with continued Schengen access are better served by Dominica. Applicants for whom United States E-2 investor visa eligibility matters should weigh Grenada or St Kitts and Nevis specifically, covered in the dedicated E-2 route guide linked below, since neither Vanuatu nor Dominica offers that route at all. None of this is a recommendation of any specific programme; it is a description of what each currently, verifiably offers, checked against the primary source for that programme, since this is exactly the area where marketing material and current legal reality diverge most often.

Frequently asked questions

What is currently the cheapest citizenship-by-investment programme in the world?

Vanuatu, a Pacific nation, at $130,000 for a single applicant. Among the Caribbean programmes specifically, Dominica is the cheapest at $200,000.

Is the cheapest citizenship programme also the best value?

Not necessarily. Vanuatu offers the lowest price but has lost both EU and UK visa-free access. Dominica, though not the absolute cheapest globally, retains Schengen access at a lower price than the other Caribbean programmes.

Why isn't Malta on this list of cheapest programmes?

Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme closed permanently in July 2025 following an EU court ruling. Its only remaining citizenship route is a discretionary merit-based framework with no fixed investment figure, so it cannot be meaningfully compared on cost.

Could the Caribbean's cheap citizenship programmes lose their EU access like Vanuatu did?

It is a live possibility rather than a settled outcome. Since December 2025 the EU has formally requested all five established Caribbean CBI programmes phase out by 2028, though none has yet lost Schengen access and their governments say the programmes will continue.

Which cheap citizenship-by-investment programme is best for American business access?

Neither Vanuatu nor Dominica offers this. Grenada is the only Caribbean programme on this list with a United States E-2 investor treaty; Turkey, also on this list, holds E-2 eligibility as well. In both cases, citizens who naturalise by investment generally need 3 continuous years of domicile before an E-2 application becomes eligible.