The real cost of citizenship by investment

How much cash do you need vs. what you'll never recover?

Eleven programs, one family, government charges only, from each government's own fee schedule.

One family, eleven price lists. Take a couple with children aged 10 and 15 and price them on each government's own fee schedule, as published on 13 September 2026. Each route gives two numbers: the fees and contributions the government keeps, and any money that stays in your name as property or a business. ^{5, 8, 10}

Read the two money columns separately. The first is spent for good: contributions, processing, due diligence and passports. The second is property or a business held in your name, which is why Türkiye's US$400,000 and Jordan's JOD 350,000 sit apart from every Caribbean contribution. The five-program Caribbean comparison sets the Caribbean routes side by side. ^{8, 10}

Define your household before requesting quotes

Four people is where the flat family price ends in much of the Caribbean. Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis set one contribution for a family of up to four, and Dominica and Saint Lucia for a main applicant with up to three dependants. Egypt, Türkiye and Jordan price the application itself, so the family members each one covers add nothing to the government charge. ^{7, 2, 6, 4, 9, 8, 10}

Give every quote the same birth dates. In Dominica, a 17-year-old costs US$5,000 more than a 15-year-old: US$4,000 in due diligence plus a US$1,000 interview. Ask which date fixes each child's age for the fee. ⁶

With the household written down, compare programs on the citizenship by investment countries page, and use the geoarbitrage budget to price the whole year of living wherever the family settles.

What's hiding behind the advertised price?

The advertised figure is usually the contribution alone. Antigua and Barbuda's US$230,000 contribution becomes US$266,700 for this family, and St Kitts and Nevis's US$250,000 becomes US$274,600. The Antigua and Barbuda guide breaks down each line. Even full totals leave items out, and the governments name them. ^{17, 5, 2, 3}

• Biometrics in St Kitts and Nevis. Enrolment has been mandatory for every new application since 14 April 2026: US$2,500 for the main applicant, US$2,000 for a second adult and US$1,300 per child under 16. The mandatory interview carries no published fee. ^{3, 2}
• Saint Lucia's interview and passport. An enhanced interview and identity check has been mandatory for the main applicant since 4 September 2023, at an unpublished fee. Approval brings a Certificate of Registration; the passport follows as a separate application with its own fee. ^{4, 18}
• Vanuatu's passport and oath. The passport costs VT 7,000 for normal service (up to 21 days), VT 10,000 express (up to 14 days) or VT 15,000 urgent (up to 3 days). The oath is taken in person at a Vanuatu court, so applicants living abroad travel there. ^{19, 20}
• Türkiye's registry fees and valuation. The land registry sends its title-deed fee and revolving-fund fee by text message once the paperwork clears. Since 4 March 2024 one company, GEDAS, issues the valuation report every application needs, and it publishes no fee. ^{21, 22}
• Two price lists that disagree. Grenada's official pages give adult due diligence as US$5,000 or US$6,000, a total of US$257,000 or US$259,000. Saint Lucia's give the main applicant's as US$8,000 or US$7,500, a total of US$258,000 or US$257,500. ^{7, 4}

Does returned principal save you money?

It does when the money comes back on time and in the currency you paid. On these six routes most of the cash buys property, a project share, a bond or a deposit. The fees are the part you spend, from US$10,000 on Egypt's property route to US$116,500 on Dominica's real-estate route, where a US$100,000 government fee sits on top of the purchase. ^{9, 15}

What is your peak cash requirement before repayment?

The peak is the full amount, paid before anything returns. Saint Lucia's bond route needs US$368,000; US$300,000 comes back after five years, without interest. Egypt's deposit route needs US$510,000, and the US$500,000 deposit returns after three years in Egyptian pounds at the Central Bank rate on that day. On 13 September 2026 that rate was EGP 51.3068 buying and EGP 51.4443 selling per US dollar. ^{4, 9, 24}

Moving that much money costs something too, so compare the amount that lands with the international transfers worksheet. Tax is a separate question again: citizenship, residency and tax residency sets out how the three differ.

Can you actually sell the property or exit the investment?

Every route that returns money sets a date, and some set conditions after it. Read the holding period and the exit rule together before you count on the cash coming home.

A sale date and a buyer are two different things. The rules set when you may sell; the market sets the price. Price the exit below what you paid, add the years of upkeep, and check whether the route still works. The Saint Lucia guide sets out each of its routes.

Separate government invoices from professional services

Every fee above is a government charge, and the adviser sends a second invoice. Several programs make that adviser part of the process. Grenada's applications must be handled by agents, and St Kitts and Nevis accepts applications through an Authorised Agent alone. Türkiye works the other way: foreigners make each citizenship application in person. ^{7, 25, 26}

Nauru's program confirms the agent's advisory fee is extra and unpublished, and Vanuatu's fee page says agent fees vary. Grenada charges developers their own US$10,000 application fee and US$7,500 due diligence, billed to the project. Before you sign, get four things in writing. ^{13, 14, 7}

• The government charges, itemised line by line against the official schedule, with the ages used.
• The professional fee on its own line, with what it covers and what triggers each payment.
• Who holds government money before it reaches the program, and how unused money comes back.
• Every charge still unknown, such as Saint Lucia's interview check or Türkiye's registry fees, marked as pending. ^{4, 21}

Budget documents by where they come from

Group the paperwork by the authority that issues it. Identity, family and financial records each carry their own copy, legalisation and translation costs, and a record that expires before filing gets paid for twice. The Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica totals above leave document legalisation out, so give it a line per person. ^{5, 6}

Malta, Austria and Argentina: status, not a price

Three more countries turn up in searches for investment citizenship, and none sells it today. Each reached that point by a different road.

• Malta: ended by court ruling, 29 April 2025. The Court of Justice of the European Union held that EU citizenship “cannot result from a commercial transaction” and found Malta's 2020 investor scheme incompatible with EU law. Since 29 July 2025 a discretionary merit route applies, which the agency calls “neither a programme nor a scheme, pathway, continuation, or alternative” to it. See the Malta status page. ^{27, 28}
• Austria: an achievement test, current on 13 September 2026. Section 10(6) of the Citizenship Act lets the Federal Government waive the usual residence, income and renunciation conditions for extraordinary achievement in the Republic's special interest, and the economic criteria call money flows alone insufficient. The government decides at least once each calendar half-year. See the Austria status page. ^{29, 30}
• Argentina: decreed, unopened, now in court. Decree 524/2025, signed 30 July 2025, created the pathway without setting a fee, a minimum investment or an application form. On 30 June 2026 the Cámara Nacional Electoral declared null the decree's transfer of citizenship decisions from federal judges to a migration agency, and the government is appealing to the Supreme Court. National press reported on 20 August 2026 that the program still awaits its implementing regulation. See the Argentina status page. ^{31, 32, 33}

Who may promote each program?

Seven of the eleven governments that sell citizenship control who may market it, and Malta bars any marketing of its merit route. Knowing the rule helps you check anyone who contacts you with an offer.