Citizenship by Investment There’s a quicker way though for those who don’t want to wait, which is where economic citizenship programmes comes into the picture. Citizenship by investment is not as common now as it were a decade or two ago, and there are only a few countries left who offers this kind of program. The way these programs work is that Governments of those countries can grant citizenship to individuals who make a substantial investment in the country. Often a range of choices are given, from investing in real estate to contributing to a development fund. Instead of having to wait for several years before being able to apply for citizenship, through an economic citizenship program you can receive your new citizenship and second passport within months. Be prepared to go through a criminal background check when you participate in such a program, because there’s no such thing as under the counter passports these days and these countries does not grant citizenship to criminals no matter how much money is offered. As mentioned earlier, very few countries offer economic citizenship programmes, and those who do require a substantial fee if you want to participate. The only two official and legal economic citizenship programmes today can be found in the countries of St. Kitts & Nevis and the Commonwealth of Dominica. St. Kitts & Nevis is likely the most famous country, and require a minimum $350,000 investment OR you can choose to donate $200,000 to the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.