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Cheapest Golden Visas in 2026: Lower-Cost Options Compared

Key findings

  • The lowest published residency-by-investment floors are concentrated in Latin America, but amounts expressed in wages or local currency move over time.
  • Latvia’s lower entry amount comes through company investment, with continuing business obligations.
  • Several low-cost programs are residency-only and do not directly lead to a passport, so price should be weighed against the long-term goal.
  • The same headline floor can mean a nonrecoverable contribution, a home purchase, or a job-creating business; these are different financial commitments.

Several lower-cost investment-residence routes begin below $100,000, but their entry figures conceal very different commitments. At one end, an applicant may need to build or support an operating business. At the other, the capital may sit in an approved asset for years. Either arrangement can be a poor bargain if it conflicts with how the applicant needs to use their money.

This comparison keeps each program's official currency because exchange rates can change the apparent order. It also separates investment from the status it supports: temporary residence, permanent residence, and a possible future citizenship are different outcomes.

Compare every program: see the full golden visa & investment residency guide.

The cheapest sticker price often buys the most work

The lower end of this market is not a bargain shelf of interchangeable property visas. It is dominated by routes where the applicant must make the capital productive. Brazil's lower floor is tied to a business that can support the required innovation or job-creation case. Latvia's €50,000 option is company capital plus a separate state payment. Panama's $100,000 forestry route requires a qualifying project and a maintained investment. A low entry number can therefore mean more operating risk, more local administration, and less liquidity.

As the comparison moves upward, passive-asset choices become more common: approved real estate, investment funds, bonds, or regulated portfolios. Those are easier to describe as “invest and hold,” but they create a different risk profile. Property may be geographically or legally restricted, fund shares may be illiquid, and a residence permit can remain conditional on keeping the asset for years.

The status granted matters just as much as the capital. Some routes begin a temporary-to-permanent progression; others grant permanent residence more directly; several Gulf and Asian programs provide long renewable residence without a conventional citizenship path. A €50,000 temporary residence permit and a $150,000 direct-permanent-residence route are not competing versions of the same product.

Before calling one program cheaper, separate the qualifying investment, additional money that must remain available, and costs that will be spent. Honduras makes the distinction concrete: its investor route requires a completion guarantee in addition to the investment. A budget that uses every available dollar to meet the investment floor leaves nothing for that guarantee, the application, or operating the project.

Time in the country is another part of the price. Belize’s investor temporary residence is designed for applicants whose commitments abroad prevent them from meeting ordinary permanent-residence attendance rules. That flexibility may be useful, but an annually renewable permit and a permanent grant solve different problems. Belize’s proposed investor transition could narrow that gap, but the conflicting official timelines and unconfirmed commencement make it unsuitable as a settled assumption in an investment budget.

Lower-cost golden visas

Country Pathway Pathway to citizenship Minimum investment
Brazil Brazil Investor Visa — Business 4 years BRL 150k–500k
Colombia Colombia Investor Visa (M-6) 5 years 100 SMLMV for a company-owner route (COP 175,090,500 in 2026); 350 SMLMV for property (COP 612,816,750)
Ecuador Ecuador Investor Visa 3 years $48,200
Honduras Investor Residence Separate naturalization rules; investment does not itself grant citizenship USD $50,000 qualifying investment plus a separate USD $5,000 completion guarantee
Latvia Latvia Investor Residence 10+ years €50,000 + €10,000 state payment
South Korea Korea D-8 Investor/Startup Separate long-term path KRW 100M
Philippines Philippines SIRV Not a direct pathway $75,000
Vanuatu Vanuatu Investor Residence Separate naturalization; provisional status is temporary and does not permit employment VUV 10M funds for the provisional category; later categories have different requirements
Panama Panama Reforestation Visa Separate naturalization after qualifying residence $100,000 for the provisional-to-permanent forestry route
Guatemala Investor Residence Separate permanent residence and naturalization applications USD $100,000 documented qualifying investment
Brazil Brazil Investor Visa — Real Estate 4 years BRL 700k–1M
Peru Business Investor Residence Separate permanent-residence and naturalization requirements PEN 500,000 qualifying company investment through the required international transfer
Costa Rica Costa Rica Investor Residency PR after 3 years; citizenship is separate $150,000
Anguilla Anguilla Fund Residence Permanent residence; nationality is separate USD $150,000 nonrecoverable contribution for one applicant, plus USD $50,000 per dependent and separate fees
Paraguay Paraguay Investor Pass Direct PR; naturalization is separate $150,000 tourism project, or $200,000 financial-instrument/economic-use property route
Georgia Georgia Property Residence Permit Separate long-term path More than $150,000
Portugal Portugal Golden Visa PR after 5 years; ordinary citizenship is now generally a longer 7–10 year plan €250,000 for qualifying cultural support, reduced to €200,000 in a qualifying low-density territory; other routes are generally €400,000–€500,000 or job creation
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic Investor Residency Separate naturalization after qualifying PR $200,000 ordinary minimum; a certified official regime may differ
Belize Investor Temporary Residence Renewable annual residence; permanent residence and citizenship require separate qualification BZD $500,000 documented investment
Greece Greece Golden Visa Separate naturalization after qualifying residence and physical presence €250,000 only for narrow real-estate conversion or listed-building restoration cases; ordinary real-estate floors are €400,000 or €800,000
Hungary Hungary Guest Investor Residence Not a direct pathway €250,000 in qualifying real-estate-fund shares; the alternative donation route is €1 million
Italy Italy Investor Visa Long-term residence after 5 years; citizenship is separate €250,000 innovative-startup investment; other branches start at €500,000
Cyprus Cyprus Permanent Residence by Investment Separate naturalization after qualifying physical residence €300,000 in qualifying property, company share capital, or investment-fund units, plus secure-income and ongoing-compliance rules
Georgia Georgia Investment Residence Permit Separate indefinite-stay permit after 5 years if continuing conditions are met USD $300,000 investment or qualifying non-agricultural property valued above USD $300,000
Turks and Caicos Home-Investment Permanent Residence Permanent residence; BOTC naturalization is separate USD $300,000 for a qualifying completed home project on five named islands, or USD $1 million elsewhere, with a Governor's conditional written commitment and separate fees
Qatar Qatar Property Owner Residence Not a direct pathway QAR 730,000 in qualifying property
Mexico Mexico Investor Residence Separate long-term path More than 45,850 daily UMA (MXN 5,378,663.50 in 2026)
Bahrain Bahrain Golden Residency Not a direct pathway BHD 130,000 in qualifying property for the property-owner branch
Indonesia Indonesia Golden Visa Not a direct pathway USD $350,000 for the five-year portfolio-investor branch
Luxembourg Luxembourg Investor Residence Separate long-term residence and citizenship rules €500,000 for the lowest qualifying business or company branch; higher investment structures are €3 million or €20 million
United Arab Emirates UAE Real-Estate Golden Visa / Public-Investment Golden Visa Not a direct pathway AED 2 million (about USD $545,000) in a qualifying property, public-investment, business-capital, or tax-contribution structure
Oman Oman Golden Residency Not a direct pathway OMR 200,000 for a published investment branch

The available investment matters more than the statutory headline

Latvia’s low entry amount can distract from the business that must sustain the residence case. Its company routes carry annual tax-payment requirements, making the company’s continuing performance part of the applicant’s immigration risk. The September 2026 law also changed the available menu: former property, bank, and securities routes do not support new applications, and the proposed state-established fund is not yet accepting them. Older marketing material can therefore describe both an attractive price and the wrong transaction.

This is one reason a price comparison needs an application route behind every number. A provision in legislation, a government announcement, and a program accepting a supported file are different stages.

A business has to support more than the first permit

Peru’s investor residence shows why the form of an investment matters as much as its size. Capital placed into a registered company is not interchangeable with buying a home or shares from an existing owner. The official in-country procedure specifies how the funds arrive and how the company formation or capital increase is recorded.

The next stage can ask more of the business. Peru’s ordinary permanent-residence application has further requirements for investors, including employment and company evidence. A project that supports an initial permit is therefore not automatically ready to support permanent status. The business needs to make commercial sense through that longer period.

Not ranked: no single comparable minimum

The routes in this section are grouped by why they cannot be compared fairly with the ranked investment floors above.

Older official floor, not a current ranked figure: An official Invest Barbados report describes a five-year Special Entry and Reside Permit for a non-citizen investing at least USD $2 million in specified Barbados investments. Those investments include rental real estate, property development, manufacturing, tourism, bank deposits, mutual funds, bonds, and other financial instruments. Because that description dates from 2014 and the current Immigration checklist does not repeat the threshold, assigning Barbados a current place in the ranking would imply more certainty than the live public guidance supports.

Fiji's Investor Permit remains a real business-investment residence route, but the current Immigration Department application page does not publish a single fixed investment threshold. It requires a registered Fiji company, proof of accessible funds, a Fiji tax number, and Reserve Bank confirmation of the company's share issuance. It is therefore misleading to preserve the older FJD 250,000 figure as a current ranked minimum.

The U.S. E-2 Treaty Investor visa is also unranked because U.S. law does not set a dollar minimum; the investment must be substantial in relation to the real operating business.

Montserrat's economic-residence permit also belongs outside a single-price ranking. It calls for a commercial investment plan without one published universal investment minimum, plus a separately maintained XCD 400,000 local property investment, bank deposit, or government-securities holding. The government's guidance also asks for business experience and lawfully obtained net worth above XCD 400,000. Counting only the separate holding would understate the full commitment.

Nicaragua and Venezuela require official recognition of the investment. A universal current minimum has not been verified for either, so the financial requirements need confirmation for the specific project. A repeated figure in an older relocation article is not enough to price the application; the accepted project and certification process need to be established first.

Packages that cannot be reduced to one amount: Malaysia My Second Home uses category-specific packages combining a fixed deposit with compulsory residential property. The lowest SEZ/SFZ deposits currently start at $32,000 or $65,000 and the national tiers at $150,000, but deposit alone is not the total qualifying investment.

Malta's Permanent Residence Programme is unranked because it combines several separate tests rather than one investment. The principal applicant must buy qualifying property for at least €375,000 or rent for at least €14,000 a year, satisfy one of two asset tests, and separately pay a €60,000 administration fee, €37,000 contribution, and €2,000 donation. Comparing only the property price or only the government payments would understate the package.

Programs above the lower-cost range: These programs are real investment-residence options, but placing them beside a $50,000 or $100,000 route obscures more than it reveals. They are ordered by approximate entry floor.

Program Published floor What the capital is doing
Cayman Islands 25-Year Residence KYD 500,000 in Cayman Brac or Little Cayman, including KYD 250,000 in developed property; Grand Cayman requires KYD 1 million, including KYD 500,000 in developed property The investment must be paired with the island-specific independent-income requirement or a qualifying KYD 400,000 local account; the certificate does not allow work
Anguilla Residential-Property Residence USD $750,000 for a family of up to four; USD $100,000 per additional dependent Qualifying residential real estate gives residence-only rights; sale within five years can put the status at risk
Anguilla Business-Property Residence USD $750,000 for a family of up to four Business premises, or a mixed property investment with at least half of the required value in business premises; the program advertises work rights subject to the grant's terms
Turks and Caicos Business-Investment Residence USD $750,000 on five named islands; USD $1.5 million elsewhere Completed business investment, a conditional written commitment from the Governor, local job creation, and at least 60% employees who are not work-permit holders; the principal may work only in their own business
Mauritius Golden Visa USD $1 million Qualifying investment under the current long-residence framework
Turks and Caicos USD $1 Million Investment Residence USD $1 million in a qualifying home or business A separate PRC category that does not require the Governor's advance commitment once the qualifying investment is complete; work is limited to the holder's own business where authorized
Saudi Property-Owner Premium Residency SAR 4 million Ownership of qualifying Saudi residential property
Saudi Business-Investor Premium Residency SAR 7 million Investment in a Saudi business plus the program's ownership and employment commitments
Cayman Islands Developed-Property Residence KYD 2 million paid into qualifying developed real estate New applicants receive an initial ten-year grant under the May 2026 rules; indefinite renewal requires a later application, and work permission is separate
Hong Kong New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme HKD 30 million A prescribed portfolio of permissible investment assets

Saudi Arabia's annual and one-time-fee Premium Residency products are not included in the investment ranking because their published payments are government fees, not investments in assets or a business.

When the asset supports an ordinary residence application

Some destinations connect financial evidence to a place where the applicant will actually live, without offering a standardized investment package. Serbia’s homeowner route concerns an owned home used for residence. Monaco’s self-supported route combines suitable accommodation with accepted financial evidence. A bank’s requested balance or a particular home’s price is not necessarily a universal government threshold.

Azerbaijan and Montenegro have clearer property-value conditions, but the result is still an ordinary temporary-residence application. Montenegro’s 2026 rule also treats specified European applicants differently. Comparing advertised purchase prices without checking the applicant’s nationality and the accepted valuation can therefore misstate the actual requirement.

San Marino’s elective residence creates another distinction: a qualifying home and a specified financial investment involve different commitments, including the financial branch’s long lock-up. Someone who needs access to the capital later may value liquidity more than a small difference in headline price. Jersey’s high-value resident approval is excluded from an immigration ranking altogether because it concerns housing status; a person needing immigration clearance must obtain it separately.

Smaller Middle Eastern commitments can mean different rights

Jordan’s bank-deposit route provides annual residence without work through JOD 20,000 in a local bank, or JOD 10,000 plus an apartment in the applicant’s name. Bahrain’s ordinary property-owner route starts with a BHD 50,000 home and at least BHD 500 in monthly income, plus the current banking, insurance, and document requirements.

These are ordinary residence categories. They should not be mistaken for investment citizenship or assumed to provide every benefit of a premium program. Ask about work permission, maintaining the financial basis, and renewal before comparing the amounts with a business investment or permanent-residence grant.

Source notes

Pacific business and residence options

The Pacific investment comparison adds approved-business routes in the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands alongside Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Zealand. Some official checklists do not state one universal capital minimum, while others combine capital with points, business history, or active management. They should not be assigned a made-up low price for inclusion in this table. Citizenship programs in Naoero and Vanuatu are a separate comparison from these residence options.

Methodology

Figures are based on the official sources linked below and in the individual pathway guides. Amounts are shown in the official currency or formula where possible; any approximate conversion is only a planning aid. "Pathway to citizenship" means the residence may be part of a later, separate naturalization plan—not that investment buys citizenship. The table is ordered broadly from lower to higher entry floors, but close positions can change with exchange rates and are not presented as exact ranks. Programs without a published fixed minimum are listed separately.

Latvia’s migration authority supports the investor comparison. Additional residence examples use the official sources linked from their pathway pages.

The Azerbaijan, Montenegro, San Marino, and Jersey distinctions draw on the official sources linked on their pathway pages. These options sit outside the fixed-price comparison.

South Asian investment residence needs its own comparison

Sri Lanka’s Investor Visa starts at USD $100,000 for five years through permitted investments and designated accounts. Its USD $200,000 option uses an initial five-year endorsement and a letter supporting the further extension. Maldives corporate residence includes a USD $250,000 five-year bank-deposit option or government-approved project, alongside a larger qualifying-investment alternative. The deposit’s holding period does not itself establish the visa term.

Nepal’s industrial-investor route needs agency confirmation because Immigration’s USD $100,000 wording differs from the industry department’s requirement for more than that amount at one time. Nepal’s Business Visa and Bangladesh’s Private Investor Visa depend on approved operating investments rather than a universal passive-investment package. The South Asia report explains these differences. The linked resources contain the official sources; none of these routes grants citizenship.

North Africa residence investments

Egypt’s property-owner residence starts at USD $50,000 for one year, with USD $100,000 and USD $200,000 property bands for three and five years. Its bank-deposit residence uses USD $50,000 for one year or USD $100,000 for three years. The published residence decision leaves documentary controls to Immigration, so confirm the property or bank product and its terms before committing funds.

These are separate from Egyptian citizenship through investment, whose lowest option is a USD $250,000 contribution plus a separate USD $10,000 application fee. Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt also have active-business residence routes; company formation alone does not secure immigration permission. The North Africa report compares the options and sources.

West African business residence has different costs

The West Africa guide adds active-business options in Cabo Verde, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone alongside Nigeria’s existing small-enterprise investor route. Business registration, operating costs, and permission for the owner’s role all matter; these routes should not be ranked as low-cost passive golden visas simply because a residence checklist gives no single investment amount. Ghana changed its investment law in July 2026, so older capital tables need particular care.

East African business investment and approved property

The East Africa comparison adds active-business routes with distinct capital tests: Malawi uses at least USD $50,000 from lawful foreign funds, Kenya requires at least USD $100,000 for Class G, and Zambia distinguishes a new business from joining an existing company. These are business commitments with operating and approval requirements. Mozambique’s investment visa instead uses the approved project’s value and remains temporary permission.

Mauritius approved-property residence is a separate option from its Golden Visa. The cited residence guidelines require a qualifying IRS, RES or PDS property exceeding USD $375,000; obtain EDB confirmation of the particular purchase and retain ownership. These residence routes do not grant citizenship. The linked pathway resources contain the official thresholds and conditions.

Southern Africa: published fees are not investment prices

Namibia’s investor permit, introduced in September 2026, can authorize an approved active business for up to five years. NIPDB has not publicly released its detailed investment criteria. The NAD 2,600 annual permit fee is not a qualifying capital amount, so the route is not ranked as a cheap fixed-price investment offer. NIPDB’s current guidance.

South Africa’s financial-independence permanent residence is also outside the investment-price ranking: ZAR 12,000,000 is a net-worth test, while ZAR 120,000 is a separate payment after approval. It does not require buying a particular investment. The Southern Africa comparison also covers genuine operating-business routes in Botswana, Eswatini, and Lesotho.