Why does everyone on TH-cam keep ignoring the loophole of spending just one year in Puerto Rico, getting the Certificado de Ciudadanía de Puerto Rico and then residing legally in Spain for two years. AND that way you get the Spanish passport without renouncing the US passport.
@@WaterFresh7 no, this also applies for citizens of any former Spanish colony (Spanish speaking LATAM, equatorial guinea and the Philippines.). No need to live in Puerto Rico for citizens of those other countries.
I have been based in Cyprus as an EU passport holder for the last ten years, and I don't want to rain on your parade, but I know of so many foreign nationals who are married to Cypriot citizens for years, some of them filed for naturalization for well over ten years age--I kid you not--but there cases are still buried under the huge backlog. It also affects British citizens whose country, as we all know, left the EU, and they are in need for an EU passport in order to enjoy the free movement on the continent. May I remind you that Cyprus is not signatory to the Schengen Agreement.
I am 68 and learning Greek as my 5th language. Though I was born in Cyprus I am a British (and for the last 25 years also Swiss) citizen. Cyprus is the nearest to heaven on Earth I know. Cypriots are used to good infrastructure since it was a British colony until 1960. All Cypriots I have ever met are very friendly, also speak good English. If I can't stay where I am, I would love to move there. The food is excellent, the climate too, the sea clear and unpolluted, Cyprus Telecom (CYTA) has some of the fastest internet and mobile connectivity in Europe... A beautiful country. Rob in Switzerland
@@RobWhittlestone This is a WILD insight. Having never been to either place, I just want to make that clear, I can't imagine a person picking Cyprus over CH. Except...maybe the warmness of the people/more relaxed attitudes? And maybe cost of living? Again, as an outsider, most of the complaints in videos I see about Cyprus talk about slow bureaucracy, slow internet, and lack of things to do--coming from a video of a guy who had moved from the UK (he posted that literally just 2 weeks ago). So it's surprising, but I really appreciate you sharing. Now I can't wait to go to both this Winter! Now I have to add a 5th language to my own Duolingo daily workout.
In theory, yes, but only if your German is advanced enough (C1) + you need to prove "special integration achievements, in particular particularly good academic, vocational or professional achievements or civic engagement" 😅 Either way, in practice, they're so swamped right now (and will be for a while), the process is still gonna take an extra 1.5-2.5 years.
I've seen this new law before. It's only for "highly skilled workers" (whatever that means) who are employed by foreign companies and not for everyone, for example self-employed. 4 or 5 years to naturalization depending on language level not 3 1/2. Still seven years plus for everyone else though no language requirement.
@@meetimian3383 Well, it seems like maybe it wasn't such a good path with their tax rates. And was it March they started allowing dual citizenship? Anyway, I just wanted to ask, is there any documentation with those time frames? I think I read if a person does the integration courses it helps.
The metric I am most interested in regarding naturalization now is how many people are awarded citizenship annually. What are the hard numbers. I started paying attention to Latin America and the numbers there are dismal. The country that seems most likely to award citizenship is Argentina with about 4k people naturalized a year. Chile is currently just over 1k a year, but with 1.5 million immigrants in Chile that is not a particularly high percentage. Paraguay gets a lot of talk, but only 1 person got citizenship last month, just 850 last year with 75% awarded citizenship via marriage and only 25% via routine naturalization. The most recent numbers for Peru were from 2019 & it was 72 people. Meanwhile Portugal granted 46,299 people citizenship last year & the USA granted nearly 1 million citizenships by naturalization last year. These statistics are not often easy to find, in fact much of the time they are nearly impossible to find, I found the Chilean data after a lot of web searches and then the information was inside a long text paragraph in a much broader report on immigration in Latin America and naturalization. The US makes the data easy to find, but so easy that it drowns out other country's data when you use a web search for the term naturalization and fill in the blank country name.
Wow, I've THOUGHT about this, but never actually sought the data. After I "picked my country" I just sort of focused on that one place, and didn't dig deeper for comparison to see the big picture. Thanks. Obviously each country is gonna do what they're gonna do, but it's informative to know who's fast-tracking, slow-walking, or just not even processing applications realistically.
And how long is the processing time for the Cyprus citizenship? Can the whole process take less than 5 years? As far as I understand all the countries you mentioned like Portugal and Ireland have a backlog and the processing time can take two years
Portugal is 3 years processing time now, but the backlog is set to balloon as there is a huge number of applicants moving through the residence queue now
Spouses of portuguese citizens can obtain it after only 3 years of marrige if they can prove ties to Portugal such as having portuguese children or speaking portuguese. This requirement is waived after six years of marriage.
Are they really gonna naturalize people? That's the problem I have with Cyprus, Greece etc.. There so much nationalism going there that naturalization is hard
If an Australian lives in Cypress as a non Dom - will the ATO considers that they've not permanently left Australia and are still a tax resident of Australia?
What are your opinions on Sint Marteen? Can you live there Tax Free of your worldwide income, capital gains and dividend outside the island as a Non US Person? Would be great if you can comment or make a video about.
Since residency takes living in the country for 5 years or more, then I am not going for the Southern European options, and certainly not Cyprus. Ireland is my goal, but right now my GF of 2 years is Venezuelan and so that kinda eliminates that option. We just keep traveling now - no home base. If there was a way easily in Norway or Finland, that would be ideal. I would LOVE to stay in those countries. And, yes, I prefer winter!
Hi I wonder if it is possible to invest in African countrys for example like real estates and or farming and not tax for my whole income in that country ? Thank You
I know you asked about this MONTHS ago, but I was researching years ago, and it might help you research this better. As I understood things; property overseas (as an American) is not taxed, as well as gold inside a private vault, like Brink's (as opposed to a bank which has to do FATCA). But if you had a farm, that you mentioned, generating profits I think that would be taxable. Again, please investigate, but its how I remember.
It's actually very good, just make sure you go directly to the hospital and not the GPs. Get the insurance too, of course, it's not free (but not crazy either).
I got my Finnish citizenship in 4 years 3 months. Everything was very easy in my case...i don't know what is differences for others. They offered me language and professional study with unemployment benefits...i got job while studying I applied citizenship with my professional graduate certificate and i got my decision in 3 months.
I wonder who Mike thinks is the best EU or best citizenship "Over all" if he was forced to pick just one. 2nd question as number one but this time overall best residence if he had to pick one... I know the best overall is not Bulgaria for citizenship lol :) for 2024 I also know Dubai is not the best residence overall in 2024
I know you asked about this MONTHS ago, but I'd been reading, so here's my basic understanding. The month this is if you want to have a "tax residence" in Cyprus--meaning that's who taxes you. BUT you cannot be in any OTHER country for more than 183 days, or that country will be your tax base. Of course if you're American, like me, this becomes a FEIE and FTC issue of which country gets what amount. However those 2 months don't make you a Cyprus resident, you would have to give them 183 days out of the year. And, to really move towards the citizenship (and passport), they're gonna want to see even MORE time on the ground and more "ties" to the country. AND, your last year before applying you need to be there the full 12 months (although I've read, you can leave for 90 days out of the year. So I've considered a 1 week a month plan for myself or something like that, to break up the monotony). Also the language. But I've been on free Duolingo, Greek doesn't seem as hard as my experiments with Arabic, but harder than Italian. Last thing, officially, after you DO finally apply for citizenship, they're supposed to decide within 8 months. But I encourage you to read some comments here of people who've been waiting 10 years. 10 years.
Geez, don't be telling people about this! I am planning to take advantage of this one in 2026 and I don't want to arrive and find all the real estate bid up (like everywhere else I try and consider)! Yes, that is one of the requirements, buying property to get residence. The Greek language requirement is a little daunting. Not to mention they are pretty close in proximity to a pretty unstable part of the world. The good news is that they made legislative changes last year that do make the citizenship path somewhat predictable.
Man, I can't believe I started my "move to the EU" plan 6 years back and Cyprus was top of the list. Crypto, overall tax break, and my desire to trade my actual house for a boat I could live on. Then they killed their program, so I got all set for Portugal, then THEY killed their program AND people soured on red-tape and backlogs. So then I picked a third country, that I've been prepping for with daily language. And now, here comes Cyprus-back in play for me maybe...I wonder if living from a marina would count, hahah. Thanks for the details.
I just had to click on this video when I saw the title. Who in their right mind would want to go to the EU? I won't even go to Western Europe because it's too dangerous. I will only go to Eastern Europe and even in Eastern Europe I will only go to certain countries that are safe.
Im VERY sorry making what sounds like an ad hominem attack but arghh, this accent is one of the worst ive heard in a ling time and i dont man because he is Canadian. Most decent Canadians dont sound this horrible. Makes the video unwatchable! :(
Why does everyone on TH-cam keep ignoring the loophole of spending just one year in Puerto Rico, getting the Certificado de Ciudadanía de Puerto Rico and then residing legally in Spain for two years. AND that way you get the Spanish passport without renouncing the US passport.
Have you actually done this?
Is this only for us citizens?
@@WaterFresh7 no, this also applies for citizens of any former Spanish colony (Spanish speaking LATAM, equatorial guinea and the Philippines.). No need to live in Puerto Rico for citizens of those other countries.
U can get a Spain pp that quick through res. No investment
Wow thanks
This isn't really easy.
I have been based in Cyprus as an EU passport holder for the last ten years, and I don't want to rain on your parade, but I know of so many foreign nationals who are married to Cypriot citizens for years, some of them filed for naturalization for well over ten years age--I kid you not--but there cases are still buried under the huge backlog. It also affects British citizens whose country, as we all know, left the EU, and they are in need for an EU passport in order to enjoy the free movement on the continent. May I remind you that Cyprus is not signatory to the Schengen Agreement.
Does Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
I was recently looking at Cyprus too. It sounds so good until you get the part where you have to learn Greek. That sounds soo hard.
If you're young enough, it would still be worth it to get the EU passport though.
It depends upon how much you want it.
I am 68 and learning Greek as my 5th language. Though I was born in Cyprus I am a British (and for the last 25 years also Swiss) citizen. Cyprus is the nearest to heaven on Earth I know. Cypriots are used to good infrastructure since it was a British colony until 1960. All Cypriots I have ever met are very friendly, also speak good English. If I can't stay where I am, I would love to move there. The food is excellent, the climate too, the sea clear and unpolluted, Cyprus Telecom (CYTA) has some of the fastest internet and mobile connectivity in Europe... A beautiful country. Rob in Switzerland
@@RobWhittlestone This is a WILD insight. Having never been to either place, I just want to make that clear, I can't imagine a person picking Cyprus over CH. Except...maybe the warmness of the people/more relaxed attitudes? And maybe cost of living? Again, as an outsider, most of the complaints in videos I see about Cyprus talk about slow bureaucracy, slow internet, and lack of things to do--coming from a video of a guy who had moved from the UK (he posted that literally just 2 weeks ago). So it's surprising, but I really appreciate you sharing. Now I can't wait to go to both this Winter! Now I have to add a 5th language to my own Duolingo daily workout.
Does Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
Germany also recently claimed giving passport in 3+ years. Correct me if I am wrong
under what basis?
B2 German needed and you have to be highly qulified, but yes, it is true.
In theory, yes, but only if your German is advanced enough (C1) + you need to prove "special integration achievements, in particular particularly good academic, vocational or professional achievements or civic engagement" 😅 Either way, in practice, they're so swamped right now (and will be for a while), the process is still gonna take an extra 1.5-2.5 years.
Yes.
Germany is arguably the best option in EU right now
3 years under special conditions but normally 5 years. But PR is pretty fast
I've seen this new law before. It's only for "highly skilled workers" (whatever that means) who are employed by foreign companies and not for everyone, for example self-employed. 4 or 5 years to naturalization depending on language level not 3 1/2. Still seven years plus for everyone else though no language requirement.
Check Germany .
Less than 2 years of PR and passport in under 5 years and even in 3 years special conditions
@@meetimian3383 Well, it seems like maybe it wasn't such a good path with their tax rates. And was it March they started allowing dual citizenship? Anyway, I just wanted to ask, is there any documentation with those time frames? I think I read if a person does the integration courses it helps.
The metric I am most interested in regarding naturalization now is how many people are awarded citizenship annually. What are the hard numbers. I started paying attention to Latin America and the numbers there are dismal. The country that seems most likely to award citizenship is Argentina with about 4k people naturalized a year. Chile is currently just over 1k a year, but with 1.5 million immigrants in Chile that is not a particularly high percentage. Paraguay gets a lot of talk, but only 1 person got citizenship last month, just 850 last year with 75% awarded citizenship via marriage and only 25% via routine naturalization. The most recent numbers for Peru were from 2019 & it was 72 people. Meanwhile Portugal granted 46,299 people citizenship last year & the USA granted nearly 1 million citizenships by naturalization last year.
These statistics are not often easy to find, in fact much of the time they are nearly impossible to find, I found the Chilean data after a lot of web searches and then the information was inside a long text paragraph in a much broader report on immigration in Latin America and naturalization. The US makes the data easy to find, but so easy that it drowns out other country's data when you use a web search for the term naturalization and fill in the blank country name.
Meaning?
Great insight. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your research and finding the data. I appreciate the sharing. I'm surprised about Latam.
What is the number for Panama and Belize?
Wow, I've THOUGHT about this, but never actually sought the data. After I "picked my country" I just sort of focused on that one place, and didn't dig deeper for comparison to see the big picture. Thanks. Obviously each country is gonna do what they're gonna do, but it's informative to know who's fast-tracking, slow-walking, or just not even processing applications realistically.
Do people tend to stay in Grand Cayman in your experience? We are going over to check it out next week, looks promising.
Awesome just really costly
And how long is the processing time for the Cyprus citizenship? Can the whole process take less than 5 years? As far as I understand all the countries you mentioned like Portugal and Ireland have a backlog and the processing time can take two years
Portugal is 3 years processing time now, but the backlog is set to balloon as there is a huge number of applicants moving through the residence queue now
@@AlliedAgnosticAllianceDoes Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
Spouses of portuguese citizens can obtain it after only 3 years of marrige if they can prove ties to Portugal such as having portuguese children or speaking portuguese. This requirement is waived after six years of marriage.
Out of interest what country did you film this in?
Bulgaria :)
@@OffshoreCitizen Thank you
@@OffshoreCitizen Have you done any videos on Bulgaria? Thanks!
Are they really gonna naturalize people? That's the problem I have with Cyprus, Greece etc.. There so much nationalism going there that naturalization is hard
If an Australian lives in Cypress as a non Dom - will the ATO considers that they've not permanently left Australia and are still a tax resident of Australia?
What are your opinions on Sint Marteen? Can you live there Tax Free of your worldwide income, capital gains and dividend outside the island as a Non US Person? Would be great if you can comment or make a video about.
Stay away. I wrote about it, google imontheball no spaces
great - so how does one legally qualify for residency in these countries? I love how that is always glossed over :D
Since residency takes living in the country for 5 years or more, then I am not going for the Southern European options, and certainly not Cyprus. Ireland is my goal, but right now my GF of 2 years is Venezuelan and so that kinda eliminates that option. We just keep traveling now - no home base. If there was a way easily in Norway or Finland, that would be ideal. I would LOVE to stay in those countries. And, yes, I prefer winter!
How does consulting work with you? I pay for an hour and I get a game plan? Have you dealt with people from Israel in the past?
Yes, many of our clients come from Israel. Please send a message through our website for further details
Malta & Cyprus ❤️
Hi I wonder if it is possible to invest in African countrys for example like real estates and or farming and not tax for my whole income in that country ? Thank You
Dont invest in Central African countries totally unstable ecosystem !
I know you asked about this MONTHS ago, but I was researching years ago, and it might help you research this better. As I understood things; property overseas (as an American) is not taxed, as well as gold inside a private vault, like Brink's (as opposed to a bank which has to do FATCA). But if you had a farm, that you mentioned, generating profits I think that would be taxable. Again, please investigate, but its how I remember.
That's certainly worth considering. What's the healthcare system like compared to places like France, Spain and Portugal?
It's actually very good, just make sure you go directly to the hospital and not the GPs. Get the insurance too, of course, it's not free (but not crazy either).
@@xandr13Does Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
I got my Finnish citizenship in 4 years 3 months. Everything was very easy in my case...i don't know what is differences for others. They offered me language and professional study with unemployment benefits...i got job while studying I applied citizenship with my professional graduate certificate and i got my decision in 3 months.
You were able to get Finland passport this route?
I wonder who Mike thinks is the best EU or best citizenship "Over all" if he was forced to pick just one.
2nd question as number one but this time overall best residence if he had to pick one...
I know the best overall is not Bulgaria for citizenship lol :) for 2024
I also know Dubai is not the best residence overall in 2024
Good intel!
So if someone does non-dom cyprus, just meets a minimum for 2 months each year, are you qualify for passport in 3.5 years if you learn a2-b1? Thanks.
I know you asked about this MONTHS ago, but I'd been reading, so here's my basic understanding. The month this is if you want to have a "tax residence" in Cyprus--meaning that's who taxes you. BUT you cannot be in any OTHER country for more than 183 days, or that country will be your tax base. Of course if you're American, like me, this becomes a FEIE and FTC issue of which country gets what amount.
However those 2 months don't make you a Cyprus resident, you would have to give them 183 days out of the year. And, to really move towards the citizenship (and passport), they're gonna want to see even MORE time on the ground and more "ties" to the country. AND, your last year before applying you need to be there the full 12 months (although I've read, you can leave for 90 days out of the year. So I've considered a 1 week a month plan for myself or something like that, to break up the monotony).
Also the language. But I've been on free Duolingo, Greek doesn't seem as hard as my experiments with Arabic, but harder than Italian.
Last thing, officially, after you DO finally apply for citizenship, they're supposed to decide within 8 months. But I encourage you to read some comments here of people who've been waiting 10 years. 10 years.
@@BobKnight-mm2zeDoes Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
Is it South park on the backward? Regards Cyprus, still no any real cases. And as far as I know, 4 years term only for pink slip
And then 10+ years of waiting, unless you have some buddies that can grease some palms.
@@xandr13Does Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
Geez, don't be telling people about this! I am planning to take advantage of this one in 2026 and I don't want to arrive and find all the real estate bid up (like everywhere else I try and consider)! Yes, that is one of the requirements, buying property to get residence. The Greek language requirement is a little daunting. Not to mention they are pretty close in proximity to a pretty unstable part of the world. The good news is that they made legislative changes last year that do make the citizenship path somewhat predictable.
Man, I can't believe I started my "move to the EU" plan 6 years back and Cyprus was top of the list. Crypto, overall tax break, and my desire to trade my actual house for a boat I could live on. Then they killed their program, so I got all set for Portugal, then THEY killed their program AND people soured on red-tape and backlogs. So then I picked a third country, that I've been prepping for with daily language. And now, here comes Cyprus-back in play for me maybe...I wonder if living from a marina would count, hahah. Thanks for the details.
Does Cyprus require proof of annual income of 50,000 euros or bank statement on an annual basis of 50,000 euros?
B1 language level is pretty hard level to pass.
No, it's not. It's like being able to read an elementary school level book. I know, I've taken a few language tests before.
Very wrong. B1 is basic.
Half an island. 😂
yea just show up without passport
Lol
Interesting change
I just had to click on this video when I saw the title. Who in their right mind would want to go to the EU? I won't even go to Western Europe because it's too dangerous. I will only go to Eastern Europe and even in Eastern Europe I will only go to certain countries that are safe.
Walk across the border illegally?
Im VERY sorry making what sounds like an ad hominem attack but arghh, this accent is one of the worst ive heard in a ling time and i dont man because he is Canadian. Most decent Canadians dont sound this horrible. Makes the video unwatchable! :(
First