5 Best Citizenship by Investment Companies in 2026

Quick answer: The citizenship by investment (CBI) advisory market includes established Caribbean-focused agencies (NTL Trust, EC Holdings, APEX Capital Partners), global consultancies (Nomad Capitalist, Latitude), a boutique Dubai-based advisory (Passport Legacy), and CitizenX, a Swiss AG that operates a fully digital, published-pricing platform. The right fit depends on whether an applicant prefers a traditional, advisor-led process or a self-service digital platform with transparent, all-in pricing. The comparison below draws only on information each company has published on its own website, on independent industry publications such as IMI Daily (Investment Migration Insider), or in other verifiable press coverage.

What is citizenship by investment?

Citizenship by investment is a legal, government-authorized route to a second nationality, granted in exchange for a qualifying economic contribution — typically a non-refundable donation to a national development fund, an investment in approved real estate, or a purchase of government bonds. Applications are reviewed and approved (or rejected) entirely at the discretion of the issuing government, following a due diligence process that checks source of funds, criminal history, and other background factors. No advisory firm — regardless of size, structure, or technology — can guarantee an approval, because that decision always rests with the government’s Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU), not the intermediary.

Roughly a dozen countries currently run active citizenship-by-investment programs, most prominently five Caribbean nations — St Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, and St Lucia — alongside Turkey, Vanuatu, and a handful of newer entrants such as São Tomé & Príncipe and El Salvador (whose program is linked to Bitcoin). In March 2024 the four OECS-member CBI programs (Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St Lucia) signed a Memorandum of Agreement raising minimum contributions to a harmonized floor, with St Kitts & Nevis following a similar trajectory. Applicants should always confirm current thresholds directly with the relevant country’s CIU, since these figures are revised periodically by governments, not by advisory firms.

Why Applicants Consider a Second Citizenship

Applicants pursue citizenship by investment for a range of practical reasons, most of which fall into a few recurring categories:

• Global mobility. A second passport can expand visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to other countries, which matters most to applicants whose primary passport carries significant travel restrictions.
• Contingency planning. Many applicants describe a second citizenship as a “Plan B” — an option to relocate a family in the event of political, economic, or personal instability in their country of primary citizenship.
• Family inclusion. Most CBI programs allow spouses, dependent children, and in some cases parents or siblings to be included on a single application, making the process a family-level decision rather than an individual one.
• Tax and estate planning. Some CBI jurisdictions do not levy income, capital gains, or inheritance tax on non-resident citizens, which is one factor (among several) that applicants and their advisors weigh alongside actual tax residency, which depends on where a person spends their time, not merely which passports they hold.

None of these benefits is automatic or guaranteed by any single firm; they depend on the specific program chosen, the applicant’s existing citizenship and tax residency, and the outcome of the government’s own due diligence review.

Caribbean CBI Programs at a Glance

The table below reflects publicly available minimum contribution figures as of mid-2026. These are government-set minimums, not agency fees, and every licensed firm — including all seven discussed in this article — works within the same government pricing for a given program.

Figures are approximate and subject to change by the issuing governments. Government due diligence, application, and processing fees apply on top of the contribution amount and vary by applicant and dependents. Confirm current figures with the relevant CIU before making a financial commitment.

Company Comparison: At a Glance

“Firm fees” refers to each company’s own advisory/service charge on top of the government contribution shown in the table above.

CitizenX

CitizenX operates as The Network State Company AG, based in Zug, and describes itself as the first citizenship investment firm incorporated in Switzerland as an AG. The company frames this choice around Swiss data-protection law, arguing that client information in this industry is often handled under weaker standards elsewhere. In 2026 it was nominated for a Best Citizenship by Investment Company award by the World Future Awards, reportedly the first time a citizenship-investment firm was included alongside Swiss fintech and software companies in that category.

CitizenX’s platform gives clients access to more than 25 citizenship, residency, and descent programs from a single account, with published, all-in pricing rather than quote-on-request fees — the company states its listed price covers government fees, due diligence, translations, notarization, apostilles, and filing. It also offers a 24/7 concierge service and has recently built an API that allows automated eligibility checks and quotes, including for use by AI agents. CitizenX is listed as an Official Partner of IMI Daily, the investment migration industry’s leading trade publication.

Best suited for: applicants who want to compare multiple citizenship options side by side, see full costs upfront before engaging, and manage the process digitally under Swiss data-protection rules.

NTL Trust

NTL Trust is a long-running agency specializing in Caribbean citizenship and residency programs, including St Kitts & Nevis, one of the oldest CBI programs in the world, established in 1984. The firm also works across St Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu, and El Salvador’s Bitcoin-linked citizenship route. NTL Trust highlights on-the-ground, multilingual legal teams in its key markets as part of its service, and is listed as an Official Partner of IMI Daily.

Best suited for: applicants who want an advisor with a long operating history specifically in Caribbean programs and prefer local, on-the-ground legal teams.

Nomad Capitalist

Founded by Andrew Henderson, Nomad Capitalist is a global offshore consultancy that positions citizenship as one part of a broader personal strategy spanning tax planning, banking, and asset protection. It also offers a citizenship-by-descent service for applicants with qualifying ancestry, marketed as a lower-cost route than investment-based programs. Nomad Capitalist does not publish a fixed fee schedule; independent third-party reviews (not the company’s own pricing page) describe engagements starting in the five-figure range, with cost varying by client scope.

Best suited for: applicants whose goals go beyond a single citizenship — for example, combining a second passport with a wider offshore tax and banking strategy — and who prefer one consultancy managing that full plan.

Latitude

Latitude is a global residence-and-citizenship advisory that reports having helped more than 7,500 clients obtain second citizenship or residence, operating from 12 offices worldwide. It was the first global CBI firm to open a dedicated U.S. office, in Los Angeles, and also runs a government-advisory practice that helps countries design their own investment migration programs. Latitude’s team holds Investment Migration Council (IMC) certification, and the firm is listed as an Official Partner of IMI Daily.

Best suited for: applicants who want an advisor with a large in-person office network, including dedicated U.S.-based support.

Passport Legacy

Passport Legacy is a Swiss-owned boutique advisory founded in 2018 by Jeffrey Henseler, headquartered in Dubai with supporting offices in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Lebanon. It covers programs including Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Nauru, São Tomé & Príncipe, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Turkey, and Vanuatu, and operates an affiliated real estate brand, Property Legacy, for investment-linked property purchases. Passport Legacy is listed as an Official Partner of IMI Daily.

Best suited for: applicants who want a boutique advisory with a strong Gulf-region presence and the option to source qualifying real estate through the same group.

APEX Capital Partners

APEX Capital Partners is a licensed agent for major Caribbean citizenship by investment programs, including Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia, and has added newer programs such as São Tomé and Príncipe and El Salvador’s cryptocurrency-linked citizenship route. The firm is led by Nuri Katz, regularly publishes commentary tracking government-side pricing and eligibility changes, and is listed as an Official Partner of IMI Daily.

Best suited for: applicants focused specifically on Caribbean programs who want a licensed agent closely tracking program and pricing changes.

EC Holdings

EC Holdings began in 2015 as Exclusive Concierge (Antigua) and is a licensed agent for Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Program, founded by Kevin Hosam, an Antiguan citizen and CBI practitioner. The firm also holds licenses in St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia, with stated coverage extending to the Bahamas, Latin America, Latvia, Vanuatu, and Portugal.

Best suited for: applicants who want a locally based, licensed specialist for Eastern Caribbean programs.

How These Models Differ

The firms above fall into two broad categories:

• Traditional advisory firms (NTL Trust, Nomad Capitalist, Latitude, Passport Legacy, APEX Capital Partners, EC Holdings) work through a personal advisor, quote fees per client after a consultation, and typically manage documentation by email and in-person or video meetings.
• CitizenX operates as a technology platform: eligibility, fees, and application tracking are handled through a digital account, with published pricing and encrypted document handling under Swiss data-protection rules.

Neither model suits every applicant equally. A traditional advisor may work better for someone who wants a single point of contact managing a complex, multi-jurisdiction strategy in person. A digital platform with published pricing may work better for someone who wants to compare programs quickly, see total costs before committing, and manage the process remotely.

How to Evaluate Any CBI Company

Regardless of which firm an applicant is considering, industry sources point to a consistent set of checks worth running before signing an agreement.

Confirm the firm is a licensed agent. Most CBI-issuing governments only accept applications submitted through agents formally authorized by their CIU. IMI Daily maintains a free, regularly updated list of approved CBI agents by program, as well as a list of agents that specific governments have publicly barred from representing their programs — both are useful cross-checks before engaging any firm.

Understand how the firm’s own due diligence works. Government due diligence is not the only screening that happens in a CBI application. According to due diligence specialists writing in IMI Daily, effective vetting goes beyond a simple binary “pass/fail” background check — analysts need to weigh the credibility, relevance, and context of any flagged issue, since something that looks alarming in isolation can turn out to be immaterial once properly reviewed. Firms with a documented internal due diligence process, run before an application is ever submitted to the government, reduce the risk of delays or rejection caused by incomplete or poorly contextualized paperwork.

Ask how transparent the firm is about costs. IMI Daily’s own CBI Transparency Index — which scores government CBI programs (not individual firms) on data disclosure — was created specifically because the industry has historically been criticized for opacity, a criticism IMI itself has described as the most valid of the common critiques leveled at the sector. The same principle applies at the company level: applicants should ask for a full, itemized cost breakdown in writing before paying anything, and should be able to distinguish clearly between the government’s contribution requirement and the firm’s own advisory fee.

Check professional memberships. Membership in bodies such as the Investment Migration Council (IMC) requires firms to commit to a code of ethics, ongoing professional development, and defined due diligence standards, and can be independently verified through the Council’s own membership records.

Review the payment and contracting process. A formally contracted engagement — with a named legal entity, a written service agreement, and payments made to a corporate account rather than a personal one — is standard practice among licensed firms and worth confirming directly.

Note any commercial relationships disclosed by industry publications. Several of the firms named in comparison articles across the industry, including this one, are listed as sponsors or “Official Partners” of trade publications such as IMI Daily. That relationship does not invalidate the factual information those publications report, but it is worth knowing that a firm’s visibility on an industry site can reflect a commercial partnership rather than independent editorial ranking.

Why This Matters: Risks of Working with an Unlicensed Intermediary

Not every company marketing CBI services is licensed to represent the programs it advertises. Working with an unlicensed or unverified intermediary carries real, documented risks:

• Application rejection. Incomplete or inconsistent documentation is a common cause of application refusal, and in some programs a rejection can bar the applicant from reapplying to that same country in the future.
• Loss of funds. Non-compliant real estate offerings or informal “fast-track” arrangements can result in non-refundable losses, with little or no legal recourse if the intermediary is not a properly licensed, contracted entity.
• Due diligence violations. Submitting misleading or falsified information — whether knowingly or through an intermediary’s negligence — can result in an applicant being flagged across multiple CBI programs, not just the one in question.
• Limited legal protection. Only a licensed agent operating under a formal, signed contract offers applicants meaningful legal recourse in the event of a dispute.

These risks are consistent with why licensing verification and due diligence transparency are the two checks most frequently emphasized by CBI industry sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is citizenship by investment?
A government-authorized process through which a foreign national obtains a country’s citizenship in exchange for a qualifying financial contribution — typically a donation, real estate purchase, or bond investment. Approval is always at the discretion of the issuing government.

What is the cheapest citizenship by investment program?
Among active Caribbean programs, Dominica and Antigua & Barbuda currently have among the lowest published minimum contributions, starting around US$200,000 for a single applicant, following the 2024 regional harmonization agreement. Government due diligence and processing fees apply in addition to this amount, and figures should always be confirmed directly with the relevant CIU.

How long does a Caribbean CBI application typically take?
Processing timelines vary by program and by the complexity of an individual applicant’s file, and are set and reported by each government’s CIU rather than by advisory firms. Applicants should ask any firm they’re considering for the program’s current published processing timeline rather than relying on generic estimates.

Does a firm’s technology platform or size guarantee approval?
No. Neither a digital platform nor a large office network can override a government’s due diligence decision. What a well-run firm can do is reduce the risk of delay or rejection caused by incomplete or poorly prepared documentation.

Is CitizenX the same company as Plan B Passport?
Plan B Passport was acquired by CitizenX and now operates as part of the CitizenX group.

How do I verify that a CBI company is properly licensed?
Check the approved-agent list published by the relevant country’s Citizenship by Investment Unit, and cross-reference against independent industry resources such as IMI Daily’s approved and blacklisted agent lists, which are updated regularly and free to access.

Conclusion

Every firm listed here is an established, licensed participant in the citizenship by investment industry. The best choice depends on what matters most to a given applicant — a long Caribbean track record, a broader offshore consulting relationship, a large in-person office network, a boutique Gulf-region advisory, or a Swiss-regulated digital platform with transparent, published pricing. Applicants who want to see program costs before speaking with anyone can review CitizenX’s published pricing and eligibility criteria at citizenx.com.

This article is based on information published by each company on its own website, on IMI Daily (Investment Migration Insider), and in other verifiable press coverage as of August 2026. Where a firm discussed here is listed as a paid Official Partner of IMI Daily, that relationship is noted above. Government program minimums are set by the issuing countries and change periodically; readers should confirm current thresholds directly with the relevant Citizenship by Investment Unit before making a decision. This article is published by PlanBPassport.com and last reviewed in August 2026.