Residence by Investment 2026 — Every Serious Program, Compared

Golden visas, investor residence, lump-sum tax regimes and retirement routes — from EUR 50,000 Baltic tickets to Monaco's bank-certified wealth. What each really costs, what presence it demands, and where the citizenship road actually leads.

Residence and citizenship answer different questions. A residence permit answers where you may live — and often, where you are taxed; a passport answers what you carry when you cross borders. The programs below are the world's serious residence answers in 2026, after a turbulent few years in which Spain, Ireland, the UK and Australia closed their golden doors while Hungary, New Zealand and Hong Kong opened or rebuilt theirs. Each guide covers the real thresholds, the presence rules that actually bind, the tax regime attached, and an honest verdict on who the program fits.

If your underlying goal is a second passport on a defined timeline, start instead with the direct citizenship programs or check whether ancestry already entitles you through citizenship by descent — then come back here for the residence layer. The strongest family strategies usually stack both.

Premium Havens

Monaco

No income tax; bank-certified wealth and real presence

Switzerland

Lump-sum taxation from ~CHF 150k/yr; a negotiated fiscal home

Singapore

GIP: SGD 10M+ for immediate PR in Asia's wealth capital

Hong Kong

CIES: HKD 30M into markets; PR at year seven

Anglosphere

Australia

Golden visa abolished — the talent routes that remain