From Residency to Passport: How Long After Buying Property Until Citizenship? A Country-by-Country Timeline

Published on: June 26, 2026

The fantasy is simple: buy a home abroad, get residency, wait a few years, collect a second passport. The reality in 2026 is more complicated, and in several headline markets the route has either closed or been stretched. This guide gives you the actual timeline, country by country, with the major 2025 and 2026 changes built in, so you are not planning around rules that no longer exist.

The most important thing to understand first is that buying property almost never grants citizenship directly. The usual chain is: a qualifying investment earns a residence permit, you hold legal residency for a set number of years (often with physical-presence requirements), and only then can you apply for naturalisation. Each link in that chain has conditions, and the chain has gotten longer in the places people ask about most.

Investment-migration rules change faster than almost any area of law, and several changed in 2025 and 2026. This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Confirm the current rules with a licensed adviser before acting.

The 2025 to 2026 reality check

Three changes have reshaped the "property to passport" landscape, and all three cut against the old marketing:

• Spain abolished its golden visa with effect from April 2025. Buying property in Spain no longer grants any residency right.
• Portugal removed real estate as a qualifying investment back in 2023, and then, under a 2026 Nationality Law reform, extended the naturalisation timeline from five years to ten for most applicants.
• Malta's investor-citizenship scheme was struck down by the EU's top court in 2025 and withdrawn, ending the last direct citizenship-by-investment route inside the EU.

So the property-to-passport story is narrower and slower than it was even two years ago. Here is where it still works, and on what timeline.

Portugal: still a route, but now 7 to 10 years

Portugal's residency program (the ARI) remains open, but through funds, not real estate. The bigger change is on the citizenship clock. Under the 2026 Nationality Law, naturalisation now requires ten years of residency for most nationalities, and seven years for EU and Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) nationals, up from the previous five years. Applicants also face an A2-level Portuguese language test and a civic-knowledge assessment. For those who applied before the new rules were formally published, the clock is counted from the date the submission fee was paid. Portugal was long sold as "a passport in five years with seven days a year on the ground." That specific pitch no longer holds.

Greece: residency by property, citizenship after 7 years

Greece runs one of the few property-led golden visas left. The investment threshold is now zoned: €800,000 in high-demand areas (Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and larger islands), €400,000 elsewhere, and €250,000 only for conversion or restoration projects. That buys residency. Citizenship is available after seven years of residency, with language and integration requirements. Note one recent restriction: golden-visa properties cannot be used for short-term (Airbnb-style) lets, with fines and permit revocation for breaches.

Spain: golden visa gone, long road to a passport

With the golden visa abolished in 2025, buying property in Spain gives no residency at all. For those who obtain residency through other routes, naturalisation generally takes ten years. The major exception is dramatic: nationals of Ibero-American countries, the Philippines, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, plus Sephardic Jews, can naturalise after just two years. Spain also generally requires renouncing your prior nationality, so dual citizenship is not available to most applicants.

Italy: investment for residency, citizenship after 10 years

Italy's Investor Visa grants residency for a qualifying investment of €250,000 in an innovative startup, €500,000 in an Italian company, or €2 million in government bonds (note: residential property is not a qualifying route). Citizenship follows after ten years of legal residency. Faster Italian citizenship exists through descent or marriage, but not through investment.

Cyprus: permanent residency by property, slow path to citizenship

A €300,000 purchase of new-build property earns permanent residency in Cyprus, but that is not citizenship, and Cyprus is not in the Schengen area. Naturalisation takes roughly seven to eight years of residency.

Hungary: 10-year residency, ordinary naturalisation

Hungary's Guest Investor Residence Permit (launched in 2024) requires €250,000 in an accredited real estate fund or a €1 million university donation, and grants a ten-year permit. There is no fast citizenship attached; a passport comes only through ordinary naturalisation (around eight years, with a language requirement).

Turkey: the fast outlier

Turkey is the standout for speed. Citizenship by investment is available through a property purchase of $400,000, processed in roughly six to eight months, with no multi-year residency requirement. Turkey permits dual citizenship, and a Turkish passport uniquely opens eligibility for the US E-2 investor visa, which is part of why it draws international buyers.

UAE: residency, but no passport

Dubai and the wider UAE offer a ten-year renewable golden visa for a property investment of around AED 2 million (roughly $545,000), but there is no path to citizenship. This is residency and long-term stability, not a future passport.

The patterns to understand

The country table is only half the picture. Four variables decide whether a timeline is realistic for you:

• Physical-presence requirements. Some programs ask for only a few days a year; others require you to genuinely live there to start the naturalisation clock. A short threshold and a long one produce very different real timelines.
• When the clock starts. Some countries count from application or fee payment, others from the date a residence card is issued, which can add years given processing backlogs.
• Language and integration tests. Increasingly standard (Portugal's A2, Greece's integration requirements), and a real gate, not a formality.
• Dual-nationality rules. Turkey allows it; Spain generally does not. This can be decisive if you do not want to give up your current passport.

The broader direction of travel is unmistakable: EU pressure, the Malta ruling and successive national reforms are pushing the whole model away from passive "buy a passport" and toward longer residency, real presence and genuine ties.

Residency-to-citizenship, at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Can you get citizenship by buying property?
Directly, almost never. Turkey is the rare exception that grants citizenship for a qualifying purchase. Everywhere else, property buys residency at most, and citizenship follows years of legal residency and conditions.

Which country gives the fastest citizenship through property?
Turkey, by a wide margin: roughly six to eight months for a $400,000 property purchase, with no multi-year residency requirement.

How long does it take to get a Portuguese, Spanish or Greek passport?
Under current rules, Portugal is seven years (EU/CPLP nationals) to ten years, Greece is seven years of residency, and Spain is ten years for most (two years for a special list of nationalities). Portugal's old five-year route has been extended.

Does buying property in the EU give residency?
In fewer places than before. Spain and Portugal no longer offer a property route. Greece still does, and Cyprus offers permanent residency (not citizenship) through property. Always check the current program before assuming a purchase brings residency.

Disclaimer. Investment-migration programs change frequently and several changed in 2025 and 2026. This article is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Confirm current rules and your eligibility with a licensed professional before making any decision. Information was believed accurate at the time of writing in 2026.

A note on the numbers: where no source is named, the market figures in this article (prices, yields, costs) are indicative estimates compiled from publicly available market data and industry reporting at the time of writing. Markets move and rules change, so treat them as a starting point and verify current figures with official sources before acting on them.