Bank-deposit residency programs remain available in a small number of countries, offering residence permits in exchange for placing funds in a local bank account rather than buying property, running a business, or purchasing government bonds. The accessible end of the market has narrowed, with four remaining options at deposit levels of USD 100,000 or less.
Paraguay’s USD 5,000 deposit pathway was repealed in November 2025. Latvia and Greece still have bank-deposit options, but their thresholds are much higher, at EUR 280,000 and EUR 500,000 respectively.
Ecuador: Lowest Deposit Threshold
Ecuador offers the cheapest listed bank-deposit route, with a threshold of USD 48,200.
The Investor Visa requires a deposit equal to 100 times Ecuador’s monthly minimum wage in a recognized Ecuadorian financial institution. With the 2026 minimum wage set at USD 482, the required deposit is currently USD 48,200.
The initial permit is a two-year temporary residence status. Permanent residency becomes available after that period. Citizenship eligibility opens after a further three years of permanent residency domicile, creating a statutory minimum timeline of five years.
In practice, applicants may wait longer because of application queues and the discretionary nature of naturalisation decisions.
Citizenship requirements include:
- Spanish language test.
- Civics exam.
- Permanent residency domicile period.
Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar as its official currency, removing exchange-rate exposure on the deposit itself. The country also permits dual citizenship.
There is no restriction on time spent abroad while the visa remains active. However, applicants seeking permanent residency or naturalisation must maintain at least 185 days of annual presence in Ecuador during the qualifying period.
Egypt: Renewable Permits Without Permanent Residency
Egypt’s Residence by Investment program links the permit duration to the deposit amount.
The deposit options are:
- USD 50,000 in a state-owned Egyptian bank for a one-year renewable permit.
- USD 100,000 for a three-year renewable permit.
Both permit types are renewable indefinitely while the deposit is maintained. There is no physical presence requirement.
The main limitation is that these routes do not lead to permanent residency or citizenship. The permits remain conditional on keeping the deposit in place, and the program does not move applicants toward permanent status.
Applicants seeking an Egyptian passport must use the separate citizenship by investment program, which has significantly higher costs and introduces Egyptian pound currency risk on any eventual refund.
Azerbaijan: Renewable Residence With Dual Citizenship Limits
Azerbaijan requires a deposit of at least AZN 100,000, equal to roughly USD 58,800 at current rates, in a term deposit with an Azerbaijani bank. The money remains locked for the agreed period.
Permanent residency requires a larger commitment of AZN 200,000 across property, deposits, or securities, plus at least two years of continuous residence in Azerbaijan.
Citizenship eligibility opens after five years and includes language and civics requirements.
The key limitation is that Azerbaijan does not allow dual citizenship. Naturalisation applicants must renounce all other nationalities. This makes Azerbaijan more suitable as a renewable residence option than as a practical second-passport route.
Philippines: Deposit Routes to Permanent Residency
The Philippines offers two investor residency programs at the USD 75,000 deposit level, both leading to permanent residency.
The two routes are:
- Special Investor’s Resident Visa.
- FAB Investor Visa.
The Special Investor’s Resident Visa is the older route and processes faster. The FAB Investor Visa launched in 2024, but average wait times have stretched to around three years in practice.
Both programs allow spouses and dependent children to be included without an additional investment requirement. Approved residents may live, work, or study anywhere in the Philippines, and there is no minimum stay requirement.
Naturalisation is available after ten years of qualifying residency. However, applicants are required to renounce prior allegiances, making the Philippines a renunciation route rather than a dual-citizenship pathway.
The Philippines is outside the OECD Common Reporting Standard framework, so deposit accounts are not subject to automatic information exchange under CRS. Resident foreign individuals are also not taxed on foreign-sourced income.
Practical Comparison
The remaining low-threshold bank-deposit residency options differ significantly in what they provide:
- Lowest deposit: Ecuador, at USD 48,200.
- No physical presence requirement: Egypt and the Philippines.
- Path to permanent residency: Ecuador, Azerbaijan, and the Philippines.
- Path to citizenship with dual citizenship allowed: Ecuador.
- Renewable residence only: Egypt.
- Dual citizenship limitation: Azerbaijan and the Philippines require renunciation for naturalisation.
- CRS consideration: The Philippines is outside CRS, while the article does not identify the same feature for the other listed options.
For applicants comparing bank-deposit residency options, the key decision is whether the goal is a low-cost residence permit, permanent residency, eventual citizenship, dual citizenship, tax treatment, or minimal physical presence.
Source article: knightsbridge.ae
