Citizenship-by-investment passports are presented here as a growing reputational risk from 2026 onward, especially for people who already hold strong passports such as American, Canadian, Australian, or other Western nationalities.
The concern is not that a CBI passport is automatically illegal. The issue is that Western countries may treat transactional naturalization differently from ordinary citizenship based on residence, tax ties, family history, or long-term contribution.
Electronic travel authorization systems are central to the risk. The UK ETA is already being compared to the U.S. ESTA, and the EU ETIAS is expected to go live at the end of 2026. These systems can shift travel screening away from simply checking one strong passport and toward reviewing a person’s wider citizenship profile.
A traveler with a strong passport may previously have entered the UK or Schengen area with little friction. Under ETA or ETIAS-style systems, holding an additional CBI passport could create extra scrutiny if the application asks about other nationalities.
Possible consequences include:
- automated approval if no issue is flagged;
- manual review after declaring a second nationality;
- questions about why the passport was obtained;
- delays in travel authorization;
- refusal of electronic authorization;
- a requirement to apply for a regular visa through an embassy.
The same concern may apply to banking. Banks often ask clients to disclose all citizenships and passports. If a bank identifies a purchased citizenship, the stronger original nationality may not fully offset the perceived compliance risk.
The broader reason given is that many Western governments dislike “transactional naturalization”: paying a donation or investment to receive citizenship without deep ties to the country. The criticism is especially directed at passports obtained without residence, tax residency, historical connection, or meaningful integration.
CBI programs also create collateral damage for native-born citizens of those countries. When Western governments suspend or revoke visa-free access, ordinary citizens who never bought a passport can lose travel benefits because their country’s program attracted outside buyers.
For people who have not yet bought a CBI passport, the suggested alternative is citizenship by exception or citizenship by merit. These are described as more private, limited, and selective than mass-market CBI programs, though they may still involve demonstrating value to the country.
Countries named as possible citizenship-by-exception or citizenship-by-merit options include:
- Albania;
- Georgia;
- Serbia;
- Malta;
- Cambodia;
- unnamed African countries.
Malta is described as an EU option. Albania, Georgia, and Serbia are presented as non-CBI alternatives based on exception or merit. Cambodia is also named as a possible citizenship-by-exception country. Some African options are mentioned but not identified.
The key distinction made is that citizenship by exception or merit is not framed as a standard passport sale. It is described as a government-level naturalization process where the applicant provides a limited set of legally required documents and receives citizenship under exceptional circumstances.
A major practical warning is document authenticity. Citizenship documents should come directly from the relevant ministry, embassy, or consulate. That is presented as a sign that the citizenship is genuine and supported by the issuing country.
The highest-risk offers are cheap “EU passport” deals through brokers. Offers claiming citizenship from countries such as Romania, Slovakia, or Kazakhstan for $15,000–$20,000 are described as illegitimate and dangerous. Using such a passport may appear to work briefly, but could lead to serious consequences if detected.
For anyone already holding a CBI passport, renunciation is mentioned as a possible but extreme step. The practical decision depends on the person’s risk tolerance, banking needs, travel needs, and how future ETA or ETIAS applications treat additional citizenships.
The main takeaway is that from 2026 onward, second citizenship planning may need to consider not only visa-free access, but also reputation, banking compliance, and how electronic travel authorization systems evaluate all nationalities held by the applicant.
