On April 29, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Malta must terminate its investment-based citizenship program. With this ruling, no country in the European Union sells passports anymore.
This is the largest change in the investment residency industry in years, and there are still places in Vietnam offering Maltese passports for sale.
Content of the Court Ruling
Core argument: citizenship of a member state is simultaneously European Union citizenship, which comes with freedom of movement, the right to live, and the right to work throughout the bloc. Selling citizenship to people with no real connection to that country amounts to selling the rights of the entire bloc, not just one country's rights.
Malta had argued that citizenship is a matter of national sovereignty. The Court disagreed on the part concerning consequences for the entire bloc.
Context: All of Europe is Gradually Closing Down
Malta's ruling does not stand alone. It is the final piece of a chain:
| Program | Closed |
|---|---|
| Cyprus Citizenship | November 2020 |
| Bulgaria Citizenship | April 2022 |
| Montenegro Citizenship | End of 2022 |
| UK Tier 1 Investor | February 2022 |
| Ireland IIP | February 2023 |
| Netherlands | 2024 |
| Spain Golden Visa | April 3, 2025 |
| Malta Citizenship | April 29, 2025 |
In April 2025 alone, two major programs closed, 26 days apart.
What Remains in Malta
Malta still has a residency program based on investment. This distinction is crucial, as the two are completely different:
Residency grants the right to live in Malta and travel within the Schengen area on a short-term basis. It is not a passport, not full European Union citizenship.
Citizenship grants a Maltese passport—a full European Union passport—with the right to live and work in any EU member state. This has closed.
If someone shows you Malta materials without clearly distinguishing between residency and citizenship, that is a red flag.
What Routes to EU Citizenship Remain
There are still routes, but all are long-term paths through residency followed by naturalization, with no direct purchase option:
- Portugal — golden visa still open, but a May 2026 reform will extend naturalization from 5 to 10 years for most non-EU nationals
- Greece — golden visa still open, pricing varies by region, citizenship achievable after 7 years of legal residence plus language requirement
- Hungary — new program from July 2024, fast-track processing, path to citizenship around 8 years, but Hungarian language is a real barrier
- Italy, Bulgaria, Latvia, Malta, Cyprus — all still offer residency, with varying naturalization timelines
To be clear: none of these routes is fast. The era of buying EU passports in a matter of months is over.
Can Caribbean Passports Replace EU Passports
Yes, but not as an equivalent replacement.
Five Caribbean nations have aligned on a common minimum of USD 200,000, and these programs typically complete in 4 to 8 months without requiring relocation. That is a real advantage.
However, a Caribbean passport does not grant the right to live and work in the European Union. It grants short-term visa-free entry to the Schengen area—an entirely different thing.
And there is one risk to monitor: the European Union's ETIAS system is scheduled to launch in late 2026 and become mandatory from October 2027. Some industry observers worry that this system will become a separate screening tool for passport holders via investment programs, making visa-free entry more conditional.