Residency Access Index

How hard it is to actually land — time, cost, paperwork and the physical presence a jurisdiction demands of you.

Median: 50
Mean: 49
Top decile from: 72
Highest: 88

What this index measures

Heaviest weight · scored 0–100

01
Qualifying routes and their thresholds
02
Time from application to a residence card
03
Physical presence and renewal burden

This is the signal that decides whether a shortlist is real. A perfect tax score is theoretical if the residency route takes four years.

How the score is weighted

Each input is normalised to 0–100 across all 209 jurisdictions, then combined at the weights below. Weights sum to 100 and are held constant across every jurisdiction in an edition, so scores stay comparable.

Heaviest weight in the composite

Qualifying routes30% of the score
Number and breadth of realistic routes in.
Financial threshold25% of the score
Income, investment or capital required.
Time to a residence card20% of the score
Application to card in hand.
Physical presence demanded15% of the score
Minimum days to keep the status alive.
Renewal and path to permanence10% of the score
Renewal burden and years to settlement.

Who leads it

The ten highest scores on this signal, with their overall standing beside them — the gap between the two columns is the trade-off.

01
Georgia
Europe
88ovr 69
02
Paraguay
Americas
85ovr 62
03
Estonia
Europe
82ovr 75
04
St Kitts and Nevis
Americas
80ovr 71
05
Montenegro
Europe
80ovr 70
06
Panama
Americas
80ovr 68
07
Portugal
Europe
78ovr 75
08
Antigua and Barbuda
Americas
78ovr 70
09
Grenada
Americas
78ovr 70
10
St Lucia
Americas
78ovr 69

Distribution · top 60 scoresrange 5–88

How regions compare

Average score per region against its best case. A wide gap means the region is worth searching; a narrow one means the whole region behaves the same way.

Americas
62 / 85
Europe
56 / 88
Oceania
50 / 72
Asia
44 / 68
Africa
40 / 72
Middle East
38 / 70

Full ranking

#	Jurisdiction	Region	Residency	Overall
001	Georgia	Europe	88	69
002	Paraguay	Americas	85	62
003	Estonia	Europe	82	75
004	St Kitts and Nevis	Americas	80	71
005	Montenegro	Europe	80	70
006	Panama	Americas	80	68
007	Portugal	Europe	78	75
008	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	78	70
009	Grenada	Americas	78	70
010	St Lucia	Americas	78	69
011	Dominica	Americas	78	68
012	Cayman Islands	Americas	75	77
013	Mexico	Americas	75	61
014	Cyprus	Europe	72	75
015	Bahamas	Americas	72	69
016	Mauritius	Africa	72	67
017	Greece	Europe	72	67
018	Barbados	Americas	72	65
019	Vanuatu	Oceania	72	64
020	Serbia	Europe	72	64
021	Colombia	Americas	72	61
022	Ecuador	Americas	72	55
023	Malta	Europe	70	72
024	Costa Rica	Americas	70	66
025	UAE	Middle East	70	59
026	British Virgin Islands	Americas	68	74
027	Latvia	Europe	68	69
028	Uruguay	Americas	68	66
029	Albania	Europe	68	62
030	North Macedonia	Europe	68	61
031	Turkey	Asia	68	60
032	Thailand	Asia	68	60
033	St Vincent & Grenadines	Americas	68	59
034	Belize	Americas	68	58
035	Gibraltar	Europe	65	76
036	Bermuda	Americas	65	73
037	Spain	Europe	65	72
038	Lithuania	Europe	65	68
039	Malaysia	Asia	65	66
040	Seychelles	Africa	65	62
041	Argentina	Americas	65	58
042	Chile	Americas	62	65
043	Morocco	Africa	62	59
044	Brazil	Americas	62	58
045	Fiji	Oceania	62	58
046	South Africa	Africa	62	57
047	Armenia	Asia	62	57
048	Peru	Americas	62	56
049	Dominican Republic	Americas	62	55
050	Cambodia	Asia	62	51
051	Singapore	Asia	60	73
052	Croatia	Europe	60	67
053	Bulgaria	Europe	60	66
054	Romania	Europe	60	63
055	Isle of Man	Europe	58	73
056	Czech Republic	Europe	58	67
057	Poland	Europe	58	64
058	Cape Verde	Africa	58	61
059	Bahrain	Middle East	58	60
060	Tunisia	Africa	58	59
061	Namibia	Africa	58	56
062	Vietnam	Asia	58	56
063	Moldova	Europe	58	55
064	Jamaica	Americas	58	52
065	Nicaragua	Americas	58	49
066	Andorra	Europe	55	75
067	New Zealand	Oceania	55	73
068	San Marino	Europe	55	73
069	Jersey	Europe	55	73
070	Guernsey	Europe	55	73
071	Iceland	Europe	55	70
072	Germany	Europe	55	68
073	Finland	Europe	55	68
074	Slovenia	Europe	55	68
075	Netherlands	Europe	55	67
076	Ireland	Europe	55	66
077	Sweden	Europe	55	66
078	Italy	Europe	55	66
079	Slovakia	Europe	55	64
080	Oman	Middle East	55	63
081	Maldives	Asia	55	62
082	Hungary	Europe	55	61
083	Saudi Arabia	Middle East	55	59
084	Cook Islands	Oceania	55	58
085	Ghana	Africa	55	57
086	Indonesia	Asia	55	57
087	Kazakhstan	Asia	55	57
088	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	55	57
089	Kosovo	Europe	55	54
090	Kenya	Africa	55	52
091	Philippines	Asia	55	52
092	Guatemala	Americas	55	51
093	El Salvador	Americas	55	50
094	Bolivia	Americas	55	50
095	Rwanda	Africa	52	55
096	Samoa	Oceania	52	55
097	Tonga	Oceania	52	55
098	Senegal	Africa	52	54
099	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	52	53
100	Tanzania	Africa	52	52
101	Honduras	Americas	52	46
102	Australia	Oceania	50	70
103	Austria	Europe	50	67
104	France	Europe	50	65
105	Denmark	Europe	50	65
106	Belgium	Europe	50	64
107	Macau	Asia	50	62
108	Canada	Americas	48	66
109	Qatar	Middle East	48	59
110	Botswana	Africa	48	58
111	Niue	Oceania	48	55
112	Jordan	Middle East	48	54
113	Palau	Oceania	48	53
114	Sri Lanka	Asia	48	53
115	Marshall Islands	Oceania	48	51
116	Azerbaijan	Asia	48	51
117	Guyana	Americas	48	50
118	Suriname	Americas	48	50
119	Micronesia	Oceania	48	50
120	Mongolia	Asia	48	50
121	Zambia	Africa	48	49
122	Egypt	Africa	48	49
123	Uzbekistan	Asia	48	49
124	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	48	49
125	Gambia	Africa	48	48
126	Uganda	Africa	48	47
127	Taiwan	Asia	45	67
128	Luxembourg	Europe	45	67
129	Norway	Europe	45	66
130	Israel	Middle East	45	62
131	United Kingdom	Europe	45	62
132	Hong Kong	Asia	45	60
133	Ivory Coast	Africa	45	49
134	Nepal	Asia	45	49
135	Ukraine	Europe	45	39
136	Sao Tome & Principe	Africa	42	50
137	Tuvalu	Oceania	42	50
138	Benin	Africa	42	48
139	Malawi	Africa	42	48
140	Madagascar	Africa	42	48
141	Solomon Islands	Oceania	42	48
142	Kiribati	Oceania	42	48
143	Laos	Asia	42	48
144	Timor-Leste	Asia	42	48
145	Sierra Leone	Africa	42	46
146	Mozambique	Africa	42	46
147	Nigeria	Africa	42	44
148	Liberia	Africa	42	44
149	Zimbabwe	Africa	42	43
150	Lebanon	Middle East	42	42
151	Switzerland	Europe	40	72
152	South Korea	Asia	40	65
153	India	Asia	38	54
154	Nauru	Oceania	38	48
155	Eswatini	Africa	38	47
156	Gabon	Africa	38	46
157	Togo	Africa	38	46
158	Djibouti	Africa	38	46
159	Comoros	Africa	38	46
160	Lesotho	Africa	38	44
161	Cameroon	Africa	38	44
162	Tajikistan	Asia	38	44
163	Angola	Africa	38	43
164	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	38	43
165	Guinea	Africa	38	42
166	Ethiopia	Africa	38	42
167	Liechtenstein	Europe	35	69
168	Japan	Asia	35	65
169	Brunei	Asia	35	64
170	Kuwait	Middle East	35	56
171	USA	Americas	35	53
172	Algeria	Africa	35	47
173	Bangladesh	Asia	35	45
174	Pakistan	Asia	35	43
175	Burkina Faso	Africa	35	40
176	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	35	40
177	Mauritania	Africa	32	42
178	Congo	Africa	32	41
179	Burundi	Africa	32	40
180	Mali	Africa	32	36
181	Niger	Africa	32	36
182	Monaco	Europe	30	72
183	Russia	Europe	30	48
184	Venezuela	Americas	30	35
185	Myanmar	Asia	30	32
186	Bhutan	Asia	28	52
187	DR Congo	Africa	28	34
188	Haiti	Americas	28	32
189	Cuba	Americas	25	50
190	Belarus	Europe	25	50
191	China	Asia	25	46
192	Chad	Africa	25	34
193	Iraq	Middle East	25	34
194	Turkmenistan	Asia	20	41
195	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	20	39
196	Central African Republic	Africa	20	29
197	Iran	Middle East	18	38
198	Vatican City	Europe	15	64
199	Western Sahara	Africa	15	31
200	Palestine	Middle East	15	30
201	Libya	Africa	15	28
202	Eritrea	Africa	12	34
203	Sudan	Africa	12	26
204	South Sudan	Africa	12	26
205	Yemen	Middle East	12	26
206	Syria	Middle East	10	27
207	Somalia	Africa	10	26
208	Afghanistan	Asia	10	24
209	North Korea	Asia	5	31

At the other end

The five lowest scores on this signal: North Korea (5), Afghanistan (10), Somalia (10), Syria (10), Yemen (12). A weak score here is not disqualifying on its own — read it against the composite.

Where this comes from

Each input is normalised to a 0–100 scale and weighted into the score above. We cite the underlying publication rather than the aggregator wherever one exists.

Edition 2026.1 · reviewed quarterly

01National immigration and residence authorities
Government primary sources
Qualifying routes, thresholds and processing times, read from each jurisdiction's own rules.
02International Migration Outlook
OECD
Comparable residence permit categories and grant volumes.
03Worldwide Personal Tax and Immigration Guide
EY
Physical presence requirements and renewal burden.