Orion 09by Capital & Control
Indexes/Residency

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

  1. 01

    Qualifying routes and their thresholds

  2. 02

    Time from application to a residence card

  3. 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

WeightingPublished
  • 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.

  1. 01
    Georgia
    Europe
    88ovr 53
  2. 02
    Paraguay
    Americas
    85ovr 49
  3. 03
    Estonia
    Europe
    82ovr 62
  4. 04
    St Kitts and Nevis
    Americas
    80ovr 54
  5. 05
    Montenegro
    Europe
    80ovr 53
  6. 06
    Panama
    Americas
    80ovr 51
  7. 07
    Portugal
    Europe
    78ovr 60
  8. 08
    Antigua and Barbuda
    Americas
    78ovr 53
  9. 09
    Grenada
    Americas
    78ovr 53
  10. 10
    Dominica
    Americas
    78ovr 53

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

Continent209 shown
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#JurisdictionRegionResidencyOrion Index Score
001GeorgiaEurope
88
5373% rated
002ParaguayAmericas
85
4973% rated
003EstoniaEurope
82
6281% rated
004St Kitts and NevisAmericas
80
5473% rated
005MontenegroEurope
80
5373% rated
006PanamaAmericas
80
5173% rated
007PortugalEurope
78
6081% rated
008Antigua and BarbudaAmericas
78
5373% rated
009GrenadaAmericas
78
5373% rated
010DominicaAmericas
78
5373% rated
011St LuciaAmericas
78
5373% rated
012Cayman IslandsAmericas
75
6092% rated
013MexicoAmericas
75
4673% rated
014CyprusEurope
72
5978% rated
015BahamasAmericas
72
5373% rated
016VanuatuOceania
72
5073% rated
017SerbiaEurope
72
4873% rated
018GreeceEurope
72
4773% rated
019MauritiusAfrica
72
4773% rated
020ColombiaAmericas
72
4773% rated
021BarbadosAmericas
72
4673% rated
022EcuadorAmericas
72
4173% rated
023MaltaEurope
70
5173% rated
024UAEMiddle East
70
5094% rated
025Costa RicaAmericas
70
4973% rated
026British Virgin IslandsAmericas
68
5487% rated
027LatviaEurope
68
5073% rated
028UruguayAmericas
68
4773% rated
029ThailandAsia
68
4673% rated
030AlbaniaEurope
68
4573% rated
031TurkeyAsia
68
4573% rated
032North MacedoniaEurope
68
4573% rated
033BelizeAmericas
68
4273% rated
034St Vincent & GrenadinesAmericas
68
4273% rated
035BermudaAmericas
65
5792% rated
036GibraltarEurope
65
5487% rated
037SpainEurope
65
5073% rated
038LithuaniaEurope
65
5073% rated
039MalaysiaAsia
65
5073% rated
040SeychellesAfrica
65
4573% rated
041ArgentinaAmericas
65
4373% rated
042ChileAmericas
62
4673% rated
043BrazilAmericas
62
4373% rated
044MoroccoAfrica
62
4373% rated
045ArmeniaAsia
62
4273% rated
046FijiOceania
62
4273% rated
047South AfricaAfrica
62
4273% rated
048PeruAmericas
62
4273% rated
049Dominican RepublicAmericas
62
4173% rated
050CambodiaAsia
62
3973% rated
051SingaporeAsia
60
5373% rated
052BulgariaEurope
60
5173% rated
053CroatiaEurope
60
4873% rated
054RomaniaEurope
60
4773% rated
055Isle of ManEurope
58
5187% rated
056BahrainMiddle East
58
5092% rated
057Czech RepublicEurope
58
4773% rated
058PolandEurope
58
4673% rated
059Cape VerdeAfrica
58
4473% rated
060TunisiaAfrica
58
4373% rated
061VietnamAsia
58
4373% rated
062MoldovaEurope
58
4173% rated
063NamibiaAfrica
58
4173% rated
064JamaicaAmericas
58
3973% rated
065NicaraguaAmericas
58
3773% rated
066FinlandEurope
55
69100% rated
067GermanyEurope
55
6695% rated
068IrelandEurope
55
6695% rated
069NetherlandsEurope
55
6595% rated
070SwedenEurope
55
6395% rated
071AndorraEurope
55
6281% rated
072San MarinoEurope
55
5373% rated
073GuernseyEurope
55
5187% rated
074JerseyEurope
55
5187% rated
075New ZealandOceania
55
5073% rated
076IcelandEurope
55
4973% rated
077Saudi ArabiaMiddle East
55
4995% rated
078MaldivesAsia
55
4873% rated
079OmanMiddle East
55
4887% rated
080SloveniaEurope
55
4773% rated
081ItalyEurope
55
4673% rated
082SlovakiaEurope
55
4673% rated
083KazakhstanAsia
55
4573% rated
084HungaryEurope
55
4473% rated
085Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope
55
4373% rated
086IndonesiaAsia
55
4373% rated
087Cook IslandsOceania
55
4273% rated
088GhanaAfrica
55
4273% rated
089KosovoEurope
55
3973% rated
090PhilippinesAsia
55
3973% rated
091GuatemalaAmericas
55
3973% rated
092KenyaAfrica
55
3973% rated
093BoliviaAmericas
55
3873% rated
094El SalvadorAmericas
55
3873% rated
095RwandaAfrica
52
4073% rated
096SamoaOceania
52
4073% rated
097SenegalAfrica
52
4073% rated
098TongaOceania
52
4073% rated
099Trinidad and TobagoAmericas
52
3973% rated
100TanzaniaAfrica
52
3973% rated
101HondurasAmericas
52
3673% rated
102AustriaEurope
50
6595% rated
103DenmarkEurope
50
6395% rated
104AustraliaOceania
50
4973% rated
105MacauAsia
50
4673% rated
106FranceEurope
50
4573% rated
107BelgiumEurope
50
4473% rated
108QatarMiddle East
48
5194% rated
109CanadaAmericas
48
4773% rated
110BotswanaAfrica
48
4273% rated
111Sri LankaAsia
48
4073% rated
112NiueOceania
48
3973% rated
113AzerbaijanAsia
48
3973% rated
114JordanMiddle East
48
3973% rated
115PalauOceania
48
3973% rated
116Marshall IslandsOceania
48
3873% rated
117EgyptAfrica
48
3773% rated
118GuyanaAmericas
48
3773% rated
119MicronesiaOceania
48
3773% rated
120SurinameAmericas
48
3773% rated
121UzbekistanAsia
48
3773% rated
122GambiaAfrica
48
3773% rated
123KyrgyzstanAsia
48
3773% rated
124MongoliaAsia
48
3773% rated
125ZambiaAfrica
48
3773% rated
126UgandaAfrica
48
3673% rated
127NorwayEurope
45
6495% rated
128LuxembourgEurope
45
6089% rated
129TaiwanAsia
45
4873% rated
130IsraelMiddle East
45
4673% rated
131Hong KongAsia
45
4573% rated
132United KingdomEurope
45
4373% rated
133NepalAsia
45
3773% rated
134Ivory CoastAfrica
45
3773% rated
135UkraineEurope
45
3473% rated
136Sao Tome & PrincipeAfrica
42
3773% rated
137LaosAsia
42
3773% rated
138MadagascarAfrica
42
3773% rated
139MalawiAfrica
42
3773% rated
140Timor-LesteAsia
42
3773% rated
141TuvaluOceania
42
3773% rated
142BeninAfrica
42
3673% rated
143KiribatiOceania
42
3673% rated
144Solomon IslandsOceania
42
3673% rated
145MozambiqueAfrica
42
3573% rated
146Sierra LeoneAfrica
42
3573% rated
147NigeriaAfrica
42
3473% rated
148LiberiaAfrica
42
3473% rated
149ZimbabweAfrica
42
3473% rated
150LebanonMiddle East
42
3373% rated
151SwitzerlandEurope
40
77100% rated
152South KoreaAsia
40
4673% rated
153IndiaAsia
38
4273% rated
154NauruOceania
38
3673% rated
155ComorosAfrica
38
3573% rated
156DjiboutiAfrica
38
3573% rated
157EswatiniAfrica
38
3573% rated
158GabonAfrica
38
3573% rated
159TogoAfrica
38
3573% rated
160CameroonAfrica
38
3473% rated
161LesothoAfrica
38
3473% rated
162TajikistanAsia
38
3473% rated
163AngolaAfrica
38
3473% rated
164Papua New GuineaOceania
38
3473% rated
165EthiopiaAfrica
38
3373% rated
166GuineaAfrica
38
3373% rated
167BruneiAsia
35
5073% rated
168LiechtensteinEurope
35
4973% rated
169KuwaitMiddle East
35
4792% rated
170JapanAsia
35
4573% rated
171USAAmericas
35
3973% rated
172AlgeriaAfrica
35
3573% rated
173BangladeshAsia
35
3573% rated
174PakistanAsia
35
3473% rated
175Guinea-BissauAfrica
35
3273% rated
176Burkina FasoAfrica
35
3173% rated
177MauritaniaAfrica
32
3373% rated
178BurundiAfrica
32
3273% rated
179CongoAfrica
32
3273% rated
180MaliAfrica
32
3073% rated
181NigerAfrica
32
2973% rated
182MonacoEurope
30
5373% rated
183RussiaEurope
30
3973% rated
184VenezuelaAmericas
30
2973% rated
185MyanmarAsia
30
2873% rated
186BhutanAsia
28
3973% rated
187DR CongoAfrica
28
2873% rated
188HaitiAmericas
28
2773% rated
189BelarusEurope
25
4073% rated
190CubaAmericas
25
3873% rated
191ChinaAsia
25
3673% rated
192ChadAfrica
25
2873% rated
193IraqMiddle East
25
2773% rated
194TurkmenistanAsia
20
3273% rated
195Equatorial GuineaAfrica
20
3173% rated
196Central African RepublicAfrica
20
2673% rated
197IranMiddle East
18
2973% rated
198Vatican CityEurope
15
4773% rated
199PalestineMiddle East
15
2673% rated
200Western SaharaAfrica
15
2673% rated
201LibyaAfrica
15
2473% rated
202EritreaAfrica
12
2873% rated
203South SudanAfrica
12
2373% rated
204SudanAfrica
12
2373% rated
205YemenMiddle East
12
2373% rated
206SyriaMiddle East
10
2473% rated
207SomaliaAfrica
10
2373% rated
208AfghanistanAsia
10
2373% rated
209North KoreaAsia
5
2673% rated
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

  1. 01National immigration and residence authorities
    Government primary sources

    Qualifying routes, thresholds and processing times, read from each jurisdiction's own rules.

  2. 02International Migration Outlook
    OECD

    Comparable residence permit categories and grant volumes.

  3. 03Worldwide Personal Tax and Immigration Guide
    EY

    Physical presence requirements and renewal burden.

Read next

Orion Index Score
Composite

The weighted composite of thirteen factors across four groups — financial, mobility & access, human development & services, and safety & livability. It answers one question: on balance, how well does this jurisdiction serve someone who can choose where to live and where to hold capital?

Tax Burden Index
Heaviest weight

Effective personal tax exposure for a mobile earner — headline income tax, plus how the jurisdiction treats foreign income, capital gains and wealth.

Cost of Living Index
Moderate

What a comparable standard of living costs on the ground — housing, schooling, services and the everyday basket.

Safety Index
High

Personal and civil safety — violent crime, property crime, and the risk of disorder or conflict spilling into daily life.

Healthcare Index
High

Quality, access and cost of care for a resident who is paying privately or through a local scheme.

Passport Strength Index
Moderate

What the travel document is worth — visa-free reach, treaty position, and whether citizenship is realistically attainable.

209 jurisdictions · Edition 2026.1 · scores are informational, not tax advice