Where to Move for EU Citizenship in 2026

The fastest legal route to a second EU passport in 2026 isn’t through Romania’s or Moldova’s grey-market schemes, but through a lawful residence permit in France, Spain, or Germany followed by naturalization — and even then, the actual years of residency required before you can apply range from 5 to 10 depending on the country.

In short

• There’s no such thing as a fast Romanian, Bulgarian, or Moldovan passport without real relatives in the country — it’s fraud, with the risk of a criminal case.
• France offers a 4-year residence permit and allows dual citizenship, but you must live in the country for 5 years before applying for a passport.
• Spain processes digital nomad applications in 20 days, but requires 10 years of residency and giving up your original passport.
• Germany is the only country in Europe where a citizenship application can currently be processed in about a month and a half.
• Portugal, the Netherlands, and Italy are hard to recommend in 2026 because of long residence permit timelines and a 10-year residency requirement.

Why ‘fast-track’ passport schemes in Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova are fraud

Getting a Romanian passport in 1-2 years is not possible — every scheme that promises this result for Romania, Bulgaria, or Moldova is a fraud. There’s exactly one exception: the applicant has real relatives who genuinely lived in one of these countries, along with written evidence of that fact. In every other case, the offer boils down to the same thing: a contractor forges a certificate of origin claiming the applicant’s relatives once lived in the program country, and issues a passport on that basis.

This scheme underlies most cases in repatriation programs run through questionable intermediaries — based on practical experience, document forgery is behind the overwhelming majority of such cases. Taking part in a scheme like this isn’t a grey area — it’s direct participation in fraud, with the risk of a criminal case for document forgery, and sooner or later it gets exposed.

Taking part in a scheme like this isn’t a grey area — it’s direct participation in fraud, with the risk of a criminal case for document forgery, and sooner or later it gets exposed.

A similar story already played out with Greek passports. In the 1990s, the Greek consulate in Novorossiysk sold passports by fabricating documents claiming Greek ancestry for applicants — a significant number of applicants received passports through this scheme. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, an investigation that began after a Greek passport was found on a murdered crime boss in Thessaloniki led to the annulment of several tens of thousands of documents over three to four years. The organizers of the scheme received prison sentences and fines, while passport holders — some of whom had already bought property and started families in Europe — were either blacklisted from entering the EU or deported.

passport holders — some of whom had already bought property and started families in Europe — were either blacklisted from entering the EU or deported

France: a 4-year residence permit and relocation in about six months

Moving to France can, by various estimates, take anywhere from a few months to a year — the exact timeline depends on the prefecture and how busy ANEF is, and there’s no single official standard. The residence permit is issued for 4 years right away — one of the longest terms for an initial residence permit among the countries covered here — and it’s granted not just to the main applicant but to family members as well.

Before applying for citizenship, you need to have lived in the country for 5 years, meaning you only need to renew the permit once before applying for a passport. France allows dual citizenship: you won’t have to give up your original passport to become French.

France is aimed at a broad range of applicants, but getting the residence permit here is harder than through Spain’s digital nomad program. The main route is the talent visa: there are tracks for both classic business ventures and innovative projects. It suits entrepreneurs above all, and without a blog or other public evidence of your activity, qualifying becomes significantly harder.

A separate condition applies not to the residence permit but to citizenship itself: applying for a passport requires French at a B2 level.

Who it suits

• Those able to demonstrate an entrepreneurial or innovative venture.
• Those with public evidence of their work — a blog, portfolio, or media presence.
• Those willing to go through a more complex and longer case preparation than Spain’s digital nomad program requires.

Spain: a fast digital nomad permit, but no dual citizenship

Spain’s UGECE agency is required to process digital nomad residency applications within 20 days — one of the fastest processing times among the countries covered here, although the overall relocation timeline, including visa issuance and registration, can take longer. The digital nomad visa is issued for 1 year, after which you can apply for a residence permit — unofficial sources suggest this can run up to 3 years, but no exact standard is confirmed on official resources.

The flip side of that speed is the wait before you can apply for citizenship. You need to have lived in the country for 10 years before applying, not 5 as in France. And Spain doesn’t allow dual citizenship: getting a Spanish passport means giving up your original one.

There’s a common misconception that this rule can be sidestepped through citizenship of a Latin American country — the idea being that if you obtain it first and then Spanish citizenship, your original citizenship survives. In practice, this workaround only applies to people who were born in Latin America: if the regional citizenship was simply acquired rather than granted by birth, it won’t work.

The program is designed for a broad range of applicants: anyone with financial resources in any form can get the residence permit, with no narrow specialization or high professional bar. That makes Spain an appealing option for those looking for a predictable, fast entry into Europe who are willing to eventually give up their second passport for a Spanish one.

United Kingdom: the Global Talent visa, outside the EU

The UK runs a Global Talent visa: the residence permit under this route is processed in 3-5 months. You can apply for citizenship after 5 years of residence in the country, and you won’t have to give up your original passport — the UK allows dual citizenship.

Getting this visa is harder than the French one: without public evidence of professional achievement — a personal blog or other proof of your work, for example — qualifying is nearly impossible. The country draws applicants with the largest venture capital market in Europe, high salaries, and business prospects, but it’s far from a fit for every applicant.

There’s also a limitation worth remembering: the UK left the EU as a result of Brexit and is not an EU member. A residence permit obtained through Global Talent doesn’t grant visa-free entry to continental Europe — traveling there still requires a separate visa.

Why Portugal, the Netherlands, and Italy are hard to recommend in 2026

Portugal isn’t recommended for a residence permit in 2026 — the only exception is for those who specifically dream of living in this particular country. The reason is timing: processing the initial residence card can stretch to a year and a half, sometimes longer. In practice, this means an applicant can live in the country for a full year without receiving a response from the immigration service, even after filing official inquiries or a lawsuit to speed up the process over the delay.

The Netherlands is pricier than the other European countries on this list: both the application services and the cost of living run noticeably higher than, say, in Spain. The initial residence permit here is issued for just 1 year, and dual citizenship, as in Spain, is prohibited.

Italy runs a digital nomad program, but the residence permit under it is also issued for just 1 year, and you need to live in the country for 10 years before applying for a passport. For those specifically aiming for a second passport, this isn’t the optimal option, but it suits those who simply want to live in Italy for its own sake.

Germany: fast citizenship processing and the Opportunity Card

Germany is likely the only country in Europe where a citizenship application can currently be processed in about a month and a half — while in most European countries, processing typically takes around a year. For those specifically dreaming of a German passport, that makes the country the fastest option among all covered here.

Germany is likely the only country in Europe where a citizenship application can currently be processed in about a month and a half

But Germany doesn’t have a truly universal immigration program. Out of the whole set of options, only the Opportunity Card — a residence permit for job seekers — really works well. It suits only those planning to move to Germany specifically for work, not those looking for an alternative path to status without a concrete employment goal.

How long citizenship applications typically take to process

In most European countries, a citizenship application takes about a year to process. Germany is the exception here: applications can currently be processed in about a month and a half — the fastest timeline among the countries covered. In France and Spain, processing times are closer to the European average and can stretch beyond a year depending on how busy the agency is. If speed of getting a passport matters more to an applicant than the specific country, Germany is worth looking at first — provided the Opportunity Card or another available route there is a fit.

Comparing countries for residence permits and citizenship

Table scrolls sideways

Criterion	France	Spain	United Kingdom	Germany
Initial residence permit duration	4 years	1 year (visa), then a residence permit of up to 3 years per unofficial sources	5 years	depends on the program
Years of residency before applying for citizenship	5 years	10 years	5 years	—
Dual citizenship	allowed	not allowed	allowed	—
Citizenship application processing speed	about a year or longer	about a year or longer	—	about a month and a half

Data reflects the article’s content; a dash means the information wasn’t specified.

Frequently asked questions

Can you apply for residence permits in several of these countries at the same time?

There’s no formal ban on parallel applications in different countries, but the programs are built so that each requires its own set of documents and proof of activity — France’s talent visa and Spain’s digital nomad visa target different applicant profiles. In practice, spreading yourself thin isn’t worth it: it’s better to pick one program that fits your case and see it through, rather than preparing several cases at once.

What if you don’t have a blog or public portfolio for the talent visa in France or the UK?

Without public evidence of your activity, qualifying for these visas is nearly impossible — it’s a direct program requirement, not a formality. In that case, it makes more sense to look at options aimed at a broad range of applicants without a narrow specialization, such as Spain’s digital nomad program, where financial resources are enough and public recognition isn’t required.

Can you move to Germany without the Opportunity Card if you don’t need a job?

Germany doesn’t have a truly universal immigration program aside from the Opportunity Card, which is specifically built around job searching. If the move isn’t tied to employment, it’s worth looking at other countries on this list — Germany simply doesn’t offer a fitting tool in that case, even with the fastest citizenship processing time of the bunch.

Is there a way to speed up a residence permit in Portugal if the process has already dragged on?

Applicants do file official inquiries and lawsuits to speed things up, but even that doesn’t guarantee a timely response — processing the initial residence card stretches to a year and a half or longer regardless of such filings. That’s exactly why Portugal is recommended only for those firmly set on living there specifically, not for those looking for a predictable, fast path.

What happens to an applicant’s family if France’s initial residence permit is issued for 4 years?

The 4-year residence permit in France is granted not just to the main applicant but to family members as well — one of the program’s advantages compared to other countries on this list, where the initial status is issued for just a year. That means the status question for a spouse and children gets resolved right alongside the main application, without a separate, lengthy procedure.

Does the Latin American citizenship workaround for keeping your original passport ever actually work?

Yes, but only for people who were born in a Latin American country rather than acquired its citizenship later — in that case, keeping your original passport alongside Spanish citizenship is possible. For everyone else who obtained such citizenship other than by birth, the workaround doesn’t apply, and the common belief that it’s an easy way around the dual-citizenship ban turns out to be a misconception.