How to get a second passport comes down to one of three routes: ancestry, years of legal residence, or a cash contribution to a citizenship-by-investment programme. In 2026 descent is still the cheapest route if a grandparent qualifies you, naturalisation is getting slower in Europe, and the Caribbean investment programmes start at US$200,000 but face direct pressure from both the EU and the US.
Last checked: October 2026
In short:
- Ireland’s Foreign Births Register still lets you claim citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland, for €278 for an adult, with applications taking about 12 months.
- Portugal’s Organic Law 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026, raised the naturalisation residence requirement from 5 to 10 years (7 for EU and CPLP citizens), counted from your first residence permit.
- The EU Court of Justice ruled on 29 April 2025 (case C-181/23) that Malta’s investor citizenship scheme breached EU law, and the EU has since made running a CBI programme a ground for suspending visa-free travel.
Citizenship by descent
Ireland. Per the Irish government, you can register if a grandparent was born in Ireland, or if a parent was an Irish citizen when you were born even though they weren’t born there. You become a citizen on the date you’re entered on the Foreign Births Register, not your birth date, which matters if you later want to pass it to children. Fees are €278 for adults and €153 for minors, and applications are processed in strict date order, currently about 12 months.
Italy. The unlimited-generations route is gone. Law 74/2025 (converting Decree-Law 36/2025) protects applications filed by 27 March 2025. For anyone else born abroad with another nationality, per Italy Law Firms, you now qualify only if a parent or grandparent holds, or held at death, exclusively Italian citizenship, or if a parent lived in Italy for two continuous years after becoming Italian and before your birth. Italy’s Constitutional Court rejected one set of challenges on 12 March 2026 (judgment 63/2026), but by an order decided on 9 June and published on 23 July 2026 (order 147/2026) it referred further challenges to the EU Court of Justice. The law stays in force while Luxembourg decides. If your claim runs through a great-grandparent, assume it’s closed unless you filed in time.
Naturalisation through residence
| Country | Residence needed | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 10 years (7 for EU/CPLP citizens) | Organic Law 1/2026; clock starts at your first AIMA residence permit; A2 Portuguese and a civics assessment; applications filed before 19 May 2026 stay on the 5-year rule |
| Paraguay | 3 years (Constitution, Art. 148) | Must be an adult, work in a profession or trade there, and show good conduct; multiple nationality only by treaty (Art. 149) |
| Uruguay | 3 years with family in Uruguay, 5 without (Constitution, Art. 75) | Gives “legal citizenship”, which per IMI Daily confers civil and political rights but not nationality |
| Argentina | 2 continuous years of legal residence | Set by Decree 366/2025, in force 29 May 2025 |
Portugal was the poster child for a five-year passport; it now takes twice as long, and waiting time for AIMA appointments no longer counts. If you hold a D7 or D8 permit, recalculate from the date on your first card.
Paraguay has the shortest statutory clock, but read Article 149 before you plan on keeping both passports: the constitution admits multiple nationality only by reciprocal treaty, and Article 150 says naturalised Paraguayans lose that nationality if they voluntarily acquire another. Talk to a Paraguayan lawyer about how your current nationality interacts with this.
Uruguay applications run at about 1,500 a year. IMI Daily reports a wait of up to a year just to start, then three to six months, and a bill passed by the lower house on 6 May 2026 would replace witness hearings with documents. Per IMI Daily, Uruguay fixed a passport anomaly affecting its legal citizens in 2025.
Argentina also created a citizenship-by-investment agency under Decree 366/2025 and set up the programme by Decree 524/2025. On 2 October 2026 the Ministry of Economy announced the price: US$350,000 to the Treasury or US$800,000 in bonds, with applications due from the fourth quarter of 2026; see Argentina citizenship by investment (2026): the new golden passport.
Citizenship by investment: the Caribbean five
| Country | Cheapest donation route | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dominica | US$200,000 single; US$250,000 with up to 3 dependants | CBIU Dominica |
| Antigua and Barbuda | US$230,000 for a family of up to 4, plus US$20,000 processing | CIU Antigua |
| Grenada | US$235,000 for a family of up to 4 | IMI Daily |
| Saint Lucia | US$240,000 with up to 3 dependants (since 1 July 2024) | IMI Daily |
| St Kitts and Nevis | US$250,000 for up to 4 people, plus US$10,000 due diligence | CIU St Kitts |
Due diligence, government and agent fees come on top, so budget well above the headline.
The pressure is real. Regulation (EU) 2025/2441, in force since 30 December 2025, lets the EU suspend visa-free access simply because a country runs a CBI scheme, per NTL International. NTL also reports Commission letters dated 25 June 2026 asking all five to phase out their programmes by 1 June 2028; the Commission hasn’t published them, but the Government of Saint Lucia confirmed the June 2028 phase-out request after its prime minister met EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner on 24 September 2026. In the US, a 16 December 2025 proclamation added Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda to the travel-restriction list from January 2026, citing CBI vetting concerns, per OCCRP. A passport bought today could lose Schengen access within the period you’d hold it.
Inside the EU, the door has closed. The CJEU found that Malta’s scheme amounted to “the commercialisation of the grant of the nationality of a Member State”.
Dual citizenship and your US tax bill
The State Department says US law doesn’t require you to choose a nationality, but dual nationals must use a US passport to enter and leave the US and must obey the laws of both countries. Check the other side too: Paraguay’s treaty rule above shows not every country is relaxed about it.
A second passport changes nothing for the IRS. US citizens are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live. Only renunciation ends that, and the State Department cut the renunciation fee from US$2,350 to US$450 from 13 April 2026, as news reports put it. Renouncing can trigger exit tax; read Exit tax explained: which countries charge it when you leave first.
Avoiding scams
- Use only authorised agents. St Kitts’ CIU tells investors to work only with Authorised Agents listed on its website and publishes suspended agents. Unauthorised agents “have no association” with the unit.
- Be wary of “guaranteed” or discounted citizenship. The donation minimum is set by regulation; a seller offering less is either adding risk or lying.
- Descent claims are cheap to file yourself. Ireland’s fee is €278. Paying thousands to an intermediary for a form you can submit online rarely makes sense.
- Check the date on any advice. Much of what ranks online still describes Portugal’s five-year rule and Italy’s pre-2025 law.
Related: Paraguay residency in 2026: temporary, permanent and investor routes · Exit tax explained: which countries charge it when you leave · How to leave the US (2026): a checklist for moving out of the US · Digital nomad visa countries: which countries have one (2026 list)
Related guides: Uruguay residency (2026): nomad ID, permanent route and tax holiday · Malta residency (2026): nomad permit vs GRP vs MPRP compared · Dual citizenship (2026): which countries allow it and which don’t · Irish citizenship by descent (2026): grandparent rule, FBR, costs · Italian citizenship by descent (2026): what the new law allows · Citizenship by investment (2026): Caribbean programmes compared · Argentina citizenship by investment (2026): the new golden passport
Quick answers
Q: What is the fastest way to get a second passport?
If you have an Irish-born grandparent, the Foreign Births Register costs €278 and takes about 12 months. Without ancestry, Caribbean citizenship by investment starts at US$200,000 in Dominica, though the EU and US have both targeted these programmes since late 2025.
Q: Can I still get Italian citizenship by descent in 2026?
Only in narrower cases. Law 74/2025 protects applications filed by 27 March 2025. Otherwise a parent or grandparent must hold or have held only Italian citizenship, or a parent must have lived in Italy two continuous years before your birth. The Constitutional Court upheld it in March 2026 but sent further challenges to the EU Court of Justice in July.
Q: How many years until Portuguese citizenship now?
Ten years for most nationalities and seven for EU and CPLP citizens, under Organic Law 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026. The count starts from your first residence permit, not your application. Applications filed before 19 May 2026 remain on the old five-year rule.
Sources
- Ireland.ie: Registering a foreign birth
- Italy Law Firms: Italian citizenship by descent after the March 2026 Constitutional Court hearing
- Corte costituzionale: Ordinanza 147/2026
- Courthouse News: Italy sends citizenship-by-descent dispute to EU court
- Diário da República: Lei Orgânica 1/2026 (Madeira government copy)
- Sovereign Group: Portugal brings new Nationality Law into force
- UN Women Constitutions Database: Paraguay Constitution 1992
- Embassy of Paraguay in Turkey: Nationality and Citizenship
- IMPO Uruguay: Constitución, artículo 75
- IMI Daily: Uruguay moves to scrap witness hearings for citizenship
- EIG Law: Argentina tightens immigration rules
- Diario de Cuyo: Argentina habilitó la ciudadanía por inversión
- iProfesional: Milei ofrece ciudadanía argentina a cambio de dólares
- Argentina.gob.ar: Luis Caputo anunció la puesta en marcha del Programa de Ciudadanía por Inversión
- CBIU Dominica: Economic Diversification Fund
- CIU Antigua and Barbuda: National Development Fund
- IMI Daily: Grenada Citizenship by Investment
- IMI Daily: St Lucia raises CIP minimum investment thresholds
- CIU St Kitts and Nevis: Sustainable Island State Contribution
- IMI Daily: St Kitts and Nevis lowers CBI contribution price
- CIU St Kitts and Nevis: Suspended agents
- NTL International: EU Commission letter requesting Caribbean CBI phase-out by 2028
- Government of Saint Lucia: PM Pierre and regional officials meet EU Commissioner on future of CBI
- OCCRP: US slaps travel ban on two Caribbean nations over golden passports
- Court of Justice of the EU: Commission v Malta, C-181/23
- US State Department: Dual nationality
- IRS: US citizens and resident aliens abroad
- News4JAX: State Department slashes fee to renounce US citizenship to $450
This is general information from the Nomad Forums team, not immigration, tax or legal advice. Rules change; check the official source or a qualified adviser before applying.
Over to you: If you’ve been through Ireland’s Foreign Births Register or an Italian descent claim recently, how long did it take from filing to passport? And if you hold a Caribbean CBI passport, have you noticed any change at EU or US borders since the 2025 measures?