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Ireland.

How Ireland sells citizenship and residence for investors: 2 programmes, 0 of them open today. Every number and rule below links to the document it comes from.

829
numbers
83
prices and rules
40
events
49
documents and articles
Citizenship·Closed·1988–1998

Citizenship by investment scheme

Sells citizenship, and with it a passport.

Official name: Investment-based naturalisation scheme ('passports for investment')

Lowest price when it closed: IR£1 million

Rule in force when the scheme ended: a net investment of at least IR£1 million per applicant (from Oct 1994), held 5 years, plus a residence in Ireland. New applications stopped 4 Sep 1996; formal end 20 Apr 1998.

Notes from the research

No law of its own: the Minister for Justice used the discretion in section 16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (as amended 1986) to waive the residence condition for investors, treating the investment as 'Irish associations'. Government approved the approach in April 1989, but the Department's review counts naturalisations from 1988 (and the 2002 Minister said it was introduced in 1988; the 2000 Minister said 1989). Applicant, spouse and children under 18 could be included. Before 1994 the Department's working rule was about IR£500,000; from October 1994 an advisory group applied a minimum net investment of IR£1 million per applicant, a residence to be kept 5 years and 60 days' presence in the 2 years after naturalisation. New applications stopped on 4 Sep 1996; the scheme was formally ended on 20 Apr 1998, but cases already accepted were processed later (naturalisations recorded up to 2004). Section 10 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004 removed the legal basis. Totals given to the Dáil: 143 persons by Feb 1998; 183 persons (107 investors) in the final count. The Department's 1998 review found most early cases did not meet the published conditions (e.g. good-character evidence in 17 of 66).

Applications approved
0102030199219931994

Prices and rules

Rules while it was open

What is measured

  • Investment by programme investors16
  • Applications approved11
  • Programme cases meeting a stated condition (review of files)11
  • Programme cases not meeting a stated condition (review of files)7
  • Dependants granted citizenship5
  • People who became citizens5
  • Applications pending4
  • Investors approved, not counting family members4
  • Applications received1
  • Approvals-in-principle outstanding (stock)1
  • Programme case files under external inquiry1
  • Irregular naturalisations detected1
Residence·Closed·2012–2023

Immigrant Investor Programme

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.

Official name: Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP)

Lowest price when it closed: €500,000

At closure (15 Feb 2023) the cheapest route was a EUR 500,000 philanthropic endowment by one individual. EUR 400,000 each where 5 or more investors pool for one project (t-77f124e2e0). Investment routes cost EUR 1m (enterprise t-12eb30ac09, approved fund t-0ec540d544) or EUR 2m (REIT); most investors used the enterprise route. Investors also needed EUR 2m net worth.

Notes from the research

Residence by investment run by the Department of Justice (INIS, later Immigration Service Delivery) under a Government decision of 2012 and ministerial guidelines, without its own legislation. Approved investors and their spouse/partner and minor children got Stamp 4 residence (right to work and study): 2 years, renewed for 3, then 5-year renewals while the investment (held at least 3 years) stayed in place. No residence obligation beyond visiting Ireland once a year. No fast track to citizenship: naturalisation needs 5 years' physical (reckonable) residence, so investors who did not live in Ireland could not qualify. Projects were vetted by an inter-departmental Evaluation Committee; the minister decided. Most money went via the enterprise option into project vehicles (nursing homes, social housing, hotels) put together by agents for groups of mainly Chinese investors. Closed to new applications 15 Feb 2023; applications on hand and investors for already approved projects are still being processed (1,192 pending in March 2026).

Applications received
05001k1.5k2k20122014201620182020202220242026

Prices and rules

Rules while it was open

What is measured

  • Applications approved199
  • Investment by programme investors185
  • Applications received165
  • Staff working on a programme37
  • Jobs created by programme investors30
  • Applicant share26
  • Estimated economic benefit of a programme25
  • Applications pending10
  • Investment projects approved for a programme10
  • Share of programme investment by asset class or route9
  • Applications turned down8
  • Applications withdrawn7
  • Investment intended (pipeline)7
  • Investors approved, not counting family members6
  • Processing time6
  • Change in a programme's estimated economic benefit (percent, as printed)6
  • Golden visas issued6
  • Share of a programme's estimated economic benefit by sector5
  • Homes planned in approved programme projects3
  • Dependants approved2
  • Project proposals awaiting a decision2
  • Programme case files under external inquiry1
  • CBI fees collected by the programme unit1
  • All money paid by buyers, as a share of the economy1
  • Government spending on running a CBI programme1
  • Programme grants as a share of all grants of the same status1
  • Project proposals received1
  • Share of programme-linked jobs in a group of sectors1
  • Share of programme projects with a feature1
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