What Citizenship by Investment Really Costs in 2026

The number every advertisement quotes is the qualifying contribution or investment. It is a real number — set in legislation, published by the government — but it is the entry ticket, not the bill. Every credible program layers per-person fees on top, and every one of those fees is published too. This page itemizes them from the official schedules, so you can see the gap between the advertised price and the total before an agent's quote does — or does not — show it to you.

Why is the advertised figure not the total?

Because a citizenship application is priced in five layers, and the headline is only the first:

• The qualifying investment or contribution — the advertised figure: USD 200,000 to 250,000 for the Caribbean fund routes, USD 400,000 for Türkiye's property route
• Government application and processing fees, charged per person in the application — in Grenada, USD 1,500 application plus USD 1,500 processing for each adult
• Due diligence fees, charged per adult — USD 5,000 per person aged 17 and over in Grenada; USD 10,000 for the main applicant and USD 7,500 per dependant aged 16 and over in St. Kitts & Nevis
• Dependant surcharges, once the family outgrows what the base contribution covers — typically USD 25,000 to 75,000 per additional person, depending on the program and the dependant's category
• Professional fees — the advisor's own charge, which an honest quote always lists as its own line rather than blending into "the price"

What are the headline figures for 2026, side by side?

What does Grenada citizenship really cost a single applicant?

Grenada is the cleanest illustration of the gap, because the Investment Migration Agency publishes every line. The USD 235,000 National Transformation Fund contribution is the same sum whether one person applies or a family of up to four — and six separate fees ride on top of it.

For a couple with two children under 17, the same USD 235,000 covers all four people, but the per-person fees scale with the family: USD 23,080 in government fees, for an all-in total of USD 258,080. What no published schedule includes: escrow bank charges on the deposit, courier costs, and professional fees — all set per engagement, which is exactly why a serious quote itemizes them separately rather than pretending they do not exist.

What does St. Kitts & Nevis cost a family of four?

St. Kitts & Nevis prices the same layers differently — and pays them in two stages. The fees are due when the application is submitted; the USD 250,000 Sustainable Island State Contribution itself is only paid after the government grants approval in principle. For a couple with two children under 11, the schedule verified in August 2026 works out as follows:

A single applicant on the same route pays USD 263,850 on the same basis — USD 263,300 where the second escrow check is waived. Note what the staging means in practice: no credible Caribbean program asks you to wire the contribution before approval, and an advisor who does is a red flag, not a shortcut.

What does Türkiye citizenship really cost?

Türkiye's costs are structured unlike anything in the Caribbean: there is no contribution at all. The USD 400,000 goes into real estate you own — the title deed carries a three-year no-sale annotation, after which you may sell — or, on the alternative route, a USD 500,000 bank deposit held for three years and then withdrawable. There is also no per-dependant government charge: the spouse and children under 18 join the application without any addition to the investment.

The remaining Turkish costs — the SPK-licensed valuation report, sworn translations and notary work, the investor residence permit, and passport booklet fees — are lira-denominated and revised annually, which is why we quote them at engagement rather than publishing a dollar figure that would be stale within a year.

What do dependants add to the bill?

Family composition moves the total more than route choice does. The published rules, per program:

• Grenada's USD 235,000 covers a family of up to four; beyond that, each additional child or parent aged 56+ adds USD 25,000, a parent aged 55 or under adds USD 50,000, and a sibling adds USD 75,000 — plus each person's own application, processing, and (from 17) due diligence and interview fees
• St. Kitts & Nevis covers a family of up to four in the USD 250,000 contribution; each further dependant adds USD 25,000 under 18 or USD 50,000 at 18 and over, and every dependant aged 16+ carries USD 7,500 of due diligence
• Dominica prices the step differently: USD 200,000 for a single applicant becomes USD 250,000 for a main applicant with up to three dependants
• Türkiye adds nothing for the spouse and children under 18 — the qualifying investment is the qualifying investment, whatever the family size

What professional fees should you expect?

Every applicant pays an advisor or licensed agent; the only question is whether the fee is visible. Ours is published: USD 20,000 flat for a Caribbean citizenship engagement and USD 10,000 for Türkiye, always shown as its own line — never blended into the government amounts, which stay exactly as the official schedules publish them. Whoever you engage, insist on a quote that separates the investment, each government fee, and the professional fee. A total that cannot be itemized is not a total; it is a margin.

Where does the UAE fit in this comparison?

It does not — and that distinction matters if you are comparing from Dubai. The UAE Golden Visa is a 10-year renewable residence visa, not citizenship: the UAE does not operate a citizenship-by-investment program, and Emirati citizenship cannot be applied for at any price. The Golden Visa's AED 2,000,000 threshold is a retained investment closer in structure to Türkiye's routes than to the Caribbean contributions — but what it grants is residence. Any quote that prices "UAE citizenship" is quoting something that does not exist.