Nauru Island Is Promoting Citizenship for $105,000

In November, following the latest U.S. presidential election, the variety of Google searches for the way to “depart the nation” elevated by 1,514 p.c, based on information by VisaGuide.World. However as many shortly discovered, shifting to a different nation is not as simple as it could appear. There’s normally a visa course of concerned, loads of immigration legal professionals in between, and a prolonged wait time earlier than you may acquire that coveted second passport. Nonetheless, one tiny island nation is hoping to make issues just a little simpler by promoting citizenship for $105,000—and it could possibly be the one factor that saves it from local weather catastrophe. 

In 2025, the island nation of Nauru, situated within the South Pacific between the Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands, launched its new passport scheme, permitting folks to buy citizenship by means of funding. It is the vacation spot’s manner of elevating as a lot money as attainable to maneuver lots of its 12,000 residents to larger floor because the coastal areas of the eight-square-mile island are getting ravaged by erosion as a result of local weather change. Moreover, massive swaths that had been as soon as used to mine phosphate deposits (an ingredient in fertilizer) have each dried up and made some 80 p.c of the land uninhabitable, based on The Guardian.

“For Nauru, it isn’t nearly adapting to local weather change, however about securing a sustainable and affluent future for generations to come back,” David Adeang, the nation’s president, shared with AFP. “That is about greater than survival. It’s about making certain future generations have a secure, resilient, and sustainable house. We’re prepared for the journey forward.”

There’s, nonetheless, an enormous catch. Sure, you should buy the passport, however no, you may’t truly dwell there. However based on specialists, it could nonetheless be value it. 

“A second passport isn’t only a luxurious—it’s a strategic asset. It unlocks larger international mobility, granting visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to extra locations,” Armand Arton, the founding father of the Passport Index, shared with Journey + Leisure. “Whereas these with highly effective passports take seamless journey with no consideration, thousands and thousands face bureaucratic, time-consuming hurdles at each border. That’s why residency and citizenship by funding (CBI) packages stay in excessive demand, providing freedom, safety, and new alternatives.” 

As for who this system targets, Arton famous it is an awesome choice for anybody whose passport limits their journey choices. “With visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to 90 international locations, together with South Korea and Hong Kong, Nauru citizenship is a strategic improve for these with restricted mobility.” 

Kyle Maltz, the COO at Greenback Flight Membership, agreed it is a implausible strategy to see extra of the world when you in any other case cannot, however added that this specific visa comes with one different main bonus.

“One of the crucial distinctive issues about this program is the truth that you are investing in a real-world environmental challenge that can have a considerable influence for a small group,” he mentioned. “Investing on this challenge additionally comes with the good thing about a further passport/citizenship, which is a cool bonus.”

In accordance with Edward Clark, the top of Nauru’s Financial and Local weather Resilience Citizenship Program, the passport scheme is already attracting candidates. Clark instructed the AFP the federal government is hoping to obtain 66 purposes this yr, however its long-term purpose is far larger, with the goal of attracting 500 candidates, which works out to about $52.5 million. “Growing climate-vulnerable international locations are disproportionately affected by local weather change,” Clark instructed AFP. “And there may be subsequently an pressing want to make sure they disproportionately profit from local weather innovation.”