Residency
Naturalisation
Naturalisation is the acquisition of citizenship by a foreign national who has satisfied a country's residence requirements, typically covering a qualifying period of legal residence, a minimum physical presence within it, a language or civics test, and good character.
In plain terms: Becoming a citizen by living somewhere long enough and passing its tests.
Why it matters
Two clocks run at once and only one is usually advertised: legal residence, meaning how long you have held a permit, and physical presence, meaning how much of that period you were actually there. Investor permits build the first and often not the second.
Common misunderstanding
Ignoring the dual-nationality rule until the end. Several countries require formal renunciation of your existing citizenship at the oath, which is an irreversible step that should be checked at the start rather than discovered at the finish.
Read the full guideNaturalisation by residence