If you are willing to move, the quickest residence-based passports among popular destinations are Argentina (2 years, though its process is tied up in court), Brazil (4 years of permanent residence, 1 year in some cases), Canada (3 years of physical presence as a permanent resident), Uruguay (3 to 5 years), and Germany and Ireland (5 years, keeping your current passport). With the right ancestry, citizenship by descent through Ireland, Canada or Italy is faster still and needs no move at all. Many older lists are now wrong: since 2025 Portugal doubled its requirement to 10 years, Germany scrapped its 3-year fast track and Italy closed most descent claims.

Key Takeaways

• Shortest on paper: Argentina, 2 years of continuous legal residence. A court annulled the decree behind the current process in June 2026 and the Supreme Court has not ruled yet.
• Fast and predictable: Canada (1,095 days in 5 years, about 12 months of processing) and Germany (5 years, B1 German, dual citizenship allowed since June 2024).
• Ireland is likely to slow down: 5 years today, but a bill approved for drafting in September 2026 would raise it to 8 years and add language, civics and income tests.
• Language opens shortcuts: citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries can naturalise in Brazil after 1 year, Latin Americans in Spain and Mexico after 2.
• Descent beats residence: an Irish-born grandparent, a Canadian parent (since Bill C-3), or an Italian ancestor who never took another citizenship.
• Check your own country first: India and China do not allow dual citizenship, and Mexico asks you to renounce your old nationality.

Not sure which country fits your life, not just your passport plans? The Relocation Wizard matches you with destinations by budget, visa options and lifestyle in a few minutes.

Citizenship timelines compared (October 2026)

Country	Residence before you can apply	Faster routes	Language and tests	Keep your passport?
Argentina	2 years, continuous	Investment route announced, not open	No formal test	Yes
Brazil	4 years on permanent residence	1 year: Portuguese-speaking nationals, Brazilian spouse or child	Portuguese (Celpe-Bras or equivalent)	Yes
Canada	1,095 days in the last 5 years	Days before PR count half, up to 365	English or French at CLB 4, citizenship test (ages 18-54)	Yes
Uruguay	3 years with family in Uruguay, 5 without	None	Spanish	Yes
Mexico	5 years	2 years: Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese nationals, Mexican spouse or child	Spanish, history and culture exam	Formal renunciation
Germany	5 years	Spouse: 3 years	B1 German, naturalisation test	Yes
Ireland	5 years in the last 9	Spouse: 3 years	None (tests proposed)	Yes
Spain	10 years	2 years: Latin America, Portugal, Philippines, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea; 1 year: spouse	DELE A2 and CCSE	Renounce, with exceptions
Italy	10 years (non-EU)	2 years: descendants of Italian citizens; spouse: 2 years	B1 Italian	Yes
Portugal	10 years (7 for EU and CPLP)	Spouse: 3 years of marriage	A2 Portuguese, civics test pending	Yes

"Keep your passport?" only covers the new country's rules. Your home country may still take your old citizenship away (see below). Processing comes on top: about 12 months in Canada, 1 to 2 years or more in large German cities, and around 3 years in Portugal.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

Most "easiest citizenship" lists were written before these changes:

• Portugal: 5 to 10 years since 19 May 2026 (details in our Portugal citizenship guide).
• Germany: the 3-year fast track ended on 30 October 2025, with no transition for pending cases.
• Italy: descent claims restricted in 2025, a reform the Constitutional Court upheld in March 2026.
• Spain: the grandchildren law closed on 22 October 2025.
• Argentina: naturalisation moved to the immigration agency by decree in 2025, and a court annulled the decree in June 2026.
• Canada: Bill C-3 reopened citizenship by descent on 15 December 2025.
• Ireland: a bill raising 5 years to 8 was approved for drafting in September 2026.
• Investment passports: Malta's program ended in 2025, and the US restricted visas for two Caribbean programs' citizens in 2026.

The fastest residence routes, country by country

Argentina: 2 years, if the courts let it stand

Argentina has the shortest standard requirement here: 2 years of continuous legal residence on a temporary or permanent permit, a lawful income or means of support, and a clean Argentine criminal record (argentina.gob.ar). There is no language test and you keep your current nationality.

The catch is legal uncertainty. Decree 366/2025 moved naturalisation from federal judges to the immigration agency (Migraciones) and defined "continuous" strictly: no trips abroad during the 2 years. In June 2026 the National Electoral Chamber declared the decree void, and the government's appeal is now at the Supreme Court (Infobae, October 2026). Until it rules, lawyers disagree on where to file, and nobody publishes reliable processing times.

Most people start on a rentista (passive income) or pensionado (pension) residence, which needs 5 times the minimum wage per month: about ARS 1.96 million in October 2026, rising monthly. A citizenship-by-investment program (USD 350,000 to the Treasury) was announced in October 2026 but is not open yet.

Suits: people who can live in Argentina for 2 straight years and tolerate legal risk. Does not suit: anyone who needs a firm date.

Brazil: 1 to 4 years, counted from permanent residence

Brazil's standard requirement is 4 years, but the Ministry of Justice only counts time on residence for an indefinite period (permanent residence). Time on temporary visas, such as the digital nomad visa (USD 1,500 a month or USD 18,000 in savings), does not count, so check how your visa converts before you plan around the 4 years.

The shortcuts are generous:

• 1 year for citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries (Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and others), and for people with a Brazilian child or a Brazilian spouse or partner.
• 2 years for people with relevant services to Brazil or notable professional, scientific or artistic ability.

You prove Portuguese with the Celpe-Bras exam, a Brazilian degree or another accepted certificate (citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries are exempt). There is no government fee, and the legal deadline is 180 days, though 12 to 24 months is common. Absences can total up to 12 months over the 4 years. Brazil does not make you give up your current nationality.

Suits: Portuguese speakers and people with Brazilian family. Does not suit: remote workers hoping their nomad visa years will count.

Canada: 3 years as a permanent resident

Adults need 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada in the 5 years before applying. Days spent in Canada before becoming a permanent resident count as half a day, up to 365 days. You also need tax returns for 3 of those 5 years and, if you are 18 to 54, English or French at CLB 4 plus a citizenship test. The fee is CAD 653 per adult since 31 March 2026, and processing was about 12 months in October 2026.

The hard part is permanent residence itself. Canada's 2026 target is 380,000 new permanent residents, down from 395,000 in 2025, and Express Entry favours category draws (healthcare, trades, STEM, French speakers and others). The 2027-2029 levels plan is due in early November 2026.

Suits: skilled workers who can get PR, and families who want a predictable timeline. Does not suit: people without a realistic PR route.

Uruguay: 3 to 5 years, with a passport catch

Uruguay's constitution grants legal citizenship after 3 years of habitual residence if you have a family formed in Uruguay, or 5 years if you do not, plus good conduct and a means of living (IMPO, article 75). The Electoral Court checks your migration records: any absence over 6 consecutive months resets the clock. The procedure is free, needs Spanish, and currently 2 witnesses. Expect up to a year's wait to start, then 3 to 6 months.

The catch: naturalised Uruguayans become "legal citizens", not nationals, and their passports list their country of birth as nationality. A 2025 attempt to change this was reversed after Germany, France and Japan rejected the new passports, and the government sent a bill to fix it to Parliament in October 2026. Legal citizenship is also lost if you later naturalise somewhere else (article 81).

Suits: people who want a calm, low-cost base and plan to live there. Does not suit: passport collectors.

Mexico: 2 to 5 years, with a renunciation oath

Mexico's standard requirement is 5 years of residence on a temporary or permanent resident card (student status does not count). It drops to 2 years for nationals of Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal, for parents of a Mexican-born child, and for spouses after 2 years of married life in Mexico. Absences over 6 months in the 2 years before applying break the count. You pass an exam on Spanish and Mexican history and culture and pay MXN 9,500 (2026), and the foreign ministry (SRE) often takes about a year.

Most people start with temporary residence by economic solvency. In 2026 the Las Vegas consulate asked for more than USD 4,630 a month in income or an average balance of USD 78,025, and figures vary by consulate.

You must formally renounce your other nationality. The US and UK do not treat that oath as giving up their citizenship (US State Department, GOV.UK), but Mexico's constitution says a naturalised Mexican can lose Mexican nationality by using a foreign passport or living abroad for 5 years in a row.

Suits: Latin Americans and Spaniards (2 years), and people married to Mexicans. Does not suit: anyone who wants to travel on both passports without risk.

Germany: 5 years, and you keep your passport

Under section 10 of the Nationality Act you need 5 years of legal residence, B1 German, the naturalisation test, and the ability to support yourself without welfare. Spouses of Germans can apply after 3 years of residence and 2 years of marriage. The fee is EUR 255 per adult, and dual citizenship has been allowed since 27 June 2024.

Demand is the bottleneck. Germany naturalised a record 332,500 people in 2025, and a survey of the 50 largest cities found waits of over a year in almost all of them and over 2 years in half. Some CDU/CSU politicians want 8 years back, but there is no bill.

Suits: skilled workers and EU Blue Card holders who will learn German. Does not suit: people who will not reach B1.

Ireland: 5 years today, probably 8 soon

Today you need 5 years (1,826 days) of reckonable residence in the last 9, including a continuous final year with up to 70 days abroad (30 more in exceptional cases). Student permission (Stamp 2) does not count. There is no language test. Fees are EUR 175 to apply and EUR 950 for the certificate, and 51,882 applications were pending at the end of August 2026. Spouses of Irish citizens need 3 years of marriage and 3 years of residence. Check your dates with the official residency calculator.

The proposed Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026 would require 8 years (2 continuous plus 6 in the previous 10), a language test in English or Irish, a civics test and proof of self-sufficiency (Newland Chase). It is not law yet, and summaries of the draft say applications lodged before it starts would keep the current rules. If you are close to 5 years, apply the day you qualify.

Suits: English speakers, and people already in Ireland near the 5-year mark. Does not suit: anyone starting now and counting on 5 years.

The 10-year countries: Spain, Italy and Portugal

These three are popular places to live but slow routes to a passport, unless you fit an exception:

• Spain: 10 years under article 22 of the Civil Code, 2 years for nationals of Latin American countries, Portugal, the Philippines, Andorra and Equatorial Guinea, and 1 year for spouses of Spaniards, people born in Spain, and people whose parent or grandparent was originally Spanish. You need the DELE A2 (nationals of Spanish-speaking countries are exempt) and the CCSE civics test, and apart from those 2-year nationalities and France, you must renounce your old nationality. Decisions are due within 1 year, but 281,099 files were pending in March 2026. Most remote workers arrive on the digital nomad visa.
• Italy: 10 years for non-EU citizens, 4 for EU citizens, and 2 years for people whose parent or grandparent was an Italian citizen by birth, a useful route for those shut out of descent claims. Spouses qualify after 2 years of marriage while living in Italy (3 if living abroad), halved with children. All need B1 Italian and pay EUR 250. The legal maximum processing time is 24 months, extendable to 36.
• Portugal: 10 years (7 for EU and Portuguese-speaking citizens), counted from your first residence permit, with about 3 years of processing on top. Permanent residence after 5 years is the realistic medium-term goal.

Citizenship by descent: no move needed

If you have the right family tree, check this before any residence route:

• Ireland: with a grandparent born on the island of Ireland, you can join the Foreign Births Register online. It costs EUR 278 for adults and takes about 12 months. If a parent was born in Ireland, you are already a citizen.
• Canada: Bill C-3 removed the first-generation limit. People born abroad before 15 December 2025 who were blocked only by that limit are now citizens and apply for a citizenship certificate (CAD 75). Processing was 34 months in October 2026. For births from 15 December 2025, the Canadian parent born abroad needs 1,095 days in Canada before the birth.
• Italy: if you were born abroad and hold another citizenship, you now qualify only if you applied by 27 March 2025, a parent or grandparent holds (or held at death) only Italian citizenship, or a parent lived in Italy for 2 continuous years after becoming Italian and before your birth. Most great-grandchildren claims are over.
• Spain: the grandchildren law is closed, but a grandchild of a Spaniard by origin can naturalise after just 1 year of legal residence in Spain.

Citizenship by investment: fast, but under pressure

If "easiest" means paying instead of living somewhere, five Caribbean countries sell citizenship above a regional floor of USD 200,000 set in 2024 (OECS): Dominica from USD 200,000 (officially 3 to 6 months), Antigua and Barbuda from USD 230,000, Grenada from USD 235,000, St Lucia from USD 240,000 and St Kitts and Nevis from USD 250,000 (cheapest donation options as of October 2026; some cover a family of up to 4). These passports are losing value:

• The US suspended immigrant and visitor visas for citizens of Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica from 1 January 2026, citing "CBI without residency" (White House proclamation).
• The UK has required visas from Dominica nationals since 2023 and from St Lucia nationals since March 2026. Ireland added St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia in June 2026.
• The EU can now suspend visa-free travel over citizenship sales, and according to Antigua and Barbuda's government it asked all five states to end their programs by June 2028.
• Malta's program ended after the EU Court of Justice ruled against it in April 2025.

Treat an investment passport as a travel document with an uncertain future, not a place to live. If you want to actually move, residence by investment is usually the better deal: see our golden visa guide.

Your home country gets a say

A new passport only helps if you keep the old one, or decide you do not need it:

• United States: naturalising abroad does not by itself end US citizenship, but the US taxes its citizens wherever they live.
• United Kingdom: dual citizenship is allowed, and you only lose British citizenship by formally renouncing it.
• India: no dual citizenship. Taking another nationality ends Indian citizenship, and most people switch to OCI status.
• China: under the Nationality Law, Chinese nationals settled abroad lose Chinese nationality when they take another. Permanent residence may be the better goal.

Mistakes that reset the clock

1. Counting from the wrong date. Brazil counts permanent residence only, Canada counts pre-PR days at half, Portugal starts with the first permit, and Ireland ignores student years.
2. Travelling too much. Every route limits time abroad, from no trips at all under Argentina's decree to 70 days in Ireland's final year, and Canada counts actual days present.
3. Waiting after you qualify. Portugal changed its rules within a year and Ireland is next. File as soon as you are eligible, and expect processing on top: a 5-year rule often means 6 or 7 years.
4. Underestimating the cost of the waiting years. You have to live there the whole time.

That last point changes the ranking. Average monthly rent from the site's own country data, multiplied by the standard residence period:

Country	Standard years	Average rent per month (site data)	Rent over the period
Argentina	2	USD 516	about USD 12,400
Brazil	4	USD 348	about USD 16,700
Uruguay	3 (with family)	USD 563	about USD 20,300
Mexico	5	USD 885	about USD 53,100
Canada	3	USD 1,994	about USD 71,800
Germany	5	USD 1,296	about USD 77,700
Ireland	5	USD 2,114	about USD 126,900
Portugal	10	USD 1,473	about USD 176,700

Run your full budget, including food, healthcare and transport, in the cost of living calculator, or put two finalists side by side with country compare.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest country to get citizenship in 2026?

On paper, Argentina, with 2 years of residence and no language test, but its process is in legal limbo until the Supreme Court rules. For a predictable route, Canada (3 years as a permanent resident) and Germany (5 years, B1 German) are the most reliable. With an Irish-born grandparent, the Foreign Births Register is easier than any of them.

Which countries give citizenship after 2 years?

Argentina for everyone, Spain and Mexico for Latin Americans (Mexico also for Spaniards and Portuguese), and Italy for descendants of Italian citizens. Brazil goes down to 1 year for citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries and people with a Brazilian spouse or child. Peru and the Dominican Republic also ask for 2 years, though Peru passed a law in 2025 raising it to 5 that applies once its regulations are published.

What is the fastest way to get an EU passport?

Descent, if you qualify: Ireland's Foreign Births Register takes about 12 months. Without ancestry, Germany and Ireland have 5-year residence routes, though Ireland plans to move to 8 years. Spain takes 2 years for Latin American citizens.

Can I get citizenship without living in the country?

Only by descent, through some marriage routes (Italy accepts 3 years of marriage while living abroad), or by investment. Every residence route above expects you to live there and counts your time abroad.

Sources

• Germany: Nationality Act, section 10 (gesetze-im-internet.de)
• Canada: citizenship eligibility (IRCC)
• Brazil: ordinary naturalisation (Ministry of Justice)
• Uruguay: legal citizenship (Electoral Court)
• Argentina: naturalisation (argentina.gob.ar)
• Spain: Civil Code, article 22 (BOE)
• Ireland: Foreign Births Register (Department of Foreign Affairs)
• Italy: Constitutional Court on the descent reform (March 2026)

Start with where you want to live

A passport takes years, so the country has to work for daily life first. Take the Relocation Wizard to see which destinations match your budget and priorities, then use the moving abroad checklist to plan the residence permit that starts your clock.