If you are in the market for a “budget” citizenship, Comoros has got you covered with its economic citizenship program, the most affordable anywhere in the world. In this article, I review it and explain how to apply.
Some background
The Comoros islands have been settled for thousands of years by a wide variety of people including Africans, Arabs, Melanesians and Polynesians. Independent for most of their history, the islands became part of the French colonial empire in the 19th century and remained so until independence in 1975.
Today, Comoros is a country mired in troubles. It has one of the world’s lowest average wealth per capita, is one of the lowest performing economies, has one of the lowest standards of living and to compound it all, it has a booming population. To say that the government is desperate for cash is an understatement. Like other countries in similar predicaments, Comoros has resorted to selling its citizenship to anyone willing to part with a couple thousand dollars. 45000 USD to be exact. This may seem like a lot but in the world of economic citizenship programs, it is a bargain.
Economic citizenship
The way the program works is fairly simple, in exchange for a cash donation to the Comoros government, you are naturalized as a citizen. To qualify, you must meet a number of requirements such as being at least eighteen years old, being of good character and not being a Comoros resident.
It is important to understand, however, that the Comoros passport is as useless as a passport can be. It grants visa-free access to a few countries but they are countries that grant visa-free access to anyone anyway. If you intend to use it to open a bank account, you will need to show your real passport (from your home country) as few banks consider Comoros passports to be acceptable IDs for “non-African looking” individuals, not to mention the OECD guidance on the subject. For most, this defeats the purpose of obtaining this passport.
Also, it is important to be aware that Comoros government officials have been caught selling Comoros passports on the black market. This not only lowers the value of the citizenship but also means that you will be the compatriot of some fairly undesirable characters. Buyer’s beware.
Tax-wise, Comoros is a residential taxation country. Residents are taxed on their worldwide income while non-residents are taxed on their Comoros income. This is probably not a concern for those who are interested in this program, however, as I doubt that anyone is actually planning to live there. It is nevertheless another point against the program as most competing programs are run by tax havens.
Latest update (2024)
Comoros has suspended its economic citizenship program. There is no indication of when the program will reopen to new applicants. The OECD has also instructed financial institutions to disregard Comoros passports for due diligence purposes, when there is clear evidence that it was obtained via the economic citizenship program.
Application
The application procedure is fairly straightforward, you must first select an authorized agent. You will then be guided through the due diligence process which involves gathering a number of documents such as a certified copy of your birth certificate and police certificates for every country you have resided in during the previous ten years. There is also the need to attend an interview, either in Comoros, Switzerland or Hong Kong. Once your application has been approved, you will be required to make your “donation”. You will then become a full citizen and will be able to apply for a passport.