«Just make it fast.» It is the most common line we hear on a first call — not «how much», not «which passport is stronger». Speed ends up being the single criterion by which people compare one agent against another. Which is exactly why the market answers with a number: three months, six weeks, thirty days. Numbers are easy to quote because nobody checks them — by the time it is clear the timeline was wrong, the money has already moved. Here is where the timelines actually come from, taken from the texts of the laws rather than from promises.
The one thing worth understanding about timelines
Almost nowhere does the law oblige the state to decide within a set period. It does, however, set deadlines for you.
We went through the primary sources of the programmes currently running. The picture looks like this.
Grenada is the only programme where a deadline for the state is written into the law itself. Grenada Citizenship by Investment Act, No. 15 of 2013, section 8(2): the Committee must notify the agent of its decision in writing within 60 days of a complete application being filed.
Note the word «complete». The clock does not start on the day you sign and pay; it starts on the day the file is assembled in full. Between those two days a week can pass — or four months. That part of the timeline rarely appears in advertising.
And in the very next provision, section 8(1), the minister has a third option besides approve and refuse: «delay for cause» — postpone the application for a reason. With no outer limit on how long that postponement may last.
Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda have statutory deadlines too — but every one of them is addressed to the applicant, not to the state:
- Saint Lucia (Citizenship by Investment Act, Cap. 1.20, s. 37, as amended by Act No. 12 of 2019): after approval the Board notifies the applicant within 30 days; other fees within 60 days; the qualifying investment within 90 days of the application being approved. How long the Board may take to reach that approval is not regulated.
- St Kitts and Nevis (S.R.O. 20 of 2024): the investment must be made within 90 days of the notice of approval-in-principle.
- Antigua and Barbuda (Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Act, 2016): the balance of the processing fee within 30 days of the notice of approval.
Turkey has no standard for a decision at all. Exceptional («istisnai») acquisition of citizenship is governed by article 12 of Citizenship Law No. 5901 and article 20 of the Regulation (Decision 2010/139). Neither the law nor the regulation sets a period within which the state must respond. Other deadlines do exist: the investment must be held for three years, and the applicant screening results are valid for one year (art. 71 of the Regulation) — so a file running longer than a year is screened again.
The takeaway worth keeping: the deadline in your agreement with an agent and the deadline in the law are two different things. When someone quotes three months, ask which document that figure comes from. In most cases there will be no answer, because there is no document — only an average across past files. That is a reasonable benchmark, but it is not an obligation of the state.
What the timeline is made of: six stages
The real timeline is the sum of six segments. Only two of them depend on the state.
1. Pre-check — 1 to 5 working days. Before the contract and before any money. We look at the passport, citizenship, source of funds, refusal history, public and sanctions screening. This is also where it becomes clear whether there is any point in going further. If we can see the file will not pass, we say so at this stage — not after payment.
2. Collecting and legalising documents — 3 weeks to 4 months. The most underestimated segment and the longest source of delay. Police clearance certificates, birth and marriage certificates, proof of source of funds, bank reference letters, medical reports. Every document has to be obtained, apostilled, translated and the translation certified. Some certificates expire: a police certificate for Grenada must be no older than 6 months at filing, a proof of address for Saint Lucia no older than 3 months, a bank letter no older than 6 months. If collection drags, the earliest documents go stale and the loop starts again.
3. Filing through a licensed agent — 3 to 10 working days. In none of these programmes does the applicant file directly: submission goes through a licensed local agent. This is also where the file is checked for completeness — and it is from this moment, not earlier, that the official clock starts.
4. Due diligence — 3 weeks to 3 months. Carried out by an independent provider, not by the state. Grenadian law expressly allows the Committee to engage such providers and to call the applicant for an interview, in Grenada or at an embassy. This is the one segment nothing can influence.
5. Decision and approval-in-principle — 2 weeks to 2 months. The Committee makes a recommendation; the minister makes the decision.
6. Payment, oath and passport issue — 3 weeks to 3 months. After approval the statutory deadlines that apply to you kick in: 90 days for the investment in Saint Lucia and St Kitts, 30 days for the balance of the fee in Antigua. Then the passport is produced and, where required, the oath is taken.
Add up the minimums and the maximums and you get a range from roughly 3 months to roughly 14. That is the honest answer to «how long will it take».
Timelines by programme
Important for citizens of Russia and Belarus. As at the date of publication the Caribbean programmes — Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Saint Lucia — do not accept applications from Russian or Belarusian citizens. If you hold a Russian or Belarusian passport, other routes are open: Turkey, Vanuatu, São Tomé and Príncipe, permanent residence in Cyprus, and the Greek golden visa via an alternative citizenship, among other programmes. One distinction worth making: a Russian citizen and a Russian-speaking person holding another country’s passport are two different situations with different options.
| Programme | What the law says | Realistic end-to-end |
|---|---|---|
| Grenada | 60 days to decide from the filing of a complete application (Act No. 15 of 2013, s. 8(2)) | 4–6 months |
| Saint Lucia | no deadline to decide; 90 days for the applicant to invest after approval | 3–4 months |
| St Kitts and Nevis | no deadline to decide; 90 days for the applicant to invest after approval-in-principle | 3–6 months |
| Antigua and Barbuda | no deadline to decide; 30 days for the applicant to pay the balance of the fee | 3–6 months |
| Dominica | no deadline to decide | 3–6 months |
| Turkey | no deadline in either the law or the regulation | 9–12 months |
| Vanuatu | no published deadline to decide | 2–3 months |
| Greece, golden visa residency* | no published deadline to decide | 4–6 months |
| Cyprus, fast-track permanent residence | no published deadline to decide | 6–8 months |
* Greece: the application is filed on a non-sanctioned passport. The programme is not currently available on Russian citizenship directly — a second passport is required, and that is a separate track, to be counted before rather than after.
Statutory provisions are taken from the texts of the laws and subordinate acts of each jurisdiction. Practical timelines are a benchmark drawn from the market and from our own files, not an undertaking. Data verified 17.06.2026; thresholds, fees and procedures change — we re-check them before every filing.
Eight things that genuinely stretch the timeline
This is not theory. This is what actually makes files sit still.
1. An incomplete file at submission. The main cause. The official clock starts from a complete application — a missing certificate means the clock has not even begun.
2. Inconsistent spelling of a name. A travel passport, an internal passport, a marriage certificate and a diploma can carry three different transliterations of the same name. To a reviewer that is three different people. Sorting it out is slow and has to be done in advance.
3. A weakly evidenced source of funds. «Saved up over years of work» is not evidence. What is needed is a traceable chain: where the money came from, which document proves it, how it reached the account. If the chain breaks, the reviewer starts asking questions, and every round of questions costs weeks.
4. A surname match in international databases. A namesake on a sanctions or news list sends the file for additional screening. It gets resolved — but not quickly.
5. A previous refusal that was not disclosed. A refusal under another programme, or a visa refusal, left out of the form is not a delay — it is a refusal. Disclosed and explained up front, it is merely additional screening.
6. Documents for children and consents. A divorce, a second parent, a child over 18 in the family group, a student child — each of these adds documents, and often notarised consents from another country.
7. Biometrics that require travel. Some programmes now require biometrics to be given in person. The delay is less about the procedure than about arranging the trip: visa, calendar, children, work.
8. Rules changing while the file is live. Thresholds and requirements change, and they change fast. A file submitted before an amendment takes effect usually proceeds under the previous rules, but that has to be checked against the specific instrument rather than assumed as a general principle.
What actually shortens the timeline
There is no way to speed up a government. There are ways to stop losing time yourself.
A pre-check before any money. We look at the file before the contract. If it will not pass, we say so straight away, before payment. That saves months rather than weeks, because the worst possible outcome for a timeline is to walk half the road and be refused.
Collecting documents in parallel, not in sequence. Certificates, apostilles and translations are started simultaneously and with their expiry dates in mind, so that nothing has gone stale by the time the file is submitted.
An honest form. Anything you disclose yourself becomes additional screening. Anything found without you becomes a refusal.
Choosing the programme for the timeline, not for the brochure. If time is the binding constraint, that changes the choice of jurisdiction itself. Sometimes the right answer is not the best-known programme but the one where your particular profile clears faster.
Want to know the timeline for your own situation? Send us a request — we will run a pre-check and give you a realistic range for your profile, broken down by stage. Before the contract and before payment.
This material is general information and is not legal or tax advice. Programme requirements change — conditions are verified as at the date of filing. A second citizenship does not automatically change your tax residency: the 183-day rule, double tax treaties, CFC rules, notification of the Russian tax and interior authorities and currency control all apply separately. Check your position with your own tax adviser.