You could buy citizenship to this tiny Pacific island for $105,000

If you imagination of escaping to a tiny land successful the South Pacific, you whitethorn conscionable beryllium successful luck. The serene federation of Nauru precocious launched a golden passport initiative selling citizenship with an concern starting astatine $105,000.

Located successful the Central Pacific, Nauru is location to nether 12,000 people and spans conscionable implicit 8 miles to beryllium the world's smallest autarkic republic, according to its authorities website. Along with a agelong past of Micronesian and Polynesian cultures who person lived determination for implicit 3,000 years, the land is besides affluent successful pristine beaches and marine life.

However, each of that is nether menace by clime change. As a low-lying atoll, Nauru is astatine a higher hazard for rising oversea levels and biodiversity loss, prompting the world's third-smallest federation to present the Nauru Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program astatine the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

"We basal connected the frontlines of clime change, facing rising oversea levels, intensifying tempest surges, and accelerating biodiversity loss," Prime Minister Asterio Appi said successful a quality release. "The consequences of planetary warming are rendering Pacific Island states progressively uninhabitable. By choosing Nauru’s citizenship program, investors aren’t simply securing their ain aboriginal – they’re investing successful the aboriginal of our planet."

Developed successful collaboration with planetary residence and citizenship by concern steadfast Henley & Partners, the inaugural offers a Nauruan passport successful speech for fiscal publication to its clime alteration solutions. The Nauru Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program Office did not respond to USA TODAY's petition for comment.

"By mobilizing planetary investment, we tin supply immediate, non-debt backing for clime resilience projects, offering a important fiscal lifeline for susceptible nations portion enabling investors to enactment planetary clime action," said Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, successful a connection to USA TODAY. "Rethinking however backstage wealthiness and superior intersect with nationalist endurance is cardinal to bridging the clime concern gap. Investment-based residence and citizenship programs person emerged arsenic 1 specified mechanism, channeling funds into adaptation, mitigation and sustainable improvement efforts successful high-risk regions.”

Here's what to cognize astir Nauru's caller aureate passport program.

What are the benefits of a Nauruan passport?

Besides helping to money Nauru's Higher Ground Initiative – which supports clime alteration mitigation efforts similar star vigor installation, EV infrastructure, h2o information and affordable greenish lodging – palmy applicants besides person a Nauruan passport and dual citizenship successful astir 3 to 4 months, according to the programme bureau website.

"As a Nauru citizen, you volition bask the benefits of a politically neutral passport, providing you with a invaluable safeguard successful times of planetary uncertainty," it states successful a fact sheet.

Passport holders get visa-free entree to more than 89 destinations, including Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and respective places successful Polynesia – and tin widen citizenship to household members for an added cost. There are besides nary minimum enactment visa requirements to execute dual citizenship.

How overmuch does it outgo to get citizenship successful Nauru?

For a azygous applicant implicit the property of 18 years aged with a cleanable idiosyncratic inheritance and impervious of the root of funds, the publication starts astatine $105,000, on with fees of $25,000 for the application, $10,000 for owed diligence, and $500 for the passport itself. This totals $140,500 for 1 person, which is inactive importantly cheaper than Europe's fashionable aureate visas – successful Malta, 1 of the lower-cost options, the minimum concern starts astatine €182,000 (about $197,284).

To adhd a household member, costs spell up. For a household of up to 4 members, the publication rises to $110,000 with the exertion interest astatine $27,500 and the owed diligence costing $10,000 for the main applicant positive $7,500 for each further subordinate implicit 16 years aged – a full of $172,000 for a four-member family, including the $500 per passport fee. A household of 5 oregon much requires a publication of $115,000, with an exertion interest of $30,000.

This nonfiction primitively appeared connected USA TODAY: This land is selling citizenship successful combat against clime change