Glossary
How to read this site
Every country page has a header with key facts, a monitoring panel, the conditions of each program, and a Country Snapshot table with sourced numbers. This glossary explains the columns, labels and abbreviations you will meet there.
Country list columns
Click a column title to sort; click the * next to a title for a short explanation. Hover a value to see where it came from.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Region | Region code; hover for the full name (see Region codes). |
| Tags | Editorial #tags (see Fit tags). |
| Programs | Icons for the residency routes the country offers (see Program types). Routes that are closed or not available are left out. The program buttons above the table filter countries that offer all selected routes. |
| Citizen yrs | Years of legal residence before you can apply for citizenship under the standard route. 10+ yr means ten years or more; no path means there is no realistic route for a foreigner. |
| Visa-free | Passport strength: the number of destinations a holder of that country's passport can enter visa-free (a Henley-type visa-free count). It describes the passport you would get after naturalisation, not the one you hold now. |
| Cost idx | Numbeo cost-of-living index with New York City = 100; lower means cheaper. Ranges on the page are shown as their midpoint. |
| Rent $/mo | Typical monthly rent of a 1-bedroom apartment, usually in the city centre, converted to US dollars at approximate fixed exchange rates (a range stays a range). It is a rough comparison figure, not a quote. |
| Invest min | The cheapest qualifying amount of the country's investment-residency route (Golden Visa style: property, fund, business or deposit), in US dollars. Amounts stated in other currencies are converted at approximate fixed rates and marked ≈ (rounded to two significant digits); hover to see the original amount and the source quote. Empty means the route is closed, absent or has no stated amount. |
| Nomad visa | Whether a digital-nomad or remote-work residence exists, with the headline income requirement per month or year, in US dollars (converted and marked ≈ when the page uses another currency). No means the page says there is none; empty means the page does not say. |
| Tax % | Effective personal income tax range for a remote worker, in percent. Indicative only: real tax depends on residency days, regime and income. |
| Trust | Confidence level of the page: how well it is backed by sources (see Confidence below). 3 bars = high, 2 = medium, 1 = low. |
Invest min, Nomad visa and Tax % are extracted from the country pages into data/facts.json; every value keeps the quote it came from and is dropped if the quote cannot be found on the page.
Confidence
- High: key facts are confirmed by official or authoritative sources.
- Medium: a mix of official sources and secondary or estimated data.
- Low: mostly unverified, or important data is missing. Check the sources before relying on it.
Region codes
| Code | Region |
|---|---|
| EU-W | Western Europe |
| EU-E | Eastern Europe |
| BALK | Balkans & Caucasus |
| ME | Middle East & Gulf |
| AF-N | North Africa |
| AF-W | West Africa |
| AF-C | Central Africa |
| AF-ES | East & South Africa |
| LATAM | Latin America |
| CARIB | Caribbean & Central America |
| NA-OC | North America & Oceania |
| ASIA | Asia |
Fit tags
Tags are editorial and help you filter the list. They are not official classifications.
- #pass (Strong passport): citizenship would give a high visa-free count.
- #it (IT-friendly): a remote-work or tech-friendly route plus a workable environment for IT specialists.
- #path (Clear pathway): a well-defined, documented route from residence to a passport.
- #ru (Popular with RU): a common destination for Russian-speaking applicants.
- #yacht (Yacht captain): a country with a maritime or yachting infrastructure relevant to captains.
Country header facts
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Years to citizenship | Years of legal residence required for naturalisation, with any physical-presence rule (for example 183 days a year). |
| Passport | Visa-free count of the passport after citizenship. |
| Remote-work visa | Whether a digital-nomad or similar remote-work residence exists, with its income threshold. |
| Tax, remote workers | Rough effective personal income tax for a remote worker. A planning estimate, not tax advice. |
| 1-bed rent / month | Monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment, usually in the city centre. |
| Language | Main official language. |
Country Snapshot fields
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Population | Total population. |
| Main religion / Main language / Main city | Largest religion, official language, and biggest or capital city. |
| On the coast? | Whether the country has a coastline, with a short note. |
| Tourism impact in season | How strongly seasonal tourism affects daily life and prices. |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | Economic output per person in US dollars, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) so countries are comparable. |
| Median net monthly salary | Typical take-home monthly pay. |
| Cost of living index | Numbeo-style index where New York City is 100; lower means cheaper. |
| Monthly rent, 1-bedroom apartment | Same as 1-bed rent / month above. |
| Effective personal tax rate for remote workers | Approximate share of income paid as tax by a remote worker. |
| Remote-work / self-employment residence available? | Whether a residence route for remote work or self-employment exists. |
| Years to citizenship | See above. |
| Maximum permitted absence during residence | How long you may stay outside the country without breaking the residence clock. |
| Passport strength after citizenship | Visa-free count, see above. |
| Rule of Law Index | World Justice Project score from 0 to 1 (higher is better) and rank. |
| Freedom House score | Score out of 100 and status: Free, Partly Free or Not Free. |
| Average annual sunshine hours | Hours of sunshine per year, usually for the main city. |
| Average annual temperature | Mean yearly temperature, usually for the main city. |
Source marks
- ✓: the value comes from an official or authoritative source.
- ~: an estimate or a secondary source; the value may be outdated.
- No reliable data / No recent data: nothing credible was found. The field stays empty on purpose rather than guessed.
Program types
Each type has a comparison page across countries.
- 💰 Investment residency: residence in exchange for an investment, often called a Golden Visa.
- 🛂 Citizenship by investment: a passport in exchange for a contribution or investment (CBI).
- 🏦 Passive-income residency: residence based on stable income that does not require local work.
- 🌴 Retired residency: residence for pensioners with a foreign pension.
- 💻 Digital nomad visa: residence for people who work remotely for foreign clients or employers.
- 💼 Employment residency: residence tied to a local job offer.
- 🧠 Highly skilled employment: fast-track permits for qualified specialists, including the EU Blue Card.
- 🚀 Startup / entrepreneur: residence for founders and business owners.
- 🎓 Student residency: residence for enrolled students.
- 👨👩👧 Family reunification: residence for relatives of a legal resident or citizen.
Abbreviations
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Golden Visa (GV) | Investment residency programme. |
| CBI | Citizenship by investment. |
| DN / Digital Nomad Visa | Residence permit for remote workers. |
| FIP | Financially Independent Person, a passive-income route (for example in Greece). |
| D7 / D8 | Portuguese residence visas: D7 for passive income and retirees, D8 for digital nomads. |
| Non-Lucrative | Spanish residence for people living on savings or passive income without working locally. |
| Blue Card | EU permit for highly qualified workers. |
| Schengen | The EU zone without internal border checks; a short-stay visa works in all member states. |
| EU / EEA | European Union / European Economic Area; citizens move and work freely across them. |
| non-dom | Special tax regime where foreign-source income is taxed lightly or not at all. |
| PPP | Purchasing power parity. |
| FATF | Financial Action Task Force; its grey and black lists flag countries with weak anti-money-laundering controls and can slow bank transfers. |
| CRS | Common Reporting Standard: automatic exchange of bank-account information between tax authorities. |
| YoY | Year over year. |
| RU | Russian citizens or the Russian-speaking audience. |
Not legal advice. Conditions change; verify them with the sources cited on each page.