Easiest countries to get residency in 2026

Paraguay grants temporary residence without income or investment, Uruguay lets you apply for permanent residence at once, and Thailand's five-year visa for remote workers costs about $300. We compare 15 countries with a low entry bar.

In detail

The easiest residence permit in 2026 is not the cheapest one but the one you already have grounds for: income, a company, a pension or money to buy a home. Below are 15 countries where the entry bar is lower than in Europe, from Paraguay, which grants temporary residence without income or investment, to Thailand, where a five-year visa for remote workers costs about $300. Each row of the table leads to a detailed country page.

Where it is easiest to get residence: a table of 15 countries

The amounts come from the country pages on our site and are converted to dollars at central bank rates for early October 2026. Ease here is relative: everywhere you need a clean criminal record, translations and patience with local bureaucracy.

No investment and no high income

These are the easiest countries for those without a large sum but with the will to live in the country and handle the paperwork.

• Paraguay. Temporary residence for up to 2 years is granted without proof of income or investment, for a fee of about $500. Income is checked later, when switching to permanent residence. Citizenship comes 3 years after permanent residence.
• Uruguay. You apply for permanent residence at once, with no temporary stage. State charges are about $120; there is no fixed income threshold, though in practice $1,500 a month per person is the benchmark. Citizenship comes after 3 years with family or 5 without.
• Serbia. Your own company or sole trader registration gives a single residence and work permit for up to 3 years for fees of about $250. Permanent residence comes after 3 years.
• Armenia. A residence decision takes 30 days, but from 1 November 2026 the rules are stricter: the fee rose to about $420, and residence as a sole trader requires 1 million drams, about $2,800, in the account or in turnover.

These countries share one feature: entry is cheap, but the status requires you to genuinely live and do business there. A company with no turnover in Serbia or a sole trader with no income in Armenia becomes a problem at renewal.

By income: for remote workers and retirees

With stable income from abroad or a pension, residence comes by income, without investment. The higher the threshold, the fewer questions at renewal.

• Argentina. People living on passive income and retirees need from $1,300 a month; the fee is about $80. By law a passport can be obtained after 2 years of living in the country.
• Brazil. The remote worker visa requires income from $1,500 a month from abroad or $18,000 in savings, for a year with renewal. The consular fee is from $290.
• Mexico. Temporary residence on income from $4,630 a month over the last six months, for 1 to 4 years. You apply at a Mexican consulate; the consular fee is $56.
• Cyprus. The visitor permit for living on foreign income requires from $26,890 a year per applicant, for a year with annual renewal; state fees from $157.
• Thailand. The five-year visa for remote workers and freelancers has no income threshold but requires 500,000 baht, about $14,840, in the account. Up to 180 days per entry with a further 180-day extension.

Income is proven with documents: statements, contracts, apostilled and translated pension certificates. Money that arrived in the account the day before filing is usually not counted by consulates and migration services.

By buying a home

A flat as grounds for residence is a convenient path for those who planned to buy anyway. The key is that the property passes the threshold on valuation, not on the contract price.

• Georgia. A home from $150,000 at market valuation. The residence fee is about $120 with a 30-day review.
• Montenegro. From 2026 a home for owner's residence must have a tax value from 150,000 euros, about $170,000.
• Turkey. A home from $200,000 per a licensed appraiser's report, a permit for up to 2 years at a time, the card about $20.
• Azerbaijan. Property or a deposit from 100,000 manats, about $59,000, a fee of about $80 a year, permanent residence after 2 years.

More on buying homes by country in our articles buying a flat in Azerbaijan and buying a flat in Armenia.

By deposit or contribution

• Malaysia. The second home programme: a deposit from $150,000 in a Malaysian bank and a home purchase, a visa for 5, 15 or 20 years for the whole family, at least 90 days in the country a year.
• Indonesia. The second home visa: a deposit of 2 billion rupiah, about $120,000, in a state bank, for 5-10 years.
• Thailand. A long-term visa for a one-off contribution from $19,300, with no residence requirement, for up to 20 years.

Deposit programmes cost more to enter but are simpler to maintain: no company to run and no need to prove income every year.

How much residence costs: fees and required sums

The fee is the smallest part of the budget. Most of the money goes on the grounds themselves, income, a home or a deposit, plus translations, apostilles, insurance and living in the country until the decision.

For a family, fees and insurance are paid for each member, and income thresholds often rise with each dependant. We will calculate the total for your family in the chat; this page shows amounts per person only.

What changed in 2026

• Armenia. From 1 November 2026 permanent status comes only after 3 years of temporary residence, fees went up, and sole trader residence requires 1 million drams in the account or turnover.
• Georgia. From 2026 you cannot work without a work permit even during the visa-free year.
• Montenegro. The home threshold for owner's residence rose to 150,000 euros of tax value, and a company owner must pay taxes and contributions from 5,000 euros a year to renew.
• Kazakhstan. Entry became stricter: points, a Kazakh language test and about $13,000 in the account per family member, so it no longer makes this list.
• Spain. Residence for buying a home has been closed since 3 April 2025.

Easy countries quickly become popular, and popular ones become strict. So the window of opportunity is best used before the rules change.

How to choose a country for residence

1. Start with the grounds you already have: income, a pension, a company, money for a home.
2. Decide whether you need a path to citizenship. By law the fastest passports come from Argentina, after 2 years of living there, and Uruguay, after 3 years with family.
3. Check taxes: some countries do not tax foreign income, while in others you become a tax resident after 183 days.
4. Count the cost of living, not just the fee: rent in Montevideo, Limassol and Istanbul is higher than in Asunción, Yerevan or Belgrade.
5. Check how many days a year you must spend in the country to keep the status.

If the goal is a backup status, look at countries without residence requirements. If the goal is life and a passport, the path to citizenship and the climate matter more than the entry price. Detailed reviews of each country are in the section residence abroad.

Documents needed almost everywhere

• An international passport valid for at least a year.
• A criminal record certificate from Russia, and often from the countries you lived in recently, apostilled and translated.
• Marriage and children's birth certificates, apostilled and translated.
• Documents for the grounds: statements, contracts, a pension certificate, property documents.
• Health insurance, and in some countries a health certificate from a local clinic.

Almost everywhere the translation must be done by a local sworn or court translator, and the criminal record certificate expires within a few months. So it is ordered last, once the rest of the package is ready.

Common mistakes when choosing an easy residence

• Choosing a country by entry price without checking how many days a year you must spend there.
• Opening a company for residence and then failing to renew because the company has no turnover.
• Buying a home below the threshold or with a contract price below the valuation.
• Showing income that arrived in the account the day before filing.
• Forgetting taxes: residence plus 183 days in the country makes you a tax resident.

How we help

Murblz specialists choose a country for the grounds you already have, calculate the budget for the whole family and handle the process from certificates to the card.

Talk to a manager now

This topic in other countries

• Retiring in Uruguay
• Retiring in Armenia
• Retiring in Malaysia
• Serbia residence in 2026
• Serbia residence by diploma
• Armenia in 2026: residence, banks and taxes
• Remote work visas

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