How to get Sierra Leone citizenship by investment or DNA

How to get Sierra Leone citizenship in 2026

From 1 October 2026 the cheapest route to a Sierra Leone passport costs $100,000, and the most popular one costs $140,000 plus due diligence. Every route sits inside a single program, Go-For-Gold, which the government launched in December 2024 as a gold-backed residence permit and extended to citizenship in January 2025.

Applicants of any nationality except North Korea may apply, according to the program's own materials. There is no formal bar on Russians, Ukrainians, Indians or Pakistanis; the decision turns on the background check. You do not have to live in the country, sit a language test or even visit: the oath of allegiance is taken over video.

The big change of 2026 is the new price list. A single applicant is now better off on the Solo route: $100,000 against $145,000 on Fast Track once due diligence is added. The Heritage route went the other way and rose by $20,000. The changes were announced on 26 September 2026.

Before comparing prices, be clear about what you are buying. A Sierra Leone passport opens 63 destinations, fewer than Chinese (83) or Russian (114) passports and more than Indian (55) or Pakistani (29) ones. For some readers it is an upgrade, for most it is a backup document with narrow reach. See what the passport actually gives you and our overview of second citizenship programs.

How much does Sierra Leone citizenship by investment cost

The Fast Track family package is one of the widest in the industry: beyond a spouse and children you can add parents, grandparents, adult children and siblings under 30. The price list splits relatives into two bands.

Due diligence (the background check covering identity, criminal records, sanctions lists and source of funds) has been billed separately since November 2025. It is run by a private UK firm, and the fee sits in escrow alongside the program payment. Escrow means a third party holds the money and releases it only once the agreed conditions are met.

The family total depends on who is in the application: rates per family member are in the table below, and we will calculate the full amount including due diligence, documents and our support in the chat.

According to the operator, the program fee also covers a limited company incorporated in Sierra Leone and a corporate account with a local bank, handed over after the letter of approval. Certificates, translations, apostilles, couriers and support from Murblz specialists come on top: we quote the cost of support after reviewing the documents and fix it in the contract.

If an application is refused, the program policy is to refund from escrow minus administrative and due diligence costs. Ask for the exact deduction and the refund deadline to be written into the contract as numbers, not a general promise.

Compare with all programs: second passport cost in 2026

How much Sierra Leone citizenship costs per family member

On the Fast Track route the main applicant pays $140,000, and each further family member adds $10,000 or $20,000 depending on the relationship. Due diligence is paid once per application, priced by the number of people.

Is the program legal, and is there an official website

Sierra Leone has no dedicated citizenship by investment law. The whole program hangs on one line, Section 27A of the Citizenship Act 1973: nothing in the Act affects the President's right to cause any person to be registered as a citizen of Sierra Leone. In other words, passports are granted by exception, on the personal decision of the head of state.

On 21 October 2025 the Sierra Leone Immigration Department (SLID) confirmed this arrangement. Its head, Chief Immigration Officer Dr Moses Tiffa Baio, called it a Special Naturalisation Protocol and said it remains the operative legal basis until Parliament amends the Act.

The amendments have been promised but not passed. The plan is to add a new Section 8(3) and a paragraph (d) on special circumstances to the Second Schedule of the 1973 Act, and to gazette the Citizenship (Special Naturalization) Regulation as a statutory instrument. Many websites claim the 2026 Regulation is already in force. It is not: according to the master agent's materials, both the Regulation and the amendments were still pending in 2026.

Who actually runs the program

Intake, marketing and compliance are in private hands. The program is run by a master agent, a private company the government licensed to take applications and appoint partners. Applicant vetting is also done by a private firm. The state confirms the framework, and the President signs naturalization certificates in batches.

That answers the common search for an official website. There is no government portal with rules, statistics and a register of agents. There is the master agent's own site and its network of partners. Your contract is with an intermediary, not the state, so an agent's accreditation should be proven with a document, not a logo.

Sierra Leone citizenship by DNA, descent and ancestry

There are two very different DNA-based routes: the paid Heritage route, $120,000 from 1 October 2026, and the African diaspora route, which asks for no investment but requires a DNA test, a trip to Freetown and a ceremony. They run through different institutions, so do not confuse them.

Heritage: a discounted passport for African roots

Heritage naturalization is part of the investment program. The applicant proves African ancestry with a DNA test; program partners name a test from one British laboratory. The minimum share of African ancestry is not published, so get the threshold from the operator in writing before paying for the test. The stated timeline is up to 60 days, and the price has risen from $100,000 to $120,000.

The diaspora route: citizenship for African Americans by DNA

This route targets descendants of people taken from West Africa, above all African Americans. On 29 April 2021 President Julius Maada Bio personally handed citizenship papers to 59 African Americans who had traced their roots to Sierra Leone through DNA testing by a US laboratory.

Under the published guidelines, applications go through the Monuments and Relics Commission. You need DNA results showing a maternal or paternal line from Sierra Leone, a birth certificate, two notarized reference letters, a police record and a background check. Then you must arrive at least five days before the ceremony for fingerprints and interviews, attend a two- to three-day heritage and civic workshop, and take the oath before the President. The guidelines do not state the fees.

What the law says about birth, descent and naturalization

The 1973 Act historically tied citizenship by birth to African descent. Ordinary naturalization requires 8 years of residence for people of African descent and at least 15 years for everyone else. For most foreigners, then, the investment route is the only realistic path to a passport.

Sierra Leone has allowed dual citizenship since 2006. Since the 2017 amendment, passed by Parliament on 5 July, mothers pass citizenship to children born abroad on equal terms with fathers. Marriage to a citizen is a separate ground for registration under the 1973 Act, in its original wording for the wife of a citizen. It has nothing to do with the investment program.

Sierra Leone Go-For-Gold residency: what a kilo of gold really costs

The gold-backed residence permit costs a single applicant roughly $210,000 in cash, even though the headline figure is $65,000. The gap is a kilogram of gold that you buy yourself and leave in the vault of the Bank of Sierra Leone, the central bank, for five years. This route gives no passport, only lifetime permanent residency.

The bars must be 99.99% pure and meet the LBMA Good Delivery standard, the London Bullion Market Association's specification for bars that major banks accept worldwide. Due diligence is extra, $5,000 for a single applicant. The stated approval time is under 40 days.

Worked example for one person

A kilogram is 32.15 troy ounces. At around $4,300 an ounce, where gold traded in 2026, the bar costs roughly $140,000. Add the $65,000 program fee and $5,000 due diligence and you reach about $210,000. About two thirds of that stays your asset, but it is locked for five years in the central bank of a country with low sovereign credit quality. The gold price will be different when you apply, so run the numbers on the day.

What happens to the gold after five years, whether you can withdraw, sell or export it and at what price, is not spelled out in the program's public materials. That term belongs in your contract. Separately, approved applicants may buy up to 20 kg of gold over five years at a 2% discount to market and offset the purchases against program fees.

Buying gold to get a second passport is a mistake: it is a different product. The residence permit makes sense for people doing business in West Africa who want to live in the country legally without changing citizenship.

What documents you need and how long the passport takes

The operator targets a letter of approval in 30-60 days and a passport in 60-90 days from filing, but the honest horizon from first call to passport in hand is 3-6 months. Most of that time goes not on officials in Freetown but on certificates and apostilles in your own country.

The formal requirements are short: age 18 or over, a clean background check and lawful source of funds. There is no language, history or culture test, and no visit to the country.

Core document set

• passports of the main applicant and every family member included;
• children's birth certificates and the marriage certificate;
• police certificates from your country of citizenship and from countries where you have lived in recent years;
• proof of address and digital photographs;
• source of funds evidence: bank statements, asset sale agreements, business accounts, tax returns;
• for the Heritage route, the DNA test report.

Documents are translated into English, the official language of Sierra Leone, and legalized with an apostille (a stamp that certifies a document for use abroad). The operator certifies copies over video.

The process runs in six stages, set out in the step-by-step guide below. The one that matters most for your safety is the second: the money should go into escrow with a party licensed in West Africa and be released only after the letter of approval.

The program is less than two years old and its administrative practice is still changing. Advertised timelines are the operator's targets, not a rule of law.

Sierra Leone passport visa-free countries and ranking

The Sierra Leone passport opens 63 destinations without a visa in advance: 40 fully visa-free, 19 with a visa on arrival and 4 with an electronic travel authorization. For comparison, the Pakistani passport opens 29 destinations, Nigerian 44, Indian 55, Chinese 83 and Russian 114.

ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, is the passport's one real advantage. Citizens of member states travel to each other without visas and can live and work under the bloc's regional protocols. Marketing still talks about 15 countries, but there are now 12: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger formally left on 29 January 2025. ECOWAS asked the remaining members to keep recognizing their passports during the transition, and visa-free travel to them continues for now.

What the passport adds to your current one

We compared the visa-free lists. For a Pakistani citizen, a Sierra Leone passport adds 35 destinations, including Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and most of West Africa. For an Indian citizen it adds 23, from Singapore and the Bahamas to Nigeria and Ghana. For a Chinese citizen it adds 20, almost all in Africa and the Caribbean. For a Russian it adds only 17, and 14 of them are in Africa.

If you need a passport for Europe, the US or the UK, this one solves nothing. If you need a lawful backup document or access to West Africa, the picture changes. For background on the country itself, see our Sierra Leone country guide.

Can Sierra Leone passport holders travel to the US or Schengen

Not to the US. Since 1 January 2026 Sierra Leone has been on the full suspension list: under Presidential Proclamation 10998 of 16 December 2025, the US issues neither immigrant visas (for moving there) nor nonimmigrant visas (tourist, business, student). Before that, from June 2025, the country was on the partial restrictions list.

The proclamation gives its reasons. Sierra Leone nationals overstay B1/B2 business and tourist visas at a rate of 16.48% and F, M and J student and exchange visas at 35.83%. The country has also historically been slow to take back nationals the US removes.

• Visas issued before 1 January 2026 were not revoked.
• The ban does not apply to US green card holders, diplomats, or dual nationals travelling on the passport of a country that is not on the list.
• The list is reviewed every 180 days, but lifting it is Washington's call, not the program's.

There is a catch for people who will hold Sierra Leone citizenship as a second nationality. The US visa application and ESTA, the electronic authorization for visa-waiver travellers, ask about every citizenship you hold. Hiding a Sierra Leone citizenship is not an option: misrepresentation on the form is grounds for refusal and a ban. The suspension itself does not apply when you travel on another passport, but expect questions at the border.

Sierra Leone vs São Tomé, Nauru and Caribbean citizenship by investment

For $100,000 Sierra Leone gets you 63 visa-free destinations; for twice that in the Caribbean you get 143 to 157 and visa-free Schengen. Since 1 July 2024 the five Caribbean states that sell citizenship have agreed, under an OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) memorandum, not to go below a $200,000 minimum. The market under that floor now belongs to the newcomers: Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Nauru.

The bottom line is simple. If you need visa-free Schengen and a status banks understand, the $100,000-150,000 gap between Sierra Leone and the Caribbean is not an overpayment but a different product. Caribbean visa-free access is not permanent either: the EU is openly pressing these states over passport sales, as we explain in our piece on the EU ultimatum to Caribbean passports.

If what you need is a cheap, lawful backup document or a foothold in West Africa, Sierra Leone competes with São Tomé and Nauru, not with the Caribbean. For the wider picture, see our ranking of the best countries for citizenship in 2026.

Does a Sierra Leone passport change your taxes

No. Tax residence follows where you live and where your centre of interests is, not the colour of your passport. If you do not move to Freetown, your taxes stay where they were, and a Sierra Leone passport will not reduce them.

Domestic taxes have also gone up. The Finance Act 2026, the annual law that sets tax rates, was passed by Parliament in November 2025 and applies from 2026. It raised corporate income tax from 25% to 30% to match the top personal income tax rate, which is also 30%. The minimum alternate tax (a floor a company pays even when its profit-based tax comes out lower) now applies to all companies and the investment allowance has been abolished. The 15% income tax figure that circulates online does not reflect the 2026 scale.

A word on banks. Under the CRS (Common Reporting Standard, the automatic exchange of financial account information between countries), a bank decides your tax country from your address, tax number and ties, not from the passport you show. Opening an account on a Sierra Leone passport while hiding your first citizenship and real address is not tax planning; it is giving false information to a bank, with all the consequences.

How tax residence works country by country is covered in our guide to taxes by country.

What are the risks of Sierra Leone citizenship by investment

The program's biggest risk is that it has no track record: it is under two years old, and the law meant to anchor it is still a draft. Together with Nauru and São Tomé and Príncipe it belongs to a wave of new low-cost programs, and all three share one problem: nobody knows how these passports will be treated in 5-10 years.

Status rests on discretion. Citizenship is granted by presidential decision, not on grounds you can defend in court. The program itself acknowledges that it will be revoked if fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of material facts comes to light. The 1973 Act also allows naturalized citizens to be stripped of citizenship for disloyalty, crimes against the state, fraud and long residence abroad. How that last rule applies to investors who never live in the country is untested. Ask the operator in writing whether investors are exempt.

Political risk. A mechanism created by executive decision can be stopped by the same executive. President Bio's second term ends in 2028, and the program is written into his agenda. A change of government or a scandal over the money could freeze issuance and passport renewals.

Scrutiny from other countries. Consulates ask about every citizenship you hold. Naturalization in 90 days without a single day in the country reads as a bought passport. The US already cites citizenship by investment without residence as a risk factor in restricting Antigua and Dominica.

Bank compliance. A weak-jurisdiction passport does not open accounts; it adds questions about why you need it. The local company and bank account included in the package are no substitute for an account in Europe or Asia.

Intermediaries. The market is young and full of websites making promises. Basic hygiene: pay only into escrow, get written confirmation of the agent's accreditation from the master agent, have refund terms spelled out, and never transfer to personal accounts.

Rules change mid-stream. The program has already overhauled its prices and routes twice, in November 2025 and from 1 October 2026. Whatever price you are quoted should be fixed in the contract before you file.

Who Sierra Leone citizenship is not for, and who might use it

For most people looking for a second passport this option is the wrong one, and it is better to find that out before paying for due diligence than after.

Skip Sierra Leone if

• you need visa-free access to Schengen, the UK or the US; none of it is on offer, and the US is fully closed;
• you already hold a stronger passport such as Russian, Ukrainian or Chinese and want more travel freedom; the gain is 17-22 destinations, mostly in West Africa;
• you plan to open accounts with European or Asian banks on it;
• you want tax savings; the passport does not change residence, and domestic rates reach 30%;
• you value predictability; the program is under two years old and rests on presidential discretion;
• you are a public figure and not ready to explain why you hold citizenship of a country you have never visited.

When it is worth discussing

• you run a real business in West Africa and need status within ECOWAS;
• you have proven African ancestry, and the Heritage or diaspora route makes sense for you;
• you hold a weak passport, such as Pakistani or Nigerian, and 63 destinations would be a real step up;
• you are assembling a set of documents and understand you are buying a cheap backup passport, not a strong one.

What can go wrong

Real scenarios for young programs: issuance is paused until the law is passed, the agent turns out to be unaccredited, a refund after refusal drags on because the contract set no deadline, and in 5-10 years renewing the passport raises questions for someone who has never set foot in the country.

If in doubt, start with your own situation rather than a country. On a free first consultation we check the specific agent and the contract. See also our blog analysis of the Sierra Leone program and our piece on where dual citizenship is allowed.

What Sierra Leone citizenship actually gives you

How to get Sierra Leone citizenship: step by step

FAQ

63 destinations visa-free, on arrival or with an eTA