The Status & Landing Hub: four tracks, each ranked on its own terms
In plain terms, there are only four ways to live in another country: buy the status, earn it on merit, live there on a remote-work visa, or land a company or factory there. This page lays out the formal channels on all four — ranked within each track, compared across tracks by attributes only, never by a merged score.
Measuring status products with the cash-flow yardstick misleads in both directions — and the same holds between tracks: a bought passport, a merit-based residence, a nomad visa and a factory landing are valued by completely different arithmetic. So this site gives each track its own six factors and its own ranking, with all weights published (see the methodology page), and compares across tracks in one attribute matrix only — what you get, whether you may work, whether it leads to permanent residence, what happens to your passport, and the lowest true cost. Attributes compare across tracks; scores never convert. Filter the matrix by purpose first, then read the rankings and the per-factor basis inside each track.
Start sideways: 16 channels in one attribute matrix
Tap a purpose chip and the table keeps only the channels that fit (information filtering, not advice). The matrix compares attributes and carries no scores; rankings live in the tracks below.
| Channel | Country | Track | What you get | May you work locally? | PR path | Citizenship path | Passport & mobility | Lowest true cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greece Golden Visa (Property) | Greece | Status by investment | 5-year residence, renewable while the investment is held | No employment; self-employment / shareholding allowed | Long-term residence after 5 years of actual residence | After 7 years of actual residence + B1 Greek | Schengen access | From €250,000 (property, fully sunk) |
| Grenada Citizenship by Investment | Grenada | Status by investment | Direct citizenship (no residence stage) | Full work rights as a citizen | N/A — citizenship directly | Direct citizenship in about 3–4 months | Passport with ~148 destinations + US E-2 treaty | US$235,000 donation (sunk) |
| Türkiye Citizenship by Investment (Property) | Türkiye | Status by investment | Direct citizenship (3-year annotation on the property) | Full work rights as a citizen | N/A — citizenship directly | Direct citizenship in about 3–6 months | Passport with ~112 destinations | US$400,000 property (resalable after 3 years) |
| US EB-5 Reserved Category (Rural TEA) | United States | Status by investment | 2-year conditional green card → permanent green card | Full work rights as a permanent resident | Permanent residence once I-829 conditions are removed | Naturalisation after 5 years holding a green card | US settlement rights (passport unchanged at green-card stage) | US$800,000 investment (must be at risk) |
| Portugal Golden Visa (Fund Route) | Portugal | Status by investment | Residence card (first card realistically 2–3.5 years) | Work permitted | Permanent residence after 5 years | Citizenship timeline extended to 10 years by the 2026 law (counted from the first card) | Schengen access (residence) | €500,000 fund (returnable at term) |
| Thailand Long-Term Resident Visa (LTR) | Thailand | Status by investment | 10-year long-term resident visa (5+5), multiple entry | Digital work permit attached (remote category); the highly-skilled category works for a Thai employer | No direct path (time generally does not count toward PR eligibility) | None | Passport unchanged | Fee THB 50,000; bars are by category (assets / income / investment) |
| Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) | Philippines | Status by investment | Long-term residence (SRRV, multiple entry, renewable) | Employment is generally not permitted; business/investment follows separate rules (the deposit may be converted into designated investments) | None (the SRRV itself is not a PR path) | None | Passport unchanged | Deposit from US$15,000 (age-50+ pension tier) plus a US$1,500 application fee |
| Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) | Malaysia | Status by investment | Long-stay pass of 5 / 15 / 20 years by tier, renewable; SEZ tier 10 years | Only the Platinum tier may work, run a business or invest actively | None (the Tourism Minister stated in 2024 that participants may not apply for PR) | None | Passport unchanged | SEZ tier: deposit from USD 32,000; Silver: USD 150,000 + RM 600,000 property |
| Taiwan Employment Gold Card | Taiwan | Status by merit | Residence of 1–3 years (chosen at application), extendable | Fully open: any employer, multiple jobs, self-employment | APRC after 3 years of continuous residence; Global Elite after 1 year | Naturalisation after 5 years of legal residence (renunciation generally required) | Passport unchanged (until APRC/citizenship) | Government fees NT$3,700–5,700 |
| Japan Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) | Japan | Status by merit | 5-year status, extendable; HSP(ii) is indefinite | Limited to the approved activities; HSP(ii) is nearly unrestricted | PR after 1 year at 80+ points / 3 years at 70+ | Naturalisation after about 5 years (renunciation required) | Passport unchanged | Government fees ¥10,000–75,000 (by period granted) |
| Spain Digital Nomad Visa | Spain | Remote-work visas | 3-year residence permit when applied from Spain, renewable for 2 years | Remote work for foreign clients; Spanish-client income capped at 20% | Long-term residence after 5 years | After 10 years (2 for Ibero-American and certain nationals) | Schengen access (residence) | Proof of income of €2,442/month |
| Portugal D8 Digital Nomad Visa | Portugal | Remote-work visas | 2-year residence permit, renewable for 3 years | Remote work for foreign employers/clients | Permanent residence after 5 years | Citizenship after 10 years (2026 law) | Schengen access (residence) | Proof of income of €3,680/month |
| Thailand Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) | Thailand | Remote-work visas | 5-year multiple-entry visa, 180+180 days per entry (tourist class, not residence) | Remote work for foreign employers/clients only | None (time does not count) | None | Passport unchanged | Visa fee THB 10,000 + THB 500,000 savings to show |
| Malaysia DE Rantau Nomad Pass | Malaysia | Remote-work visas | Professional Visit Pass of 3–12 months, renewable once (24-month ceiling) | Remote work for foreign employers/clients only | None | None | Passport unchanged | Processing fee RM 1,080 |
| Croatia Digital Nomad Temporary Stay | Croatia | Remote-work visas | Temporary stay of up to 18 months (non-renewable) | Remote work for foreign clients only | None (does not count toward long-term residence) | None | Schengen access (during the stay) | Proof of income of €3,622.50/month or €43,470 savings |
| Estonia Digital Nomad D-Visa | Estonia | Remote-work visas | D-visa of up to 12 months (not a residence permit) | Remote work for foreign clients only | None | None | Schengen access (during the visa) | Visa fee €120 + funds proof of €132/day |
| Japan Digital Nomad Visa (Designated Activities No. 53) | Japan | Remote-work visas | Designated Activities, 6 months (non-renewable, not residence) | Remote work for foreign employers/clients only | None (does not count) | None | Passport unchanged | Income of at least ¥10,000,000/year (eligibility bar) |
Track 1: status by investment
Citizenship- and residency-by-investment and deposit-based long-stay programs, priced side by side on the status alone (mobility, cost efficiency, speed, recoverability, residency burden, policy stability) — never on yield. MM2H and Thailand's LTR sit on this track deliberately: they sell long stay rather than status content, and placing them here is what lets a "just let me live there" reader see the price difference clearly.
Buy-board score = mobility ×25% + cost efficiency ×20% + speed ×15% + recoverability ×15% + residency burden ×10% + policy stability ×15%, each factor graded 0–10. The full formula is on the methodology page.
| Factor | Weight | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 20% | Identity value per unit of cost — for the same status, whose total cost is lower. |
| Countries you can enter | 25% | The visa-free reach and regional access the passport or residency confers (Schengen access, treaty channels, direct PR, etc.). |
| How stable the rules are | 15% | Program longevity and rule stability; a program with a legislated wind-down date loses points here. |
| Getting your money back | 15% | How much of the outlay comes back: returnable or resalable investments score high; donations recover zero. |
| Do you have to live there | 10% | Scored in reverse: the lighter the physical-presence requirement (down to zero), the higher the score. |
| Speed | 15% | Time from filing to status in hand, and the certainty of the outcome. |
| Rank | Program | Country | Type | Entry bar | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece Golden Visa (Property) The tier rules were overhauled in 2024 — which property, in which zone, decides eligibility; any 2026 adjustments are unverified. A golden visa confers residency, not citizenship. | Greece | Residency by investment | Tiered property thresholds: €800,000 high-demand zones / €400,000 standard / €250,000 conversion class (post-Sep-2024 tiers; under research) | 6.8 |
| 2 | Grenada Citizenship by Investment Time-limit risk: the EU has ordered the five Caribbean CBI programs to wind down before 1 Jun 2028, with enhanced screening from Sep 2026 — the Schengen-access value carries a hard expiry risk; check the latest position and any transition terms before applying. | Grenada | Citizenship by investment | From ~US$235,000 (National Transformation Fund contribution; under research, to be verified line by line) | 6.6 |
| 3 | Türkiye Citizenship by Investment (Property) Research candidate: this entry comes from demand-side signals (Middle East and CIS demand); threshold, holding period and resale restrictions are unverified by this site, and no conclusion is drawn until research completes. | Türkiye | Citizenship by investment | Property US$400,000 (research candidate — no figures verified in this pass) | 6.5 |
| 4 | US EB-5 Reserved Category (Rural TEA) Timing and queues: reserved categories are Current for all countries (Oct 2026 Visa Bulletin), while unreserved China sits at 2016; petitions filed before 30 Sep 2026 are grandfathered, and statutory amounts adjust for inflation from 1 Jan 2027 (new figure unannounced). A green card means US worldwide taxation. | United States | Residency by investment | US$800,000 (TEA / reserved categories); capital must go into a qualifying project creating 10 jobs (under research) | 5.9 |
| 5 | Portugal Golden Visa (Fund Route) Policy stability is this entry's headline variable: Portugal has repeatedly debated tightening or closing the program — current program status and the citizenship-timeline rules must be verified before any other factor is assessed. | Portugal | Residency by investment | €500,000 in qualifying fund units (the real-estate route closed in Oct 2023; under research) | 5.3 |
| 6 | Thailand Long-Term Resident Visa (LTR) LTR time generally does not count toward permanent-residence eligibility and there is no citizenship path; the dependant expansion (parents, no cap) is written into the BOI announcement but the Interior Ministry notice that activates it has not been issued — in practice filings still run as spouse plus children under 20, up to 4. All categories require health insurance of at least USD 50,000 (or social security / deposit alternatives). | Thailand | Residency by investment | Four categories (current BOI Announcement Por. 3/2568): Wealthy Global Citizen — global assets of at least USD 1,000,000 with at least USD 500,000 already invested in Thailand; Wealthy Pensioner (50+) — passive income of at least USD 80,000/year, or USD 40,000–80,000 plus at least USD 250,000 invested in Thailand; Work-from-Thailand Professional — average income of at least USD 80,000 (or USD 40,000–80,000 plus a degree/IP/startup-funding condition) with a qualifying employer; Highly-Skilled Professional — employed in a BOI target industry at USD 80,000+/year (or USD 40,000–80,000 plus a master's degree or special expertise) | 5.2 |
| 7 | Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) The deposit is a held entry ticket, not an investment return: PDIC deposit insurance covers only PHP 1,000,000 (about US$17,000–18,000), so the upper tiers carry a slice of uninsured deposit. Visas issued before 1 Sep 2025 keep their original terms (grandfathered) — do not price today's tiers off old blog posts quoting the former US$10,000/20,000 levels. | Philippines | Residency by investment | Restructured on 1 Sep 2025 to just two variants — Classic and Courtesy — with the minimum age lowered to 40 and mandatory Bureau of Immigration clearance. Classic is priced by a held time deposit: age 50+ with a pension (at least US$800/month single, US$1,000 with dependants) deposits US$15,000; 50+ without a pension US$30,000; ages 40–49 with a pension US$25,000; 40–49 without US$50,000. Application fee US$1,500 (plus US$300 per dependant; each dependant beyond two adds a US$15,000 deposit). | 5.0 |
| 8 | Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Officially no path to permanent residence or citizenship; the property may not be sold for 10 years (except to upgrade); applications must go through a licensed agent — no self-filing. | Malaysia | Residency by investment | Four tiers: Silver — USD 150,000 fixed deposit + property from RM 600,000; Gold — USD 500,000 + RM 1,000,000; Platinum — USD 1,000,000 + RM 2,000,000; SEZ tier (Forest City, Johor) — fixed deposit from USD 32,000 at age 50+ | 4.3 |
Track 2: status by merit
Qualification-based channels for foreign professionals: no investment, no deposit — the state examines the person's record. Of the six factors, the PR path is weighted highest: a talent channel's terminal value is permanent residence, not the first card. The first two entries — Taiwan's Employment Gold Card and Japan's Highly Skilled Professional — are both first-tier in Asia.
Merit-track score = eligibility ×20% + speed ×15% + cost ×15% + PR path ×25% + family ×10% + policy stability ×15%, each factor graded 0–10. The full formula is on the methodology page.
| Factor | Weight | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| How hard to qualify | 20% | How hard the bar is, and how many non-asset routes clear it. |
| Speed | 15% | Time from application to status in hand. |
| Cost | 15% | Government fees and unavoidable outlays (excluding relocation and living costs). |
| Path to permanent residence | 25% | The years and certainty involved in reaching permanent residence or citizenship — weighted highest. |
| Bringing family | 10% | Dependant inclusion, spousal work rights, and the arrangement for parents. |
| How stable the rules are | 15% | Program longevity and tightening risk. |
| Rank | Program | Country | Type | Entry bar | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taiwan Employment Gold Card Naturalisation generally requires renouncing the prior nationality (exceptions for high-level professionals); parents get visitor stays (6 months at a time, up to 1 year), not dependant residence. | Taiwan | Residency by investment | Qualify in one of eight fields: most commonly a monthly salary of at least NT$160,000 in any one of the last 3 years (tax certificate); seniority, academic and distinction routes also exist; no asset test and no employer sponsor | 8.1 |
| 2 | Japan Highly Skilled Professional (HSP) Meeting the points threshold is not an approval, and categories (b)/(c) are refused outright below the ¥3,000,000 salary floor; PR screening tightens from April 2027 (income and tax/social-insurance compliance), and the PR application fee was reported to rise sharply from October 2026 — check the ISA fee page. | Japan | Residency by investment | 70+ points (education, career, salary, age, research achievements); a hard salary floor of ¥3,000,000 for the specialised/technical and business-management categories; in practice a Japanese employer or business entity is required | 7.9 |
Track 3: remote-work visas
Digital-nomad visas compared: the dividing lines are the threshold, the duration, the tax treatment and above all whether the visa converts — channels whose years accumulate toward permanent residence (Spain, Portugal) and channels that end at the border (Croatia, Estonia, Japan) are different species, and the scores keep them clearly apart.
Remote-track score = income threshold ×25% + duration & renewability ×20% + cost ×10% + tax ×15% + long-term conversion ×20% + certainty ×10%, each factor graded 0–10. The full formula is on the methodology page.
| Factor | Weight | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Income threshold | 25% | How low the income or savings bar is — lower is easier, and scores higher. |
| How long you can stay | 20% | The stay granted, and the total after renewals. |
| Cost | 10% | Visa and processing fees. |
| Tax treatment | 15% | How the host country taxes remote income, and what exemptions exist. |
| Path to long-term residence | 20% | Whether time on the visa counts toward permanent residence or citizenship — non-counting time scores low. |
| How straightforward it is | 10% | Rule clarity and refusal or policy-change risk. |
| Rank | Program | Country | Type | Entry bar | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain Digital Nomad Visa Some consulates annualise the 14-payment SMI and quote about €2,849/month — verify with the consulate or UGE that will take the file; freelancers may earn at most 20% from Spanish clients. | Spain | Residency by investment | Monthly income of at least €2,442 (2026; 200% of the SMI minimum wage); dependants add 75% of SMI for the first and 25% each thereafter | 7.4 |
| 2 | Portugal D8 Digital Nomad Visa The citizenship timeline rose from 5 to 10 years under Lei Orgânica 1/2026 (7 for EU/CPLP nationals); AIMA processing queues are a practical constant. | Portugal | Residency by investment | Monthly income of at least €3,680 (2026; 4× the minimum wage, averaged over the prior 3 months); +50% for a spouse and +30% per child | 7.2 |
| 3 | Thailand Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) From 31 August 2026 new applications must also provide proof of permanent residence in the country of application and a police clearance (Consular Department notice of 26 Aug 2026 — re-check on thaievisa.go.th); the DTV is a tourist-class visa whose time does not count toward permanent residence. | Thailand | Residency by investment | Savings of at least THB 500,000 (normally 3 months of statements, seasoned funds); no income test; visa fee THB 10,000; must be applied for outside Thailand via the e-visa system | 5.8 |
| 4 | Malaysia DE Rantau Nomad Pass Total duration is capped at 24 months (initial 3–12 months plus one 12-month renewal); since 1 August 2026 refusals carry no appeal; no work for Malaysian companies or clients. | Malaysia | Residency by investment | Annual income above USD 24,000 (tech/digital roles) or above USD 60,000 (non-tech roles), earned from foreign employers/clients | 5.3 |
| 5 | Croatia Digital Nomad Temporary Stay The stay runs to 18 months and is not renewable; reapplying requires 6 months abroad — by design it cannot accumulate residence time. Private health insurance is required. | Croatia | Residency by investment | Monthly income of at least €3,622.50 (2026; 2.5× the prior-year average net salary), or savings of €43,470 (12 months) / €65,205 (18 months) | 5.1 |
| 6 | Estonia Digital Nomad D-Visa This is a visa, not a residence permit: up to 12 months, non-renewable (total stay capped at 548 days in any 730), with no path to PR; some embassy and e-Residency pages still quote the older €4,500/month figure — budget to the higher one. | Estonia | Residency by investment | Proof of funds at €132/day (about €3,960/month, 2026 official table, evidenced over the prior 6 months); visa fee €120 | 4.3 |
| 7 | Japan Digital Nomad Visa (Designated Activities No. 53) Six months with no extension and a 6-month gap before reuse; no residence card is issued, NHI enrolment is not possible, and the stay does not count toward permanent residence. | Japan | Residency by investment | Annual income of at least ¥10,000,000 from foreign employers/clients (savings do not count); private medical insurance with at least ¥10,000,000 of treatment cover; limited to nationals of the 51 visa-exempt, treaty countries/regions | 4.1 |
Entries marked "In research": the program and threshold are recorded, but the factor grades have not been verified line by line — until they are, the entry carries no score and no position. Threshold figures are research pointers, not quotes; program rules follow the latest official publications.
Track 4: land a company / a factory
The fourth road is not a visa — it is moving the business: whether foreigners may hold 100%, how many years of tax holiday, whether land can be owned, what factory space costs, and how many months setup takes. The first landing case is Thailand (BOI promotion plus industrial estates); Vietnam's industrial property sits on the Vietnam country page and Singapore's company and tax framework on the Singapore page, and each will be rebuilt into the same landing-case format as the bases are aligned.
In the research queue, not yet ranked
Thailand Privilege (Elite): a purchased membership for long stay with no investment or qualification thesis to compare — this site records its facts but does not score it. Singapore's ONE Pass, the UAE Green Visa and Taiwan's digital-nomad visa (6+6 months) are in the research queue; each is published once verified.
Data on this page is as of 2026-11-08; program rules change frequently, and every figure is re-checked against the official text before any score is published.