What is residency?
Residency is a legal status that allows a foreign national to live in a country for a defined period or indefinitely, depending on the type of residence permit granted. It enables individuals to remain in the country lawfully, access essential services, and, in many cases, work or study.
There are two main types of residency:
- Temporary residency is granted for a limited period, and is often for work, study, family reunification, or investment purposes. It must be renewed regularly and usually comes with conditions, such as minimum stay requirements.
- Permanent residency allows individuals to stay in a country indefinitely. The permanent resident status offers many of the same day-to-day rights as citizens, such as access to healthcare, education, and property ownership. Examples include the U.S. Green Card, the EU long-term residence permit, or the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP).
Residency provides stability and the right to live and work in the country, but it does not offer full political rights, unrestricted global mobility, or a national passport.
What is citizenship?
Citizenship is the highest form of legal status in a country, granting full membership, including political rights and long-term security. Citizens can participate in local elections, hold public office, obtain a national passport, and receive consular protection abroad.
There are different ways of obtaining citizenship, such as through birth, descent, marriage, naturalization, or, in some countries, Citizenship by Investment (CBI).
Unlike residency, citizenship is generally permanent, transferable to future children, and provides a significantly higher level of protection and mobility.
What are the main differences between residency vs citizenship?
The distinction between residency and citizenship comes down to the level of rights, privileges, and long-term stability each status provides.
While residents can legally live in a country and enjoy many local benefits, citizens have full political participation, a national passport, and stronger protection under the law.
Here are the top ways in which these statuses differ:
Benefits
Residency: Residents can live and work in the country. They have access to local education, healthcare, and other essential public services. Oftentimes, they’re allowed to include eligible family members. Residency offers stability without requiring a change of nationality.
Citizenship: A citizen has full rights in the country. They can acquire a national passport and receive consular protection. Citizenship also provides automatic rights to future children. It offers strong security of status and long-term permanence in the country.
Travel
Residence: Having residency in another country does not give you the same travel rights as having that country’s passport.
However, residency can give you extra travel benefits within certain regions. For example, if you have residency in a Schengen country like Portugal or Italy, you can travel freely throughout the Schengen Area.
Outside that region, your travel rights still depend on your passport, not your residency.
Citizenship: Your international travel privileges are determined by the strength of the passport of your new country of citizenship. Citizenship often provides extensive visa free travel or visa-on-arrival access. It offers significantly stronger global mobility, especially when the passport ranks highly on the Global Passport Index.
Rights
Residency: If you have temporary or permanent residency status, you can live and work in the country and have access to local healthcare and education. However, you cannot vote in national elections or hold public office.
Citizenship: Citizens get full political rights, including the ability to vote, run for office, and apply for certain government jobs. Citizenship also provides stronger legal protections than a temporary or permanent resident card.
Civic and military obligations
Residency: If you’re a temporary or permanent resident, you don’t have national civic or military duties, but you must follow immigration rules and renew your permit on time.
Citizenship: Citizens may have obligations like jury duty or military service (depending on the country), and they must follow all national laws, including taxes and political participation where required.
Duration
Residency: Temporary or permanent residency (depending on your permit), can be lost if you don’t follow the rules, stay away too long, or commit serious legal violations.
For example, in the United States, if a permanent resident leaves the country for an extended period, they may risk losing their status
Citizenship: If you have citizenship, it is generally permanent for life and very hard to lose; usually only in cases of fraud.
Tax obligations
Residency: If you have residency, you may become a tax resident depending on how much time you spend in the country. As a tax resident, your worldwide income is usually subject to local taxes.
Citizenship: It usually doesn’t create new tax obligations just by itself. You only pay taxes in your country of citizenship if you live there or earn income there, except in a few countries, like the U.S., which tax citizens on worldwide income no matter where they live.
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Residency vs Citizenship by Investment
Many countries offer structured programs that allow foreign nationals to obtain residency or citizenship through investment. These programs differ in both purpose and outcome:
- Residency by Investment (RBI) provides a residence permit, whether temporary or permanent, through qualifying investments such as real estate, business creation, or government bonds. It offers the right to live in the country and may eventually lead to naturalization, depending on the program.
- Citizenship by Investment (CBI) grants full citizenship and a passport within a much shorter timeframe. Countries such as Dominica, St Lucia, and Turkey offer this route, allowing individuals to secure a second nationality without long-term residency obligations.
RBI is generally more affordable and suitable for those planning to relocate, while CBI provides faster mobility and global flexibility for investors prioritizing international travel and long-term security.
How Can Global Citizen Solutions Help You?
Global Citizen Solutions is a boutique migration consultancy firm with years of experience delivering bespoke residence and citizenship by investment solutions for international families. With offices worldwide and an experienced, hands-on team, we have helped hundreds of clients worldwide acquire citizenship, residence visas, or homes while diversifying their portfolios with robust investments.
We guide you from start to finish, taking you beyond your citizenship or residency by investment application.
