Yes, it is legal, and governments of many countries have structured and launched their own versions of citizenship by investment (CBI) programs. CBI is a part of wider Investment immigration concept, which helps countries to attract more foreign capital by designing special schemes, allowing foreign immigrants to obtain a certain residency or citizenship rights in exchange of investment.

Yes, citizenship by investment application can be rejected and here are the most frequent reasons for that:

• Negative due diligence report on the applicant and persons included in the application.
• Inclusion in blacklists of various law-enforcing agencies and having criminal records.
• Failing medical checks or health issues.
• Deliberately providing false or incomplete information in the CBI application.
• Entry visa or residency denials in the EU, the UK or any other state, with which the country an applicant is applying in, has signed a visa-waiver agreement.
• The applicant’s home country is under international sanction or trade embargo.
• Failing to provide source of funds or funds have been accumulated in the sanctioned country.
• Insufficient income financially to support family members, in addition to involvement in any personal or corporate bankruptcy.
• Applicant is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP).
• Involvement in money laundering and financial crimes, in addition to frauds exposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States
• Suspicions on having ties with terroristic groups.
• Potential threat to national security.
• Deportation or extradition from any other country.
• Alerts from the Schengen Information System (SIS), which is the largest information sharing system for security and border management in the EU.
• Pending civil actions or court sues by creditors against the applicant.
• Conflict of identical names with criminals or blacklisted people.
• Denial of citizenship application in another country.

Information about the rejection of a CBI application is stored and shared with other countries. Hence, it will be almost impossible successfully to apply for another CBI program in case of application rejection.

Technically it is possible simultaneously to apply for two different CBI programs, but immigration experts and lawyers recommend avoiding such move, as application process requires collection of many documents and certificates, and it will be hard to provide authorities with all necessary documents.

Citizenship granted under the CBI program, in almost all countries with such programs, can be inherited by future generations.

Each CBI program has clear definition of ‘qualified dependents’ that can be included in the CBI application. If your child does not satisfy the eligibility criteria, then it is impossible to include him/her in the CBI application.

No, CBI applications must be submitted only through official Authorized Agents/Consultants and established companies. They will file your application to the corresponding government agency on your behalf. Generally, list of Authorized Agents can be found on the official websites of CBI programs.

No, you do not have to start a new CBI application process when your CBI passport expires, you just need to file a request to get a new passport.

As citizenship obtained through the CBI scheme can be inherited by future generations, your newborn child is also eligible to claim it. You have to file a request and provide the correspondent government agency with all required documentation in order to acquire a passport for your child.