United States
Citizenship guide · US
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted; a golden visa (residency by investment) is available.
✓ Good news
Residency by investment (golden visa) is available here often a faster path than full naturalisation.
Who can visit United States?
46 of 199 passports can enter United States visa-free, visa on arrival, by ETA, or with an e-visa.
Visa-free 4
ETA 42
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brunei
- Chile
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- San Marino
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
140 passports require a visa to visit United States.
Am I eligible for United States citizenship?
Tap the option closest to your situation for an instant steer.
Why United States?
The United States passport offers visa-free, visa-on-arrival, ETA, or e-visa access to 180 destinations, ranking it #41 globally.
5 yrs (3 if married); EB-5 investor visa; fee $725 + $85 biometrics.
Citizenship by descent
United States applies jus sanguinis citizenship can be acquired by descent from a citizen parent.
Naturalisation
Naturalisation typically requires 5 years of residence (reduced to 3 years for spouses).
Dual citizenship
United States generally permits dual citizenship.
Investment routes
United States offers a golden visa (residency by investment) a residence permit leading to naturalisation.
Other routes
Citizenship is granted by birth in the territory (jus soli).
Fees & timeline
The application fee is around €810 (approximate).
Tax considerations
- Top personal income tax rate: 37%
- Corporate income tax rate: 21%
- Standard VAT/GST rate: 0%
- Taxation basis: worldwide (residents are generally taxed on worldwide income)
Compiled from the Citizenship Hub law dataset (approximate). Verify with official government sources before relying on this information.
Residency by investment
The good news: the United States Golden Visa doesn't need any of that
While citizenship is discretionary, the United States Golden Visa grants long-term renewable residency through investment with a clear fee schedule and timeline instead of an unpredictable nomination process.
Documents checklist
The documents you'll typically need for each citizenship route in United States. Tick items off as you gather them your progress is saved on this device.
Citizenship by descent
Proving your lineage to a citizen parent or ancestor.
Citizenship by birth (jus soli)
Acquired by being born in the territory.
Naturalisation
The standard route via continuous lawful residence.
Naturalisation via marriage
A reduced residency route for spouses of citizens.
Residency by investment (golden visa)
A residence permit obtained through investment, often leading to naturalisation.
Country data
Overview, citizenship routes, economy, freedom, and tax at a glance.
Overview
- Capital
- Washington D.C.
- Region
- Americas
- Area
- 9,372,610 km²
- Population
- 328,239,523
- Demonym
- American
- Languages
- English
- Currency
- United States dollar ($)
Citizenship routes
- Citizenship by descent
- Yes
- Descent depth
- Parents only
- Citizenship by birth
- Yes (jus soli)
- Naturalisation period
- 5 years
- Marriage route
- 3 years
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
- Golden visa
- Available
- Official application fee
- €810
Economics & development
- GDP per capita
- $90,027 2025
- Total GDP
- $21.4T 2019
- Inflation
- 2.9% 2024
- Life expectancy
- 78.9 years 2024
- GDP growth
- 2.2% 2025
- Human Development Index
- 0.927 #20
- Income group
- High income: OECD
- Development status
- Developed region: G7
Freedom & quality of life
- Corruption Perceptions Index
- 65 / 100 2024 · #25
- Freedom in the World
- 83 / 100 Free · 2024
- Human Rights Index
- 0.83 / 1 2025 · #60
- Liberal Democracy Index
- 0.57 / 1 2025 · #46
- Life satisfaction
- 6.82 / 10 2025 · #22
Tax considerations
- Personal income tax
- 37% top rate
- Corporate tax
- 21%
- VAT / GST
- 0%
- Tax basis
- Worldwide
Relocation & living
- Internet penetration
- 94.7% 2024
- Driving side
- Right-hand
- Healthcare system
- Private / market
- Climate
- Varied (continental to subtropical)
Where the United States passport can travel
Each dot is a destination colours show what you need to enter.
- Visa-free
- Visa on arrival
- ETA
- e-Visa
- Visa required
Europe
42 visa-free · 1 ETA · 1 e-visa · 1 requiredAmericas
29 visa-free · 2 ETA · 2 e-visa · 1 requiredAsia
20 visa-free · 15 on arrival · 1 ETA · 9 e-visa · 6 requiredAfrica
15 visa-free · 13 on arrival · 2 ETA · 15 e-visa · 9 requiredOceania
6 visa-free · 4 on arrival · 3 ETA · 1 required- Visa-free
- Visa on arrival
- ETA
- e-Visa
- Visa required
- No admission
Alternative paths to United States citizenship
Beyond standard naturalisation, these routes may apply to you.
Residency by investment (golden visa)
A residency-by-investment route is available and can be faster than naturalisation.
More citizenship guides
Canada
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 3 years; dual citizenship is permitted; a golden visa (residency by investment) is available.
- Capital
- Ottawa
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 3 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Mexico
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted.
- Capital
- Mexico City
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 5 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted; citizenship by investment is available.
- Capital
- Basseterre
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 5 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted; citizenship by investment is available.
- Capital
- Kingstown
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 5 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Latest United States immigration news
Recent headlines on United States immigration and citizenship, auto-fetched from Google News.
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United States immigration & citizenship sources
Official government portals and reference pages for United States citizenship and immigration rules.
Law
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Overview of citizenship-by-descent, naturalisation and dual-citizenship rules.
Government
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Official government source for immigration and citizenship.
Jobs
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International job board with local listings.
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International job board with local listings.
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Leading local job board.
Housing
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Property listings and rentals.
Healthcare
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Public health system portal.
Banking
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Central bank / banking information.
Education
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Study and education information.
General data sources & licenses
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Visa-requirement matrix and passport mobility scores.
Visa data derived from passportindex.org, via imorte/passport-index-data (MIT License).
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Country metadata: names, capitals, regions, flags, currencies, languages, calling codes, borders, tld, lat/lng, UN/independence status.
Country metadata from mledoze/countries (MIT License).
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Country polygon geometry plus population, GDP (total), income group, economy, and continent classifications.
Made with Natural Earth (public domain) naturalearthdata.com.
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Raster basemap tiles for the interactive visa-access maps.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0).
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GDP per capita (current US$) and inflation (CPI annual %).
GDP per capita and inflation from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0) data.worldbank.org.
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Human Development Index (HDI) values and ranks.
Human Development Index from the UNDP Human Development Report (CC BY 3.0 IGO).
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Intermediate distribution of the Corruption Perceptions Index, V-Dem Human Rights Index, and V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index.
Indices sourced via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0).
Our World in Data states that third-party datasets remain subject to the original publisher’s license see the individual sources below.
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Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2024, Transparency International (CC BY-ND 4.0).
Restrictions: No derivatives
CPI scores are reproduced as factual data points, unmodified.
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Human Rights Index and Liberal Democracy Index.
Human Rights Index and Liberal Democracy Index from V-Dem (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Restrictions: Non-commercial · Share-alike
⚠ Non-commercial license: confirm commercial use is permitted before monetising the site.
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Freedom in the World scores and status.
Freedom in the World 2024, © Freedom House (used with attribution for informational purposes).
Review Freedom House republication terms before commercial use.
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Reference for personal income and corporate tax rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against the Tax Foundation.
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Reference for personal income tax, corporate tax, and VAT/GST rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against the OECD Tax Database.
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Reference for personal income tax, corporate tax, and indirect tax rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against KPMG Tax Rates Online.
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Reference for citizenship-law rules (descent, naturalisation, dual citizenship, fees).
Citizenship-law facts compiled from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Law facts are human-curated approximations; always verify with official government sources.
Citizenship Hub is an independent resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the organisations above. Informational only not legal, immigration, tax, investment, or travel advice. Requirements, scores, fees, and tax rates change frequently; always verify with the relevant official government source before acting.