Iraq

Iraq offers certain challemges for investors and there is little in terms of residency or citizenship rewards in return. Iraq possesses vast oil reserves, which have historically been the mainstay of its economy. Oil exports account for the majority of government revenue and GDP. However, the country’s economy faces challenges due to its reliance on oil, political instability and infrastructure deficiencies. Efforts have been made to diversify the economy and attract investment in other sectors such as agriculture, industry, and tourism.

IRAQ CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT

Iraq does not offer a citizenship by investment programme. However, Iraqi citizens can qualify for citizenship programmes in the Caribbean including the St Lucia Citizenship Programme which is low cost and provides visa free travel to 158 countries. This is vastly popular for international investors for business travel and global mobility.

IRAQ RESIDENCY BY INVESTMENT

Iraq does not offer a direct residency by investment programme. In fact many Iraqi citizens seek residency through investment elsewhere. There are established residency by investment programmes in Europe such as Portugal, Spain or Greece which all offer Golden Visa options. Greece provides visa-free travel access throughout the EU Schengen zone and is a low-cost programme for foreign investors.

IRAQ PASSPORT STRENGTH AND RANKING

Iraqi citizens face challenges due to the limitations of their weak passport which only allows visa-free access to just 40 countries across the world. The Iraqi passport ranks second from the bottom of La Vida’s Comprehensive Global Passport Ranking and is placed 199^th. Hence, many Iraqi citizens look for golden passport solutions such as Dominica’s programme which ranks 65^th on La Vida’s Comprehensive Global Passport Ranking. Another popular solution for high-net-worth investors is Turkey which provides a quick solution by purchasing real estate in the country.