Yemen

Yemen Citizenship

Yemen operates neither a residency nor a citizenship by investment program.

International sanctions, a fragmented banking system and an opaque regulatory environment have cut the country off from most foreign investment and trade, and no legal mechanism exists through which an investor can acquire status there.

Yemen Citizenship by Investment

Yemeni nationals face nationality restrictions across most established citizenship programs. Dominica suspended Yemeni applications in January 2024.

Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada treat Yemen as a conditional nationality, accepting applications only where the applicant emigrated before the age of majority or has held permanent residence in an approved jurisdiction for at least ten years, with no remaining assets or business activity in Yemen.

St Lucia applies the fewest nationality restrictions among the Caribbean programs and assesses Yemeni applications individually.

Turkey applies no nationality restriction to Yemeni applicants and grants citizenship on a real estate investment from $400,000 held for three years, plus fees, covering a spouse and children under 18. Processing on both routes runs longer for Yemeni files, and due diligence is more demanding than on a standard application.

Yemen Residency by Investment

Yemen offers no residency by investment route. Yemeni nationals can apply for the Greek Golden Visa, which requires property investment from €250,000 for qualifying conversion and restoration projects, €400,000 in most regions, or €800,000 in Athens, Thessaloniki and the higher-demand islands.

The permit runs for five years and renews while the investment is held, with no minimum stay requirement and coverage for a spouse and dependent children.

Seven years of legal residence opens a route to Greek citizenship, and the Greek passport ranks 6th on the La Vida Passport Value Index with access to 215 of 227 destinations, 99.4% of world GDP and 99.6% of global travel.

Yemen Passport Strength and Ranking

Yemen ranks 106th of 199 on the La Vida Passport Value Index. The Yemeni passport reaches 88 of the world’s 227 destinations without a prior visa, representing 36.1% of world GDP and 26.7% of global travel by international visitor arrivals.

The GDP figure sits higher than the destination count suggests, because the destinations Yemeni passport holders can reach include several substantial regional economies.

Travel reach is the weaker measure at 26.7%, and practical mobility is narrower still than either figure implies, because departure from Yemen is constrained by airport closures and limited commercial routes.

Yemeni passport holders require advance visas for the United States, the United Kingdom and the Schengen Area, and several Gulf states apply additional entry conditions.

The clearest gain from a second citizenship is in travel reach and destination count rather than economic access.

St Lucia ranks 99th on the Index, reaching 179 destinations and 73.9% of global travel against Yemen’s 88 and 26.7%. Grenada sits 63rd with the same 179 destinations, 59.6% of world GDP and 79.4% of global travel. Turkish citizenship raises destination count from 88 to 140 and travel reach to 41.4%.

Citizenship and Residency by Investment Programs

See below a selection of countries offering residency and citizenship investment programs.

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