Getting permanent residence
Your Residence Flag is planted in a country where you live, but are not a citizen of.
You have full residence instead, in a country where such a status is relatively easy to obtain.
This gives you the same rights as citizens, if not more (in certain cases).
Being a resident is not the same as being a citizen.
Residence simply means you are residing somewhere legally and officially.
You do not need to get a visa, you can enter and leave the country as much as you like.
You also have many of the rights that actual citizens get, but without many of the downsides.
For example, as a resident in many countries, you are exempt from taxes on your international income provided you do not spend all your time there.
An example of this would be Paraguay.
Legal citizens have many obligations and restrictions that residents do not have.
For example, if you are a citizen, you might be obligated to vote in that country, or you might have to follow all kinds of rules that residents can skirt.
For this reason, you want to live in a country where you are a resident, but not a citizen.
Attain citizenship elsewhere, but do not live there.
How to get permanent residence?
Attaining residence in another country is one of the first things you should do upon embarking on your quest to plant Flags, and there are plenty of options to get this, depending on where you go.
Live there for awhile
The most common way to become a legal resident is to simply have lived in that country for a specific period of time.
That means that if you resided in a nation for at least a couple of years on a temporary permit or some sort of visa, you can apply for residence.
Bring economic gain
The next option is to bring some sort of economic gain to the country:
- Investment (real estate, setting up a company, local stocks, and so on)
- Employment at a native company
- Deposit money in a local bank
- Have a reliable source of income (such as a pension, which is deemed reliable by other governments, but as you should be aware of by now, it is anything but)
Familial bond
If you have a familial bond to a citizen of that country, very often this will also provide you with the option to get residence.
This could be through marriage, children, or being related to someone with that nationality.
Various random ways
And finally, there are various random ways certain countries can grant you residence, such as being an international talent, a person of interest, or someone with recognized achievements.
This is a good option if you’re a celebrity, high-caliber athlete or scientist, or just a very rich person.
Where can you get permanent residence?
In all the countries we talk about on this site, you can get residence.
However, some have very tight requirements, or the process takes at least 5 to 10 years.
From my point of view, if you want to get residence somewhere relatively fast and easy, these are the countries I would suggest:
Armenia
You can get Permanent residence up to 5 years if you have a business here. This is extendable by another 5 years
Panama
The Friendly Nation Visa allows Westerners to get residence in Panama. You just need to have some cash (around $5,000 in a Panama bank), and either start a business there, get hired by one, or buy property
Colombia
To get Residence, you need to get and keep a Migrant Visa for 5 years, or invest 650 times the minimum monthly wage in Colombia
United Arab Emirates
Residence is possible for 1 to 10 years if you are employed by a company, invest in a business, or buy property. A Golden visa of 10 years is possible for investors (although you need to invest nearly $3 million). If you want one for 5 years, it’s only half the cost. Entrepreneurs with a project of $150,000 can get a multiple-entry visa for 6 months, renewable. Many options here, but most will cost money
Paraguay
Paraguay Permanent Residence Permit is pretty easy and straightforward to get, one of the easiest Permanent residences in the world. You only need to visit once every 3 years to maintain your status. You can also get it through investment in the country
Uruguay
Getting residence is pretty easy to get, but you need to prove an income of at least $1,500 per month
Malaysia
Getting residence in Malaysia is probably the easiest one in Southeast Asia, either through employment or investment, or via a familial connection
Belize
You do not need to reside here on a permanent basis to get permanent residence. You can already get it after living here for one year, but need to apply for a work permit first. You can buy that for about $1,000. You just need to undertake a health test, which is pretty easy. Another option is being a Qualified Retired Person, which means you need to have an income of $2,000 per month which goes into a Belizean bank
In most of these, it’s relatively cheap, fast and/or easy to attain residence.
In addition, in some cases having residency opens the door to actual citizenship, which you should also get somewhere.
Please note that these recommendations are in general and in theory.
I cannot accurately predict your situation and how this would affect your chances of getting residency at any of the aforementioned nations.
Depending on who you are, it could either be very easy and very fast, or very slow or even impossible to get residence even in those countries.
For this reason, I would advise that you never rely on any single country to get residence in.
If you’re serious about planting your flags and internationalizing your lifestyle, get started on at least 2 residences at the same time.
Get the ball rolling, diversify your options and maximize your chances of actually attaining residence in another nation.
