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The reality is there are close to 14 million residents of North America who are out of status in terms of their legal immigration situation, and millions more around the world in Europe and other countries. Although you don’t need to be out of status to read this article, we will keep out of status applicants in mind and cover what options they have to apply for residencies to Canada, Panama, Europe, and other regions in the world such as the Caribbean programs . And if you’re not out of status – then you have it even easier and can apply for any of these programs.
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Forget all the work permits, study permits, visitor visas and other temporary solutions which you may have been contemplating to apply to come to Canada, Europe, Panama or other regions – those won’t work for applicants who are out of status. You may ask why? The answer is simple; 99% of all countries have regulations that if you are applying from a specific country which is not your birth country, you need legal status to apply to their embassies in those countries. This means if you are out of status, and you are applying to any other country’s embassy in the US in order to obtain a work permit, temporary status, visitor or study visa – it will be refused since you don’t have legal status in that country and have to apply to your own home country. And of course, many of you cannot leave your current country of residency because you have active and profitable businesses, kids going to school, your family and friends with you – basically your entire life. Risking leaving and not being able to return, for a simple visa makes absolutely no sense.
The one and only solution would be to apply for either direct residency programs or citizenship programs – meaning that you are applying as if you are from your country of citizenship but based on the documents, finances, and professional profile of the country where you are out of status. You will need to disclose transparently regarding your out of status situation in your current country of residency, but as long as you are 100% up front about it, the permanent residency processing is based on your eligibility criteria – and not on whether you can or will return to your home country if it is denied.
Of course you can apply as if you’re in your country of citizenship, but if you don’t have a bank account, assets, proof of work, and other documents you could be easily refused – hence even attempting this path would be futile. Why would you go through all that trouble to be refused? And waste your time and money, when you know the only clear options you have are direct residency or citizenship programs.
And in case you have no issues with your immigration status – you can apply from your current country of citizenship or residency.
- Canada’s Startup Program leading to direct permanent residency, with the opportunity to become a Canadian citizen and passport holder after 3 years from your date of entry
- Panama’s direct permanent residency program through it’s Qualified Investor Program – fast & easy with a clear path to citizenship
- Direct Citizenship and passport with the CBI programs in the Caribbean and even a low-cost solution in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean
- Combine your newly acquired passport and also obtain a residency in Dubai UAE through its Golden Visa or Professional sponsorship programs
There is a reason we are not listing the European countries for this article is because you have to go through the embassies for ALL their programs, meaning Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, and even Malta. No matter which program or country you apply to in Europe, it all has to go through the embassy of that country. Hence if you are out of status in your current country of residency, you will be refused – even if you spend €500,000 on a golden visa to any of these countries we just mentioned in the EU.
However, if you opt for one of the direct citizenship programs we are covering in this article and then combine it with other programs – and at that stage even the European programs can open up to you later on. We’ll explain how later in this article….
Let’s cover the details of the programs we just outlined and why they make sense, what you need and how much it’ll cost you, while knowing if your children and dependent family members can join you in the residency or citizenship process
This program is simple. You either have your own innovative startup OR you can join an existing startup as an investor & co-founder. This innovative startup is endorsed by a designated entity such as an incubator or VC or Angel Investor group in Canada, as part of the Startup Visa program as per the official government list on this website: Canadian government approved Designated Organizations for the Startup Visa Business Immigration Program
It’s a business immigration program for investors which allows you to apply for direct permanent residency from anywhere in the world, either from inside Canada or outside Canada. No matter from where you apply, you can wait and enter when it has been successfully processed.
No education is mandatory for this immigration program to Canada.
In terms eligibility, this is all you need:
Proof of language exam in English or French – with a score of Canadian Language benchmark 5 (which is a very low score that can be accepted for immigration purposes to Canada). You can check the equivalent score for each eligible exam based on this official government website: Startup Visa Language Exam Score CLB Equivalency Table
Proof of being paid by your own business or perhaps as an employee of a company. It can be owner draws from the company account, dividends, management bonuses, wage, or salary. It is important to prove that you were being paid somehow for your work.
Medical check for you and your family. If any chronic illnesses or serious medical issues, you can check with our office in terms of your admissibility to the program as per Canadian immigration regulations
Police and background check. Even if you are out of status in the US, you can still obtain an FBI check which is national. You will also need to work with your home country embassy, to obtain a police check from your country of birth as well
Proof of minimum settlement funds, depending on the size of your family who are immigrating with you. You can refer to this table which will be updated once a year by the government with new figures based on the latest minimum settlement funds:
Canadian government Startup Visa Minimum Settlement Funds 2025
Last but not least, a Letter of Support or it can also be called an Endorsement, which can be obtained from a designated entity when you have a qualifying startup business. If you don’t have your own startup, you can also join as an investor to an existing startup business.
In terms of costs, you should budget for the designated entity fees at approx. $150,000 which can vary between entities, additional immigration legal service fees, and business investment fees besides the government processing. You should budget approx. CAD$200,000 or more a Startup Visa business and application.
You can include your spouse, common-law partner, and children under the age of 22 who are single and financially dependent on you.
After you have become a Permanent Resident in Canada, and have resided for 3 years non-consecutively within a 5 year period, you can become eligible for Canadian citizenship and passport.
This is probably the fastest, simplest, easiest and most cost-effective residency program in the world. You invest in a tangible, real asset in Panama, which provides you an ROI of 6-8% easily, fully managed, in case you don’t want to live there yourself, your residency is processed within 90 days, and you don’t need any education, work experience, language or anything except the investment funds and a police check.
If you have either US$200,000 or US$300,000 to invest in real estate in Panama – either residential, office, land or commercial units – and a background check, then you’re good to go.
This is how it would work, you would remotely select the properties, whether it’s the Westin project, an office building, beach-side, or in the city ocean side view – pay the developer directly for the title transfer and investment certificate to be issued by the ministry of commerce, and then apply for your residency. Within a month of the initial title transfer, your permanent residency would be ready and you can move permanently to collect the PR cards for you and your family members – or you can delay it for 2 years for pick up with an administrative government fee. You will own the property freehold, until you hold the residency. Properties in Panama are cheaper than most major North American metropolitan cities. You can own a brand-new condo near the ocean or perhaps old city with a budget of $200,000 to $300,000 – and if you have higher budgets the options are endless.
Panama does not tax it’s residents or citizens on their internationally sourced income. Panama City is extremely safe, probably safer than where you live now, and it is investor & foreigner friendly – with sunshine 365 days throughout the year. Refer to our article & video on Panama from our latest investor trip completed in April 2025: https://www.ingwe.ca/blogs/is-panama-the-new-hotspot-discover-why-americans-canadians-are-moving-south
It’s ridiculously easy to obtain a residency in Panama and you own an asset giving you opportunities for rental income if you choose not to reside there permanently, and potential capital appreciation.
Citizenship eligibility in 5 years – with a Panama passport also offering you E-2 visa status to the US later on if that’s what you fancy.
You can include children under the age of 26 and also even your parents – which is amazing! You could all be in different countries – and unite in Panama through this program.
You can obtain a fast residency in the United Arab Emirates, through Dubai or Ras Al Khamiah within weeks – either through a USD$50,000 sponsorship application or a 2 million AED (equivalent to US$544,515.72) investment in real estate in the country. Even if you are out of status in your current country, you don’t need to deal with any embassy where you are now. If you are not visa-exempt, you can obtain a visa online and just fly in – within 10 working days receive your residency stamp in your passport. It’s fast, simple and to the point. As long as you can pass the medical check, international security check and have the funds, nothing else is required. If you are worried that perhaps you don’t have a valid passport or can’t travel there – then you can always combine one of our citizenship investment programs to purchase a passport before applying for a residency in Dubai or RAK. Scroll down to the CBI program section and prices of this article or refer to our recent article and video on the top 4 passports to buy in 2025 (now actually just top 3 passports since Malta had it’s program shut down by the EU courts): Top 3 passports to buy in 2025
The island of St. Lucia offers a citizenship-based investment program (CBI) to offer you, your loved ones, and even your parents or single dependent siblings a chance to obtain a passport within months. For a single adult the price would be USD$260,150 including ALL processing fees, donation to the government, and due diligence and passport fees.
You just need to show your bank statement, the funds, and a police check.
Even if you are out of status in your current country of residency, we can mail you this passport in months directly to your doorstep. It’s that simple!
In case you want a better investment option for St. Lucia you can also opt for the Government Bond program of USD$300,000 plus and admin fee of USD$50,000, which you will be refunded in 5 years from the time of investment for your original investment of $300,000. This excludes processing fees, legal fees etc.
You can include parents, single siblings, and your spouse, common-law and children – even adult children who may be 100% financially dependent on you and single.
Other Citizenship based Investment Programs to buy your passport: Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis
There are 4 other islands in the Caribbean region which sell their passports outright – and you can obtain them in many cases in months, like St. Lucia we described above.
Each program has a different price point, different investment or donation options, and different eligibility in case you are considering including your single siblings and parents.
In case you are considering a more tangible investment than a donation, then Antigua & Barbuda and Grenada also have good options for ‘actual’ tangible real estate, but your budget would have to be significantly higher than what is needed for the donation to the government funds.
We’ve listed the all-inclusive lowest prices for these 4 islands below:
Antigua & Barbuda CBI:
Donation to Government:
Single adult: $254,455.00
Dominica CBI:
Donation to Government:
Single: $167,750.00
Grenada CBI:
Donation to Government:
Single: $250,200.22
Kitts & Nevis CBI:
Donation to Government:
Single adult: $250,360.00
A very cost-effective CBI program is Nauru, a micro-island in the southwest pacific ocean offering it’s passport in 3-4 months based on a low donation for the Government Climate Resilience Fund. The citizenship can allow you to travel visa free to the UK, Ireland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Dubai UAE, and 82 more countries.
The cost for a single adult all-inclusive is US$141,700.00
With any of the above passports it’s unlikely you would reside on any of these islands – but you can combine them for visa free travel around the world and a residency perhaps in Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, or perhaps even the EU programs. All options are open to you when you have the financial strength to buy yourself out of the current situation you may be in, without an immigration status in the US or another country.
We’ve covered the programs today that you can utilize as your realistic options for residency and citizenships in case you’re stuck in the US without immigration status or anywhere else in the world – and of course if you don’t have problems with your immigration status, then kudos to you – all programs are wide open for you as long as you have enough financial resources to pay for it.
Applying for any of these programs can be daunting – a life changing decision – and that’s why we are here for you to provide you guidance, a custom proposal and handholding you the whole way – with clear outcomes. We don’t do ‘maybe’ or ‘if’ – our clients hire us for clear results and don’t want to waste money or time. That’s why we exist!
If you are ready to put your Plan ‘B’ into action, for yourself, your family or perhaps your clients, you can reach out to us here. Join our online live stream every Thursday at 11am EST, or 8am PST, to share your feedback, post your questions, and engage with others who are also exploring these opportunities – just by clicking on our YouTube channel link down below.
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