Botswana
Botswana Impact Investment Program (planned)
To be established by pending legislation. Operationally administered with Arton Capital (Canadian advisory firm, exclusive MoU). Botswana Department of Citizenship and Immigration is the relevant existing line ministry; a dedicated CBI supervisory authority has not yet been stood up.
- Min investment
- $75K
- Processing time
- 2 months
- Physical presence
- —
- Interview
- —
- Language test
- No
- Dual citizenship
- —
- Visa-free destinations
- ~87
- Henley rank (2025)
- #59
Investment options
Donation
$75KSovereign contribution to the (yet-to-be-established) Impact Investment Fund. Indicative range USD 75,000–USD 90,000 for the main applicant, varying with family composition. Target sectors for fund deployment announced: housing infrastructure, renewable energy, luxury tourism, mining sector diversification, financial services modernization, digital innovation. Donation-only structure as announced; no real-estate or business-investment route disclosed.
Additional fees
Indicative dependent surcharges from operator/agent communications: spouse USD 10,000; children under 18 USD 10,000 each; adult dependents USD 5,000 each. Due-diligence and government processing fees not yet published. Arton Capital is the contracted program developer.
Family inclusion
- Spouse: Yes
- Children under 18: Yes
Spouse and minor children to be included. Adult-dependent category mentioned (USD 5,000 surcharge) but the qualifying definition (age range, financial-dependency tests, parents inclusion) has not been published. Pre-registrations on BotswanaCitizenship.com permit indicating family members but specific qualifying criteria are TBD.
Tax implications
- Worldwide income taxed: No
- Tax residency required: No
Botswana operates a territorial tax system; non-resident citizens are not taxed on foreign-source income. Citizenship alone does not create tax residency. Specific CBI-applicant tax guidance has not been published.
Eligibility requirements
- Minimum age 18 (anticipated)
- Clean criminal record
- Documented legal source of funds
- Pass due diligence (framework not yet finalized)
- Pre-registration available via Arton Capital's portal pending legislative enactment
Disqualifiers
- Not yet published. Banned-nationality list has not been disclosed.
- Criminal record / pending criminal proceedings
- Misrepresentation on application
Recent changes
- 2025-09-26
At the UN General Assembly in New York, President Duma Boko (UDC, in office since Nov 2024) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Arton Capital to develop the Impact Investment Program.
- 2025-10
Pre-registration portal BotswanaCitizenship.com goes live; reportedly 464 registrations from 77 countries in the first week.
- 2026-01
Target Q1 2026 launch slips. Botswana Citizenship Act amendment to permit dual nationality has not been passed by Parliament — a legal prerequisite to issuing CBI passports.
- 2026-Q1
Industry coverage flags Botswana as positioned to undercut São Tomé and Príncipe (USD 90,000) as the cheapest legitimate CBI in the world if launched at USD 75,000. Launch contingent on (1) passage of Citizenship Act amendment, (2) standing up of supervisory authority, (3) publication of due-diligence and fee schedules.
Notes
Proposed program, not yet operational as of May 2026. Two structural blockers remain: (1) Botswana law currently DOES NOT PERMIT DUAL CITIZENSHIP for adults — the Citizenship Act must be amended by Parliament before any CBI passport can be issued without forced renunciation of the applicant's existing nationality, and that amendment had not been passed as of May 2026; (2) no supervisory authority has been established and no enabling regulations have been gazetted. The Arton Capital pre-registration portal at BotswanaCitizenship.com is collecting interest but is not a government site and cannot accept binding applications. If launched as announced, Botswana would be the cheapest legitimate CBI globally at USD 75,000 (vs. São Tomé's USD 90,000), but it would also have one of the weaker passports (~87 visa-free destinations, no UK visa-free, Schengen access yes). US buyers should treat any 'reserve your spot' offer as marketing — there is no Botswana CBI program currently issuing passports.
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EasyPassport is a document-organization tool focused on citizenship by descent. This page is reference research, not legal or financial advice. Always verify with the official program authority.