New research has revealed the hardest and easiest countries to gain citizenship, with Romania being the seventh easiest in Europe. The research by Canadian immigration agency CanadaCIS studied the latest Eurostat immigration data from 2009 to 2021 to see which countries have the highest and lowest percentages of non-EU residents becoming citizens, according to Business Review.
The ten easiest countries to become a national are less clustered than the hardest countries, with four in Northern and Western Europe and one each in Southern and Southeast Europe. At least one in 20 (5%) non-EU residents become citizens yearly in each country.
Sweden is the easiest, with almost one in ten (9.3%) non-EU residents acquiring citizenship, over double the EU average. Sweden has the highest acceptance rates for both men and women compared to other countries. Women have an advantage with a 10.02% acceptance rate compared to 8.66% for men.
Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Iceland are the second-to-fifth easiest countries to become citizens of, with acquisition rates above one in 25 (4%).
Most Northern European countries were the easiest to become nationals of, with Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Finland having among the highest citizenship rates. Denmark is the only Northern country not included.
In Southern Europe, Portugal was the easiest; the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom were the easiest Western states to become members of. The United Kingdom ranks eighth, with around three out of 50 (3.2%) residents granted citizenship.
Poland and Croatia are the easiest countries to change nationality in Central Europe, with rates of 4% and 3.9%, respectively.
North and West Europe are the easiest regions to change nationality, with a 5.9% acceptance rate compared to 1.9% in Central Europe and 3.6% in the South.
Read more HERE
