Citizenship for a US$1 million contribution paid in bitcoin or USDT, capped at 1,000 people a year, with no residence requirement and fast processing.
Since a 2024 reform, El Salvador does not tax individuals on income earned outside the country, such as foreign dividends, interest and capital gains. Citizenship alone does not make you a tax resident; that depends on actually living there.
Income earned in El Salvador is taxed at 0% to 30%, with the first US$6,600 a year tax free.
Full tax breakdownThe contribution is sent wallet to wallet in bitcoin or Tether's USDT, so there is no need to convert large crypto holdings into cash first.
Approval typically comes within about six weeks of a complete file, with the passport following within about three months.
El Salvador has used the US dollar as its currency since 2001, so there is no local currency risk on savings or property.
Salvadoran citizens can travel to approx. 131 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival, including the Schengen Area.
Under the CA4 agreement, Salvadorans move freely between El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua with just an ID card.
Homicides have fallen dramatically since 2022, under emergency security measures that remain in place, and the country now ranks among the safest in the Americas by that measure.
There is a single route: a US$1,000,000 contribution in bitcoin or USDT to development funds. It is not an investment and it is not refunded.
The program grants residency and fast tracks naturalisation under a December 2023 reform of El Salvador's migration law, bypassing the usual five years of residence. In practice, approved applicants receive citizenship and a passport within months.
Salvadoran citizenship and a passport for you, your spouse and qualifying children. Under El Salvador's Constitution, naturalised citizens can lose their nationality after very long absences, so we explain how that applies before you commit.
Time to passport: Approx. 3 months
| Pathway | Minimum investment | Approval | What you get | Time to passport | Presence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Visa | US$1,000,000 in bitcoin or USDT | Approx. 6 weeks | Citizenship for life | Approx. 3 months | None; very long absences can affect nationality |
Capped at 1,000 applicants a year.
Each option below qualifies on its own. We help you pick the one that suits your money and your plans.
Paid in bitcoin or USDT. Not refundable. A US$999 deposit, paid when you apply, is credited toward it.
The main cost is the contribution itself, which is not refundable. On top of it come government processing fees for each applicant, apostilles, translations and the source of funds work on your crypto history. Every situation is different, so we quote everything as one custom fixed fee in writing after a free call.
We assist you in obtaining each document, then have it apostilled (certified with an international stamp so it is valid abroad), translated and filed for you.
A spouse and children under 18, or under 25 if they are in full time study, can be included. Adult children outside those limits need their own application.
The headline rates for people who are tax residents there. Holding a residency or passport does not by itself make you a tax resident, and your current country may still tax you, so the licensed tax advisers in our local team confirm your position.
Citizenship alone does not make you tax resident; living there does.
See how this compares to other countriesWe review your profile and the records behind your crypto holdings, which is the part of the file that takes the most care. We then assist you in obtaining the relevant documents and having them apostilled and translated.
The application is filed online with the US$999 deposit, while places remain for the year.
The government carries out its checks, typically within about six weeks of a complete file.
Once approved, the contribution is sent wallet to wallet in bitcoin or USDT.
Naturalisation is authorised and Salvadoran passports are issued for the family, typically within about three months of applying.
Our local team stays with you once you are approved and takes care of the practical steps, then keeps everything current and compliant.
It can be, for someone with significant crypto. You get a dollarised, territorially taxed country you could move to, a passport with visa free access to the Schengen Area, and a fast process. The weaknesses are the price, which is four times that of most Caribbean programs, a young program with little published track record, and a legal basis that critics have challenged. For most people a cheaper program gives a similar Plan B.
Yes, on paper. Since 2024 individuals are not taxed on income earned outside El Salvador, and local income is taxed at 0% to 30%. To benefit you have to become a genuine tax resident by living there, and leaving your home country's tax net is the harder part. Book a free call and we can look at your situation.
Not as the centre of an international structure. Banking is dollarised and fine for local life, but corporate tax runs up to 30% and banks apply heavy scrutiny to crypto wealth. We usually place companies and banking elsewhere and treat El Salvador as a citizenship and, if you move, a personal tax base.
Not through the Freedom Visa, which costs US$1,000,000. El Salvador also has investor residency routes with much lower amounts, and the territorial tax system is attractive, but someone early on usually gets more from a low cost residency such as Paraguay.
No. There is no requirement to live there before or after approval, and the application is made online. Separately, El Salvador's Constitution says naturalised citizens can lose their nationality after more than two consecutive years living in their country of origin, or more than five consecutive years abroad without permission. How strictly that is applied to Freedom Visa citizens is not clear, so we treat it as a real consideration and plan occasional visits.
No. The contribution is accepted only in bitcoin or Tether's USDT, sent wallet to wallet. The US$999 deposit is credited toward the total.
No. In January 2025, as a condition of a US$1.4 billion IMF loan, El Salvador made accepting bitcoin voluntary for businesses and stopped taking taxes in bitcoin. The Freedom Visa does not depend on bitcoin's status as legal tender and continued to operate through 2026. The episode does show that policy can change quickly.
Yes. The program is capped at 1,000 participants a year. Demand has been described as niche, and the government does not publish how many places have been taken.
Approx. 131 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival, including the Schengen Area and most of Latin America. The UK, Canada and the United States require visas, and El Salvador is not on the US E2 treaty list.
Program materials state that dual citizenship is permitted. Whether your current country lets you keep its citizenship when you acquire another is a separate question we check with you.
Approval typically comes within about six weeks of a complete file, and the passport within about three months of applying. Source of funds checks on crypto can add time if your records are incomplete.
No. The United States taxes its citizens wherever they live, so a Salvadoran passport does not change your US filing obligations. It can still be valuable as a second passport and a future home.
Laws and fees change, so we confirm every number before you commit.
Official figures released this week show 4.1 million international visitors in 2025, the best year in the country’s history, led by travellers from Guatemala, the United States and Honduras.
Read
In a single evening on July 31, the Legislative Assembly approved and ratified constitutional changes allowing indefinite reelection, abolishing the runoff and bringing the next election forward to 2027.
Read
Four months into its US$1.4 billion program, El Salvador met its key budget and reserve targets with room to spare. The IMF board signed off on the first review on June 27 and released about US$118 million.
Read
Lawmakers voted 55 to 2 on January 29 to end the rule that businesses must accept bitcoin, meeting a key condition of a planned US$1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Read
El Salvador and Tether have unveiled a program that offers residency and a route to citizenship for US$1 million in bitcoin or USDT, capped at 1,000 people a year.
ReadTell us a little about yourself and we will review whether El Salvador Freedom Visa suits you, what it would cost in total and how long it would take. No cost and no obligation.
Prefer to talk? Book a free 15 minute call.
