Some people might find it hard to get American citizenship, while there are some countries like Qatar where you have to wait for 25 years to be eligible for citizenship and if you’re not Muslim, forget about it!
Here are the 6 hardest countries to become a naturalized citizen!
1-Vatican City

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with only 800 residents and 450 citizens!
Vatican City has one of the toughest citizenship criteria to meet and that’s the reason why this country has very few citizens! You can only become a Vatican City citizen if you are a Cardinal living in Rome or the Vatican City, or if you are a diplomat, of the holy sea! Other than that, you have to be living in the Vatican City as an official or worker of the Catholic Church!
2- Liechtenstein



Liechtenstein is a small country, surrounded by mountains with a population of about 40,000 people! To become a Liechtenstein citizen, you should be living in the country for at least 30 years to be eligible! Any year before turning 20 years old counts as double! However, after 10 years of residing in Liechtenstein, the community residents of your municipality can vote for your citizenship! The last step is to renounce any other citizenship of yours!
3-Bhutan



Bhutan is a country where they measure their citizens’ happiness! The only way to be born a citizen in Bhutan, both of your parents must be a Bhutanese. If only one of your parents is Bhutanese, you should live in Bhutan for 15 years before applying for full citizenship!
For the rest of the applicants with no Bhutanese background, the applicant should live in Bhutan for 20 years and meet strict rules. You should also make an oath to Bhutan’s king, the country, and its citizens! At any point, the government has the right to reject your Bhutanese citizenship!
4-Qatar



To be an automatic Qatari citizen, you have to be born from a Qatari father, Qatari mother still doesn’t count! The government might relax its citizenship rules a little to grant citizenship to children born from Qatari mother as well!
Other than that, you should live in Qatar for 20 years and prove yourself with a valuable skill! If you are not a Muslim, forget about Qatari citizenship!
5-United Arab Emirates



If you are a Bahrain, Qatar, or Oman (Qatar has temporarily been excluded due to political reasons) you should live in the UAE for three years before applying for Emirati citizenship. If you are still an Arab from other countries, the waiting time expands to seven years. In all other cases, you should reside legally in the United Arab Emirates for 30 years before applying for citizenship!
6-Kuwait



After living legally in Kuwait for 20 years (15 years for Arabs), you can apply for Kuwaiti citizenship. You must speak Arabic fluently and be born a Muslim, or converted to Islam and been practicing it for at least five years before applying for Kuwaiti citizenship!
This is very interesting to know. As usual.
Glad you enjoyed it! π
Thank you for your comment!
You’re very welcome.
Indeed I did.
Woah!! Enlightening! Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure! Thanks for your comment! π
Some countries sound as if they might be too easy to become citizens. I would like to live in Lichtenstein. This is fascinating and no, it is not too easy to become a citizen of these countries.
Exactly! But if that’s what you really want, you’ll get out someday! πππΌ
Well, maybe one of my book characters will do this…thanks for the idea but I will stay in the states, for now.
That’s so cool! You can challenge your character by having a hard time getting his neighbors vote for his/her citizenship.
Lichtenstein sounds a lot like Switzerland!
Exactly! It looks like Switzerland too !
Thank you for your comment! π
True! You’re welcome! π
I always enjoy your insightful and informative posts my friendπ
Glad to hear that! And I always enjoy having a conversation with you and to read your kind comments! π
Yes my friend, likewise. I miss in person socializing so much. WordPress and the people I follow are my life these daysπ€©