North Macedonia Citizenship by Investment

North Macedonia has no citizenship by investment program with a fixed price. Investors use Article 11 of the Law on Citizenship, which lets the government naturalize a foreigner whose admission is of special scientific, economic, cultural, sporting or other national interest.

• Status: active, with draft changes pending.
• Decision: discretionary, case by case.
• Prior residence: not required.

The government sets the criteria by decree and gives an opinion on whether each case is a special interest. The Ministry of Interior then decides.

The route may change. Amendments the government proposed in June 2026 would drop the fixed investment and hiring thresholds but keep citizenship for a special interest, Balkan Insight reported. The EU says the draft doesn't go far enough.

Article 11 keeps only two of the ordinary naturalization conditions in Article 7:

• Age: 18 or older.
• Security: admission must not threaten North Macedonia's security or defense.

The seven years of residence, the language test and the release from a current citizenship that ordinary applicants need don't apply. North Macedonia allows dual citizenship (Article 2).

The deciding test is the special interest. The government's decree sets the criteria. Its opinion on each case is discretionary, so meeting a threshold doesn't guarantee citizenship.

An applicant's spouse can also naturalize, on the conditions Article 9 sets for spouses of citizens.

The Law on Citizenship sets no separate document list for Article 11 cases. Its general rules apply:

• In person: the application must be filed personally (Article 7).
• Special interest: evidence of the investment or activity the government assesses (Article 11).
• Security check: the body assessing the security condition decides within six months of the application (Article 7).

The Ministry of Interior gathers part of the evidence itself, including proof of age and the security check, from other public bodies (Article 7).

This page gives no investment figure. The amount is set by government decree and is under revision: the June 2026 draft would replace the fixed thresholds with a case-by-case assessment.

Figures quoted by agents and older articles may describe thresholds the draft would scrap. Anyone considering the route should get the decree in force from the Ministry of Interior or a lawyer before committing money.

The Law on Citizenship itself sets no application fee.

• Where: the Ministry of Interior for residents of North Macedonia and a North Macedonian embassy or consulate for applicants living abroad (Article 21).
• Government opinion: the government states whether the special interest exists (Article 11).
• Decision: the Ministry of Interior issues the decision. A refusal can be challenged at the Administrative Court (Article 21).

The European Commission wants every application under the special economic interest provision to get rigorous background checks, according to its visa suspension report of Dec. 19, 2025.

Citizenship granted under Article 11 doesn't expire and has no renewal. Under Article 16 of the Law on Citizenship, citizenship ends only through release or under an international agreement.

The route's future depends on the EU. The European Commission says North Macedonia must abolish the scheme and repeal its legal basis. Under the EU's revised visa suspension mechanism, running an investor citizenship scheme is in itself a ground for suspending a country's visa-free access to the Schengen area.

Citizenship by itself doesn't settle tax residency. The Personal Income Tax Law sets the tests:

• Tax residency: a permanent home in North Macedonia or a stay of 183 days or more in any 12-month period.

An investor who naturalizes but lives elsewhere should also check the home country's residency rules.