The 2026 Rankings
Permanent Residency Path
How clear and achievable is the path to permanent residency?
63 Countries Ranked
5.9 Average Score
9.0 Top Score
Score Distribution
Hover over bars to see which countries fall in each range
The Contenders Ranked 4–10
Complete Index All 63 Countries
1 Uruguay Americas 9.0 2 Canada Americas 8.5 3 Ecuador Americas 8.5 4 Panama Americas 8.0 5 Dominican Republic Americas 8.0 6 Chile Americas 8.0 7 Spain Europe 7.5 8 Portugal Europe 7.5 9 Germany Europe 7.5 10 Costa Rica Americas 7.5 11 Argentina Americas 7.5 12 Serbia Europe 7.5 13 New Zealand Asia-Pacific 7.5 14 Australia Asia-Pacific 7.5 15 armenia Other 7.5 16 Mexico Americas 7.0 17 Netherlands Europe 7.0 18 Italy Europe 7.0 19 Ireland Europe 7.0 20 France Europe 7.0 21 Colombia Americas 7.0 22 Brazil Americas 7.0 23 Montenegro Europe 7.0 24 Taiwan Asia-Pacific 7.0 25 Greece Europe 6.5 26 Cyprus Europe 6.5 27 Austria Europe 6.5 28 Croatia Europe 6.5 29 Estonia Europe 6.5 30 Romania Europe 6.5 31 Bulgaria Europe 6.5 32 Czechia Europe 6.5 33 Latvia Europe 6.5 34 Lithuania Europe 6.5 35 slovenia Other 6.5 36 Albania Europe 6.5 37 Mauritius Middle East & Africa 6.0 38 dominica Other 6.0 39 Malta Europe 5.5 40 Hungary Europe 5.5 41 Philippines Asia-Pacific 5.5 42 grenada Other 5.5 43 antigua Other 5.5 44 South Korea Asia-Pacific 5.5 45 russia Other 5.0 46 Georgia Middle East & Africa 5.0 47 Japan Asia-Pacific 5.0 48 United Kingdom Europe 4.5 49 Andorra Europe 4.5 50 Switzerland Europe 4.0 51 Turkey Middle East & Africa 4.0 52 Indonesia Asia-Pacific 4.0 53 st-kitts Other 4.0 54 South Africa Middle East & Africa 4.0 55 us Other 3.5 56 United Arab Emirates Middle East & Africa 3.0 57 Singapore Asia-Pacific 3.0 58 Thailand Asia-Pacific 2.5 59 Malaysia Asia-Pacific 2.5 60 Cambodia Asia-Pacific 2.5 61 Vietnam Asia-Pacific 2.0 62 china Other 1.5 63 Qatar Middle East & Africa 1.0