Which citizenship is the hardest to get

The short answer

There is no universally agreed hardest citizenship, because it depends on how you define difficulty. For someone, a very long residence requirement is the main barrier; for another, it is a demanding language test, a high income threshold, or the need to renounce their current nationality. Different measures produce different answers.

That said, a handful of countries are repeatedly described as among the hardest, generally because they combine several strict conditions at once, such as long residence, integration requirements, and wide official discretion. The sections below unpack what actually makes citizenship hard to get.

Why there is no single answer

Difficulty is subjective and multi-dimensional. A country with a long residence requirement but clear, predictable rules might feel easier to a patient applicant than one with a shorter requirement but heavy discretion and uncertain outcomes. So a ranking that suits one person may mislead another.

Because of this, it is more useful to understand the factors that make citizenship hard than to memorise a league table. Once you know the factors, you can judge how hard a particular citizenship would be for your own circumstances.

What makes a citizenship hard to get

Several factors combine to determine difficulty. The most common are the length of residence required before you can apply, language and integration requirements, financial or employment conditions, and whether the country allows you to keep your existing citizenship or requires you to renounce it.

On top of these are less tangible factors: the degree of official discretion, how predictable outcomes are, and whether there are effective limits on how many people are granted citizenship. A country that stacks several of these strictly is the kind usually called hard.

Long residence requirements

One of the clearest measures of difficulty is how many years you must live in a country before you can even apply. Some countries expect only a few years of residence; others expect a decade or more. The longer the requirement, the higher the commitment and the harder the citizenship feels to reach.

Long residence requirements are often what earn certain countries their reputation. They mean citizenship is only realistic for people who have genuinely made the country their long-term home, which filters out shorter-term residents entirely.

Language and integration demands

Many countries require applicants to demonstrate proficiency in a national language and knowledge of the country’s history, institutions, or way of life. Where these demands are high, they become a real barrier, particularly for a language that is difficult for the applicant to learn.

Integration requirements can go beyond a test. Some places look for genuine integration into the local community over years, which is harder to satisfy than passing an exam. This is part of why some citizenships are considered demanding even when their residence requirement alone is not extreme.

Discretion and unpredictability

A citizenship can be hard not because the written rules are severe but because the decision involves significant discretion. Where the authorities weigh an application holistically and can decline without a simple checklist, meeting the stated criteria does not guarantee success.

This uncertainty is itself a form of difficulty. Applicants may meet every visible requirement and still be unsuccessful, which makes the process feel harder than a purely rules-based one, even if the formal conditions look comparable.

Renouncing your current citizenship

For many people, the hardest part is not the process but the price: some countries require you to give up your existing nationality to become a citizen. If keeping your original citizenship matters to you, a country that forbids dual citizenship can be effectively the hardest, regardless of its other rules.

This is a personal dimension of difficulty. A citizenship that is straightforward on paper can be out of the question for someone unwilling to renounce their existing one, while it is easy for someone who has no such attachment.

Cost and financial requirements

Financial factors also shape difficulty. Some citizenships involve substantial fees, and many require evidence of stable income, employment, or self-sufficiency over time. Where these thresholds are high, they narrow the pool of people who can realistically qualify.

Cost rarely makes a citizenship hard on its own, but combined with long residence and strict conditions it adds another hurdle. For applicants of modest means, financial requirements can be as decisive as any test.

Countries often called the hardest

Certain countries come up repeatedly in discussions of hard-to-get citizenship, generally because they combine long residence with strict conditions and considerable discretion. Places frequently mentioned include some European microstates and Alpine countries, several Gulf states, and a number of East Asian countries.

These reputations are impressionistic rather than official, and the specifics change over time, so treat any list as a general guide. The common thread is not one single rule but the accumulation of several demanding requirements at once.

Why microstates are often mentioned

Small countries are sometimes described as among the hardest because their citizenship is closely tied to long-standing residence or community ties, and because their small size makes them cautious about naturalisation. Long residence requirements and strong integration expectations are common themes.

The result is that even long-term residents can find citizenship difficult to obtain in such places. This is less about hostility to newcomers and more about the tight link between citizenship and deep, sustained connection to a small community.

Why some countries limit dual citizenship

Countries that do not allow dual citizenship are often felt to be harder, because they force a choice. Requiring renunciation of an existing nationality reflects a view that citizenship should be singular and undivided, and it raises the personal cost of naturalising.

For applicants from countries that themselves discourage giving up nationality, this can create a genuine bind. So the single-citizenship stance, common in a number of places, is one of the more significant sources of practical difficulty.

Where Singapore sits

Singapore is often regarded as having a demanding path to citizenship, though not because of a single extreme rule. Citizenship generally follows a period as a permanent resident, is assessed holistically at the authorities’ discretion, and, importantly, Singapore does not generally permit adults to hold dual citizenship.

So for many people the hardest aspects of Singapore citizenship are the discretion involved and the requirement to renounce another nationality, rather than an unusually long residence period alone. As always, the authoritative details are held by ICA.

At a glance: factors that raise difficulty

A citizenship feels hardest when several of these factors apply together. Verify specifics with the relevant country’s authorities.

Hardest is relative to you

The genuinely useful takeaway is that the hardest citizenship depends on your own situation. If you cannot bear to renounce your nationality, single-citizenship countries are hardest for you. If your means are limited, high financial thresholds are the barrier. If you struggle with a language, language-heavy countries are.

So rather than asking which citizenship is hardest in the abstract, ask which is hardest for your circumstances. That question has a far more practical answer and points you toward what you would actually need to overcome.

How to judge a specific citizenship

Working through these gives you a realistic sense of how hard a particular citizenship would be for you, which is more useful than any headline list.

Common misconceptions

Clearing these up leads to a more honest question: which citizenship is hardest for you, and why.

Where to get accurate information

Because rules differ by country and change over time, the only reliable source for any specific citizenship is that country’s own immigration authority. General articles and rankings can orient you, but they should never be treated as the final word on eligibility.

For Singapore specifically, ICA is the authoritative source on citizenship eligibility and process. For any other country, consult its official immigration authority to confirm the current requirements.

The bottom line

To sum up: there is no single hardest citizenship. Difficulty comes from a combination of long residence requirements, language and integration demands, financial thresholds, wide discretion, and whether you must renounce your existing nationality. Several countries are commonly called the hardest because they combine many of these at once, but such lists are impressions, not official rankings.

So the practical answer is that the hardest citizenship is the one whose particular barriers weigh most heavily on your own situation. Judge each on its factors, weigh them against your circumstances, and confirm the current rules with the relevant authority, ICA in Singapore’s case.

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