Policy database

Residence and migration routes, source by source

Release WIMA-POL-2026-10-02 contains 12 reviewed route records across 10 jurisdictions. Coverage is selective; an absent jurisdiction or route is not evidence that no policy exists.

Published by World Investment Migration Association in release WIMA-POL-2026-10-02.

WIMA is not a government authority and does not issue visas, residence permits or citizenship. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authorities before acting.

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Search the published records by programme or jurisdiction, region and route type. Results are never ranked.

12 records shown

Release 2026.10.02

All 12 reviewed records

Counts are generated from the release data. No score, recommendation or ranking is applied.

Africa

South Africa

Business visa

South Africa's business visa is a temporary-residence route for a foreign national establishing or investing in a business, subject to capital, local-employment and compliance conditions.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

Asia-Pacific

Hong Kong

New CIES

Hong Kong's New CIES combines a net-asset test, an HKD 30 million investment requirement and separate financial and immigration assessments.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

Australia

National Innovation visa

Australia's National Innovation visa is an invitation-only permanent visa for people with an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement.

Accepting applications Permanent residence

Verified 2 October 2026

Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

Citizenship by Investment

Antigua and Barbuda's programme provides citizenship through approved contribution, real-estate, business or higher-education-fund options after statutory checks and approval.

Accepting applications Citizenship

Verified 2 October 2026

Central America

Costa Rica

Pensionado

Costa Rica's pensionado subcategory provides temporary residence to a foreign national who proves a permanent and stable foreign pension at or above the statutory monthly threshold.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

Costa Rica

Rentista

Costa Rica's rentista subcategory provides temporary residence to a foreign national who proves stable monthly income from abroad or the national banking system at the statutory level.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

Europe

Portugal

ARI

Portugal's ARI is a temporary residence route for eligible third-country nationals who complete and maintain one of the investment or job-creation options administered by AIMA.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

Spain

International telework

Spain provides a visa and residence-authorisation framework for qualifying third-country nationals who work remotely for enterprises outside Spain using telematic systems.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

United Kingdom

Innovator Founder

The United Kingdom's Innovator Founder route requires endorsement for an innovative, viable and scalable business and can lead to settlement if the separate settlement criteria are met.

Accepting applications Temporary residence

Verified 2 October 2026

United Kingdom

Tier 1 (Investor) legacy

The Tier 1 (Investor) route is closed to new applicants. At this cut-off, only qualifying settlement applications remain within the published transitional deadline.

Closed to new applications Temporary residence with a legacy settlement path

Verified 2 October 2026

Middle East

United Arab Emirates

Golden Residency — real estate

The federal identity authority lists a Golden Residency category for qualifying real-estate investors, but two current official federal pages state different permit durations.

Accepting applications Long-term residence

Verified 2 October 2026

North America

Canada

Start-up Visa

Canada's Start-up Business Class remains in the immigration regulations, but new application intake has been paused since 30 June 2026 while accepted files continue to be processed.

Suspended Permanent residence

Verified 2 October 2026