A second citizenship for the family: who can be included

Someone works out a programme's threshold, sells an apartment in Odesa, buys a property abroad, and then learns that their twenty year old son is not included in the application and will have to apply separately under different rules. This is the most common mistake in the field, and it costs both money and years.

So family composition is checked first and the threshold second. Below is how it works and what to ask before the money moves.

Who is almost always included

A spouse. A husband or wife is included in every programme we know of, but the marriage must be documented and, as a rule, legalised for that country: a certificate with an apostille and a translation. A religious marriage without state registration counts nowhere.

Minor children. In the Turkish programme that means children under 18, and they receive citizenship together with the applicant. Birth certificates with an apostille are required, and where a child is from a previous marriage, the other parent's consent to departure and change of status as well. That is a separate exercise, better begun early.

Where it gets complicated

Adult children. A twenty year old student living with their parents and earning nothing is an adult on paper. Some programmes allow such a child to be included provided they are financially dependent and have no family of their own; others do not allow it at all. In the Turkish programme, as at 07.10.2026, children under 18 are included, while the conditions for older ones are being clarified, and we will not print them without fresh confirmation.

The applicant's parents. Some programmes worldwide include them and some do not, and where they are included, proof of dependency is usually required. For Turkey this is also being clarified.

Children with disabilities over 18. Almost everywhere this is a separate provision, and almost everywhere it exists, but the wording differs. This is a question for a lawyer in that country before the purchase, not for an agent.

Unregistered relationships. A partner without marriage is included in none of the programmes we know. If that matters, the marriage is registered before the application rather than after.

Why this is settled before buying

The reason is simple: the threshold is the same regardless of how many people the programme covers. A 400 thousand dollar purchase in Turkey grants citizenship to the applicant, their spouse and minor children, and that is either the whole family or not, depending on the children's ages.

If the eldest child is not included, you have two routes. The first is for them to apply in their own right under the same programme, which means buying another property at the threshold. The second is a different route into the same country, study or work, which takes years and leads elsewhere.

Either can be planned in advance. What cannot be done is learning about it after the deal: property bought under the Turkish programme cannot be sold for three years, and transferring it to a child so they can apply themselves will not work either.

What exactly to ask

First, the full list of family members included in the application, with age limits, in writing from a lawyer in that country rather than from a seller.

Second, which documents are needed for each person and in what form. Apostille, translation, sworn translator: these take months if started late.

Third, what happens to the status of a child who is 17 at filing and 18 at decision. Processing can cross a birthday, and different countries resolve that differently.

Fourth, whether Ukrainian citizenship is retained. Ukraine does not provide for dual citizenship as a general matter, and that is a question for a Ukrainian lawyer rather than a foreign one. We neither advise on it nor undertake to interpret it.

The documents that take longest

An apostille on marriage and birth certificates means an application to a state authority, and timescales in Ukraine currently range from a week to a month. Translation by a sworn translator of the destination country adds another week or two, and it follows the apostille rather than running alongside it.

A criminal record certificate is required almost everywhere, and it has a validity period, usually three or six months. Obtained too early, it expires before filing and has to be ordered again.

The consent of the other parent where a child is from a previous marriage: notarised, apostilled and translated. If that parent is unreachable or refuses, the matter goes to court, and no timescale can be forecast.

Altogether a document pack for a family with two children takes one to three months. It is prepared alongside choosing the property, not after it.

What we can genuinely speak to

We find a property that meets the threshold, check its documents, run the transaction and make sure the property actually fits the conditions: sum, type, valuation, holding period.

Family composition, filing and timescales belong to a lawyer in that country. We tell you whom to ask and work alongside them, but they file the application.

And one more thing worth saying plainly: citizenship by investment is neither fast nor simple. It is a large property purchase with a restriction on selling, plus documents for the whole family, plus waiting. If the aim is simply a home by the sea, you do not need a programme threshold, and the property will cost half as much.

How to start

Write to us with your family composition: everyone's age, who works, who studies, whether the marriage is registered. And the sum you are prepared to invest. We will tell you whether that sum covers the threshold for the whole family, and where the documentary difficulties will be.