Which EU Country Offers the Easiest Residency?

How long do I have to wait to get an EU residency?
We’re considering Portugal golden visa program
But open to other suggestions if they are faster

@cosette Putting all RCBI programs in the same basket would be misleading.

Some ask for donations, others allow you to make an actual investment.

Even then, some allow you to make real estate purchases, others allow funds, company formations, and so on.

But all in all, the fastest program in Europe currently is the Maltese citizenship program. That one requires a donation + some investments.

The Portuguese Golden Visa program is by far the most popular, because it allows you to make an actual investment (real estate or fund) in order to first get European residency and then possibly get Portuguese citizenship in 5+ years.

Cyprus used to be the fastest citizenship by investment option, but apparently they were stopped by the European Commission in 2020.

Now it’s Malta.