The only country in the index with a zero for path to citizenship: permanent status exists only for former citizens and their families, and for everyone else it does not exist.
medium confidenceAfter the 2022 default Sri Lanka is courting long-stay guests: a visa for remote workers, a 180-day tourist visa, and since 25 May 2026 a free tourist ETA for citizens of 40 countries. The nomad visa terms have not changed since launch, and we found no retroactive tightening. Filing is online, and there are no integration courses or address registration.
The weak spots are delivery and a fragile status. In 2024 handing e-visa processing to a private contractor ended with the Supreme Court cancelling the deal, and the ETA system ran with interruptions. The state publishes only how many visas it issues, not refusal statistics. Under the visa guideline the department ends the visa if income falls short of the threshold, and any breach of conditions can mean immediate cancellation. There is no grace period to restore income; changes in work, income or dependants must be reported within 30 days.
Enforcement targets rule-breakers. In 2025 the authorities went after foreigners running tourism businesses without the right status: 75 detentions and 15 deportations; in 2026 raids on scam networks detained more than a thousand people. We found no campaign against legal residents, but there was a 2024 episode when foreigners on tourist visas were told to leave within 14 days (details in the passport section).
Putting down roots is not possible. The state openly offers permanent residence only to former citizens and citizens' families, and years on the nomad or investor visa count towards nothing. Family members apply in the same application, but a spouse may not work, and the visa guideline mentions only international and private schools for children.
Visa holders are allowed to open bank accounts, but post-crisis currency controls apply: cash withdrawals of foreign currency are capped at $5,000, and transactions outside the approved list need permission.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
The 30-day tourist ETA is free and must be obtained before arrival. After that, the same nomad visa route as for everyone.
Ukraine is not on the list of 40 countries with a free tourist ETA, so the electronic authorisation is obtained before arrival on standard terms. The order of 22 February 2024 to leave within 14 days also covered Ukrainian citizens on extended tourist visas; it was halted after the president intervened.
The 30-day tourist ETA is free but must be obtained before arrival. On 22 February 2024 the Controller General of Immigration ordered Russian and Ukrainian citizens on extended tourist visas to leave within 14 days; the order was halted after the president intervened. We found no nationality restrictions on the nomad visa in open sources, nor an official confirmation either way.
The 30-day tourist ETA is free and must be obtained before arrival. We found no nationality restrictions on the nomad visa in open sources.
The place interval 51-66 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
Medium confidenceSome scores rest on second-class sources. The score and the place stand, but read them with that caveat.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Pressure on newcomers: 78 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 65.2. The weakest is Path to citizenship: 0 against 57.1. Above the world average: 5 out of 7.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
There is no official deadline. Early reports suggest 2-4 weeks; first you need a recommendation from the Ministry of Digital Economy.
At least $2,000 a month remitted through a Sri Lankan bank. An extra $500 a month is needed only from the third dependant on.
The nomad visa costs $500 a year for the applicant and the same for each family member, non-refundable. Over five years a family of three pays $7,500.
Yes. The visa is ended if income drops below the threshold or conditions are breached, with no grace period. Changes in income and work must be reported within 30 days.
Not as an ordinary foreigner: permanent residence is reserved for former citizens and citizens' families, and naturalisation is practically unused. Even the 10-year investor visa remains a visa.
The country invites remote workers and tourists, but the status is fragile: a one-year visa, no path to permanent residence and immediate cancellation for breaches. Enforcement targets people working without the right status.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.