70countries scored

4dimensions per status

Jul 16, 2026residency release

Methodology →

How permanent is permanent residence?

We rank permanent residence across 70 countries by travel reach, security against losing the status, the path to citizenship, and resident rights. Travel reach weights destinations by GDP and international arrivals, showing both how securely you can build a life and how much of the world the status opens.

RankCountry · permanent statusResidence scoreTravel · Security · Path · RightsDays to keep

87.2

≤ 12 mosiopi-law.gr 2 MT

87.2

6 yridentita.gov.mt 3 BE

85.0

6 yrdofi.ibz.be 4 LU

85.0

≤ 12 moguichet.public.lu 5 RO

83.5

6 yrigi.mai.gov.ro 6 NO

83.3

4 yrudi.no 7 PL

83.3

6 yrgov.pl 8 BG

81.8

2 yrrefugeelight.bg 9 FR

81.3

6 yrservice-public.gouv.fr 10 CZ

81.2

≤ 12 moipc.gov.cz

Open the full board · 70 countriesToggle: temporary · permanent

81.2

≤ 18 moisland.is 12 IT

81.2

6 yrlegallyitaly.com 13 LV

81.2

≤ 12 mopmlp.gov.lv 14 NL

81.2

6 yrind.nl 15 SK

81.2

≤ 12 moipc.gov.cz 16 DE

79.8

6 yrgesetze-im-internet.de 17 AT

77.5

≤ 12 mooesterreich.gv.at 18 EE

77.5

6 yrpolitsei.ee 19 ES

77.5

≤ 12 moinclusion.gob.es 20 HR

77.5

≤ 12 momup.gov.hr 21 LT

77.5

≤ 12 moimmigrantinlaw.com 22 SI

77.5

6 yrinfotujci.si 23 SE

76.2

≤ 12 momigrationsverket.se 24 CH

76.1

4 yrsem.admin.ch 25 PT

74.5

3 yrdiariodarepublica.pt 26 HU

73.1

≤ 6 mohome-affairs.ec.europa.eu 27 LI

72.7

≤ 6 mogesetze.li 28 DK

72.5

4 yrlifeindenmark.borger.dk 29 FI

71.7

2 yrmigri.fi 30 GB

65.8

2 yrgov.uk 31 CA

65.0

5 yrlaws-lois.justice.gc.ca 32 AU

64.8

∞immi.homeaffairs.gov.au 33 MA

61.8

2 yrlife-in-morocco.com 34 ID

61.0

≤ 12 mocekindo.com 35 AR

60.6

≤ 12 moimmi.legal 36 CR

60.3

4 yrcompanyformationcostarica.com 37 TR

60.3

5 yristaproperty.com 38 TH

60.0

≤ 12 moen.wikipedia.org 39 KR

59.9

2 yrseoulstart.com 40 AL

59.8

≤ 12 mosherbimekontabiliteti.al 41 HK

Hong Kong SAR China

59.3

≤ 36 moimmd.gov.hk 42 RS

58.2

≤ 12 mowelcometoserbia.gov.rs 43 TW

58.2

1 yrforeignersintaiwan.com 44 BR

58.1

2 yrcostaricanembassy.uk 45 CL

58.1

2 yrserviciomigraciones.cl 46 UY

58.1

3 yrgub.uy 47 SG

57.6

180 dica.gov.sg 48 PA

57.3

2 yrkraemerlaw.com 49 US

56.9

1 yrvisatraveler.com 50 UA

56.8

90 ddmsu.gov.ua 51 VN

56.8

∞entryvietnamvisa.com 52 ZA

56.8

3 yrsavisas.com 53 QA

56.0

∞gulfmigration.grc.net 54 NZ

55.4

∞immigration.govt.nz 55 CY

55.3

2 yrgk-lawfirm.com 56 JP

55.2

≤ 60 moconsulmex.sre.gob.mx 57 MX

54.5

∞cisvac.org 58 RU

54.0

≤ 6 mogw2ru.com 59 MK

North Macedonia

53.1

≤ 6 moimmigratetoserbia.com 60 KZ

53.0

183 dnew.wpk.kz 61 AM

52.2

—arlis.am 62 IE

52.2

—ie.iasservices.org.uk 63 IL

51.6

7 yrwelcome-israel.com 64 GE

51.5

≤ 12 moimmigration-georgia.com 65 EG

51.3

—bylawme.com 66 PH

50.0

∞immigration.gov.ph 67 AE

United Arab Emirates

49.5

∞icp.gov.ae 68 ME

49.4

≤ 6 mogov.me 69 SA

44.2

∞fragomen.com 70 MY

40.6

≤ 6 momalaysiavisas.com

Scored on the life you’ll actually live

“Days to keep” — the physical-presence rule that keeps the status alive — is the column no other index publishes. It’s also exactly what Countly counts.

Score = 30% × Travel + 30% × Security + 25% × Path + 15% × Rights

Travel · 30%

What it unlocks

Schengen-wide 90/180, waivers for permit holders in Mexico, Georgia, the Balkans, the Gulf — computed against the same destination weights as the passport board.

Schengen ≈ 28 doors
+ waiver destinations

Security · 30%

How hard it is to lose

Ordinary absence limits, indefinite status, and the grounds on which permanent residence can lapse or be revoked.

None 100 · ≤14 d/yr 90
12 mo 75 · 6 mo 55
≥183 d/yr 25

Path · 25%

Where it leads

Years to permanent residency, years to citizenship, and whether you may keep your original one.

Citizenship ≤5y 85+
Dual forbidden −15

Rights · 15%

What you get meanwhile

Work access, family reunification, and public healthcare.

Work · family · health

Countly · the day-counting app

Your permit has a day counter. So does Countly.

Track the presence days that keep your residence permit — and your tax residency — alive. Automatically and privately.

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