North Macedonia Citizenship By Exception — Articles 9 & 11

North Macedonian nationality legislation permits discretionary naturalisation where citizenship would represent a special scientific, economic, cultural, sporting or other national interest.

Article 11 has also been implemented through investment-linked criteria associated with citizenship on grounds of special economic interest. Published criteria have included qualifying investment-fund and direct-investment structures.

This framework does not provide a guaranteed entitlement to citizenship. Approval remains subject to government assessment, security review and a determination that the individual case serves the special interests of North Macedonia.

The European Commission has repeatedly called for the investment-linked framework to be abolished.

And in September 2026, proposed amendments affecting the investment criteria were reported, but their final legal effect and the current acceptance of new applications must be confirmed before any investment is undertaken.

Legal Basis

Articles 9 and 11 of the North Macedonia Law on Citizenship permit discretionary naturalisation in cases connected to special scientific, economic, cultural or broader national-interest considerations.

The framework permits the government to bypass ordinary naturalisation requirements in exceptional cases considered beneficial to the state.

The mechanism has historically been associated with exceptional services, strategic expertise, investment activity and other contributions considered aligned with national interests.

Article 11 has been implemented through criteria addressing citizenship on grounds of special economic interest. Published structures have included an investment of at least €200,000 per applicant in a qualifying private investment fund and a direct investment of at least €400,000 connected with new facilities and employment requirements.

Satisfaction of an investment criterion does not create an automatic right to citizenship. The competent authorities must still determine that the applicant represents a special economic interest and approve the naturalisation through the applicable governmental process.

The European Commission reported that citizenship on grounds of special economic interest was granted to two Turkish nationals in 2024 and one national of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2025.

The limited number of grants supports the characterisation of the framework as selective and discretionary rather than routinely available.

The European Commission has demanded abolition of the investor-citizenship framework because of concerns relating to security, migration risk and circumvention of the EU short-stay visa procedure.

Proposed amendments reported in September 2026 may alter or remove existing investment criteria. Until the final amendments are enacted and published, the continuing legal effect of the existing criteria and the acceptance of new cases should be independently verified.

Unlike the ordinary naturalisation pathway — which may involve extended residency periods, language requirements and proof-of-income conditions — the exceptional route operates through sovereign discretionary review on a case-by-case basis.

This mechanism may therefore operate independently from ordinary residence-based naturalisation procedures and standard procedural timelines.

The North Macedonian framework combines published investment-linked criteria with sovereign administrative discretion. It should not be presented as either a guaranteed retail citizenship programme or a purely unstructured exceptional-naturalisation power.

The existence of investment criteria does not guarantee approval, continued availability, operational predictability, or a repeatable citizenship outcome.

This framework forms part of the broader category of citizenship by exception, merit and national-interest naturalisation mechanisms operating through sovereign discretionary authority.

DirectCitizenship.com Focuses On Executable Sovereign Discretion Structures

DirectCitizenship.com does not operate as a public directory of discretionary citizenship programs.

Instead, the platform focuses on a limited number of lower-visibility sovereign discretion environments where the following remains intact:

• Political tolerance
• Administrative continuity
• Economic contribution alignment
• And practical execution viability

These structures are typically:

• Highly selective
• Relationship-driven
• Politically sensitive
• And intentionally capacity-constrained.

As a result, most are neither publicly marketed at scale nor discussed openly in detail.

Interested parties seeking further information regarding discretionary naturalisation environments discussed on this platform may get in touch where appropriate.

Structured Enquiry

DirectCitizenship.com monitors a limited number of lower-visibility discretionary citizenship structures operating through:

• National interest
• Executive authority
• Exceptional contribution
• Merit-based naturalization
• Honorary citizenship frameworks
• Presidential decree
• And other legally enshrined sovereign discretion mechanisms.

Some environments may support practical implementation under highly specific conditions.

Structured enquiries may be submitted for further discussion.

Submit a structured enquiry for further discussion regarding discretionary citizenship structures and sovereign naturalisation mechanisms.