The President of El Salvador has announced an interesting way to attract more skilled foreign workers to the country: by giving them free citizenship.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced his plan on social media Saturday, saying that 5,000 passports would be issued to new “highly skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, artists and philosophers from abroad.”
The new citizens would make up less than 0.1 percent of the country’s current population and have the same rights as native Salvadorans, the president said.
“This represents 0.1 percent of our population, so granting them full citizen status, including voting rights, poses no issue,” President Bukele said on X, formerly Twitter. “Despite the small number, their contributions will have a huge impact on our society and the future of our country.”
Bukele also added that the new families’ relocation would be facilitated by “zero percent taxes and tariffs” on all assets, including commercial value items like equipment, software and intellectual property.
The 5,000 passports are equivalent to $5 billion in El Salvador’s passport program.
