Second Passport

Owning a second passport opens up a number of possibilities that would otherwise be unattainable. First of all, it allows you a freedom that you could never before experience. Owning a second passport means that you are no longer dependent on any one country, meaning that it is much harder for any one government to control your life.

Having a second passport also gives you more freedom to travel. Should your primary passport get lost, stolen, or even confiscated by the government, you will always have a back-up that allows you to keep on exploring the world around you.

Also, your second passport may allow you easier access to certain places. U.S. citizens often need visas to travel within different countries, but your second passport may entitle you to visa-free entry and travel. Also it avoids the situation of having entry and exit stamps in your U.S. passport from countries your own government doesn’t want you to be in.

Lastly, getting a second passport is the first step towards full expatriation. As a U.S. citizen living overseas, you are still required to pay tax to your “home” country. To avoid this burden, tens of thousands of U.S. expats have decided to revoke their citizenship, releasing them from their tax-paying obligation. However, to go through with this process you will first need citizenship in another country, and a passport that proves it.

And the process of getting a second passport doesn’t have to be difficult either. In fact, in some cases, it could be regarded as easy. Many countries will grant you citizenship if you have a parent or grandparent—and sometimes even an ancestor from further down the line—that was from that country.

You may not have considered it, but you may have a right to become a citizen of more than one country—and doing so could change your life for the better.

Under U.S. law, upheld by several U.S. Supreme Court decisions, “dual citizenship” (holding a second citizenship) does not jeopardize U.S. citizenship. Many other countries also allow dual citizenship.

Whether they’re eager to work or retire abroad, to be free of red tape and restrictions, or want to strengthen ties with their ancestral lands, record numbers of U.S. citizens hold a second, foreign passport.

While it’s impossible to know exactly how many U.S. citizens have acquired another passport, Professor Stanley Renshon of City University of New York puts the number of U.S. citizens who either hold—or are entitled to hold—a second passport, at about 40 million (out of a population of 327 million).

So why might a U.S. citizen want to acquire a second nationality and the additional passport that goes with it?

One very good reason...increasingly, the U.S. government is imposing burdensome restrictions on freedoms the nation’s founders guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Many people are caught in an extensive web, cast to catch people the government decides might be doing something wrong. And the current definition of “wrong” is so expansive as to be all-inclusive in the bureaucratic mind.

A second citizenship is also important as a personal, powerful tool for international tax planning and for profitable investing. As a national of two countries you can enjoy an extra degree of privacy in your banking and financial activities.

Legal grounds that may allow a person to have or acquire dual citizenship include:

1. Birth within the borders of a nation’s territory.
2. Descent from a foreign citizen parent or grandparent, making blood ancestry a basis, as is the law in Ireland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, or Greece.
3. Marriage to a foreign citizen.
4. Religion, as in Israel and its Law of Return for Jews.
5. Formal naturalization, meaning applying and qualifying for citizenship status. The process for naturalization varies among countries. Usually, a period of residence is required (five years on average), plus good character and an absence of any criminal record, are among the requirements.

Some countries offer an accelerated path to citizenship if you make a substantial financial investment and create new jobs. Few know it, but the United States has a similar program granting immediate residence to investors, as do Panama, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and many others.

Another expensive possibility is purchasing citizenship. For example, two small Caribbean countries offer official “economic citizenship” for sale: the Commonwealth of Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Each charge over $200,000 for citizenship, based on the number of family members applying and other factors.

A second citizenship can open closed doors and, best of all, it can be your key to greater freedom, reducing taxes, and protecting your assets.

Below you will find articles giving you all the information you need about second passports—the benefits of having one, where you should look for one, and how to go about getting it.