IL Magazine: Discover the Best Retirement Haven + 24 More SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE 35% about subscribing to International Living Magazine 
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.
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.
There are good reasons why citizens of many countries should, and indeed, have a right to acquire a second citizenship…particularly in a new country where taxes are reasonable and freedom is greater...
Second passports, and the legal right to exist as a citizen of more than one country, are not a common, every day topic. You might encounter it in the plot of a movie about international financial crime, or in a novel about secret government agents spying on one another.
There are many good reasons to acquire dual citizenship, and with it, a second passport. But just what does the phrase “dual citizenship” mean? Dual nationality or dual citizenship simply means that a person legally is a citizen of two countries at the same time...
Benjamin Franklin—one of the most astute and beloved of America's Founding Fathers—once observed: "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." Whether the people of the United States have remained true to the intent of America's Founding Fathers is certainly open to question. Since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans have been subjected to the questionable Patriot Act, massive government NSA surveillance, and a flood of restrictive and questionable laws that curb liberties.
Nearly 20 years ago, I first published my best-seller, The Passport Book. Since then, countless individuals have emailed, phoned, and grabbed me at International Living events wanting to know how they can get that magical passport.
Big-spending, deep-in-debt, high-tax governments everywhere are searching for more money. So, national tax collectors are touting variations on an old scheme, hoping to attract foreigners with lots of ready cash.
Most people are conditioned to see second passports as something for crooks, thanks to a steady drumbeat of negativity from the U.S. government and the mainstream media. But they're not.
What makes a second citizenship and passport so valuable? There are many benefits to having one, but they all boil down to one simple principle: freedom. A second passport is the ultimate in personal protective insurance. Your passport is the property of the government that issued it.
When you hold a second passport, a world of opportunities opens up to help you protect your finances, safeguard your privacy, and grow your financial nest egg free from high taxes. A second passport gives you the ability to travel to and live in countries visa-free…a degree of added insurance against an American collapse, catastrophe, or other domestic dangers…and most importantly, the ability to engage in investments and tax planning that’s mostly off-limits to Americans.
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.