Several military conflicts are going on in the world at the current moment. Civil unrest is taking place in some countries with the most advanced economies such as Belgium and France, for example. Political tensions are rising and things are becoming less and less predictable.
When you live in such an unstable world, having a ‘plan B’, having a place to escape to is essential. The number of people acquiring second citizenship is growing in most regions of the planet. They do it not to improve their image or boast of their foreign citizenship in front of their friends. Rather, they are concerned with their personal security.
When you have a passport of a foreign country, you feel much safer inside. If you believe that all the bad things happen only in other countries and your home country is always going to be always stable because it has a well-developed economy, you may be wrong. Look at the countries with the largest economies in the EU. Germany is experiencing an energy deficit and this leads to deficits in all other areas including food products. Giant car producers are closing their dealerships and leaving Germany. French farmers build barricades, block important highways and unload manure at the doors of municipal administrations. Farmers in neighboring Belgium support the protests.
The United States becomes an unstable country once every four years when the election year begins. Many people seriously doubt Biden’s ability to stay in office for four more years simply because he is too old. Trump, by the way, is not much younger. Who could say what awaits America in the near future when its national debt has broken all the records and it continues to grow?
Thus, no country is perfectly safe but some countries are safer than others. When you hold two passports at a time, your chances of living in a safe country double. If the situation becomes unbearable in your home country at a certain point in time, you can quickly escape to your second home country and take your family with you. Having citizenship of two (or more) countries is not an item of luxury but a necessity these days. Below we discuss the fastest way of obtaining second citizenship.
Citizenship by investment
The fastest way to obtain citizenship of a foreign country is to ‘buy’ it. A considerably large number of countries offer citizenship-by-investment opportunities and you’d better involve an expert who could find the right option for you. What countries literally ‘sell’ their passports to foreigners?
Caribbean citizenship
We should probably start with the Caribbean region because the first citizenship-by-investment program was launched by St Kitts and Nevis in 1984. The country used to be a British colony but it became independent in 1983. Living in an independent country is pleasing to the heart but the end of dependence also meant the end of financial support from the UK for residents of St Kitts and Nevis. So they decided to start ‘selling’ passports of their newly independent country to foreigners with a clear and unambiguous intention: to raise some funds.
Some other Caribbean countries later followed suit and as of today, five citizenship-by-investment programs are available in the region. In addition to St Kitts, and Nevis, you can ‘buy’ citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, and St Lucia. The price starts at US$ 100,000. This is how much you’d have to pay for foreign citizenship if you were to make a donation to the state fund. The lowest required donation amounts are dissimilar in the Caribbean countries that we are talking about here. While St Lucia, for instance, charges US$ 100,000, St Kitts and Nevis has recently raised the price and now you’d have to donate US$ 250,000 to become a citizen of the country. Some experts believe that St Kitts and Nevis might have started a new trend and other Caribbean countries may raise their donation amounts in the near future.
Acquiring foreign citizenship by donation equals buying foreign citizenship in the literal sense. You pay the money, they give you a passport. We would like to stress, however, that you don’t necessarily have to part with your money forever when applying for foreign citizenship by investment. After all, the official name of the programs is citizenship by investment.
All the five Caribbean countries mentioned above will also grant you citizenship if you invest in real estate on their territories. True, the required investment amounts are going to be higher in all cases but you won’t be giving money away. Instead, you will be buying a house or an apartment that you can rent out or use on your Caribbean vacations. After 3 to 7 years depending on the country and the investment amount, you are entitled to sell your property to somebody else and nobody is going to take your Caribbean passport away from you. (If you sell the property before the holding period expires, they will.)
Now, any investment involves certain risks and an investment into property in the Caribbean is not an exception. If you buy a house in Antigua and Barbuda now, how much is it going to cost after 5 years? Much more? A bit more? The same? Maybe less? It’s hard to say. In theory, real property prices are increasing over time but the real value of national currencies is decreasing over time.
Besides, some Caribbean countries allow investing in Government-approved development projects only. In Grenada, for instance, you can’t buy a house or an apartment to qualify for citizenship. Instead, you have to buy an ownership share in a resort complex. Will you be able to sell the ownership share at the same or higher price after a few years? It’s hard to say. Thus, you cannot be certain that you can return your investments into real estate in the Caribbean. What you can be sure about is that you will be able to return at least part of your investment and keep the Caribbean passport.
Citizenship of Muslim countries
Three Muslim countries also administer citizenship-by-investment programs: Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. Jordan is mostly of interest to citizens of other states in the region and dwelling on it in an English-language article would make little sense.
The Egyptian program is rather young: it has wonderful prospects but it is a bit too early to say if the program is recommendable. Investments have to be made into real property and the minimum amount is US$ 300,000.
Turkey is closer to Europe and it may be an option to consider if you are looking for a second passport. You can buy any property for at least US$ 400,000 to qualify for citizenship of Turkey.
Citizenship of Vanuatu
Finally, Vanuatu, a small insular country in the South Pacific also ‘sells’ its passports to foreigners. The Vanuatu passport used to give visa-free access to the EU but its holders have lost this privilege now. We will bring this opportunity to your attention when citizens of Vanuatu can visit the EU countries without visas again.
