Can I Buy Citizenship? Alternate Citizenship By Investment
Investing in citizenship by investment programs provides you with the option to legally acquire a new citizenship fast and easily, without the need to go through the lengthy and time-consuming visa and passport application processes that are common. (Check out for most popular 11 countries that provide citizenship by investment!)
Why Need An Additional Passport Or Alternative Citizenship?
Your essential business trip is quickly approaching, and you discover that you will require a visa to travel to the country. You must complete a lengthy application form (possibly listing every country you have visited over the past five or even ten years). It is possible that you will be required to travel to a consulate or embassy for an interview. If your visa is required, it might cost as much as your flight ticket, and you could have your passport returned to you after two–three weeks after sending it to the consulate or embassy. You are in doubt if you really need to go on this trip, and you decide against bringing your family along since you don’t want them to have to go through the same ordeal that you are going through right now.
Political circumstances create difficulties for citizens of many countries in going abroad, and they are subjected to visa requirements each time they attempt to enter a foreign country. Citizens of countries who normally have easy access to most countries may, however, be required to obtain a visa in order to travel to some countries, or may find it impossible to obtain visas in some countries, due to temporary travel restrictions caused by trade sanctions and other geopolitical disturbances, such as the Arab Spring. As a result of their nationality, they may also be subjected to significant risk of terrorist attacks or other types of hostile situations. Aside from that, even if you are successful in obtaining the necessary visa, the process is always time-consuming, and the passport on which the visa is stamped is not always available, which can cause major delays in your travel plans.
There are countries whose passports are strong enough to get you a visa free entry in many continents. Isn’t it hilarious? You won’t need a visa for travelling or in many instances the laws favor you for doing business there because your passport is stronger than that particular country’s.
How To Get Alternative Citizenship?
The significant grounds for obtaining citizenship include being born in a particular territory, having descended from a citizen parent, marrying a citizen, and through naturalization. The conditions under which the privilege of granting citizenship or naturalization vary from state to state, but family relationships or long periods of residence are usually required, in addition to character and other requirements such as knowledge of the national language, in order for the privilege to be granted.
Citizenship By Investment:
While most countries grant residence permits to investors and wealthy individuals, there are now only a few countries that have explicit provisions in their laws for granting citizenship solely on the basis of economic considerations and without the need to reside in the country in which the citizenship is sought.
Wealthy individuals and investors can obtain residency cards in countries such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, and Switzerland. Other countries provide citizenship by investment schemes, which are frequently referred to as economic citizenship programs, which is erroneous because there is no such thing as an ‘economic’ citizenship or a separate category of citizenship. These programs allow an individual to become a complete citizen, but instead of by marriage or birth, they do so through investment. As of now, there are only 11 countries that offer citizenship programmes that provide a direct route to citizenship based on investment — Antigua and Barbuda; Austria; Dominica; Grenada; Jordan; Malta; Montenegro; North Macedonia; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; Turkey — the rest being in the process of developing such programs.
Citizenship by investment programs provide you with the option to lawfully obtain a new citizenship in a short period of time without disrupting your daily routine.
Other Key Considerations:
The geographic location of the chosen country, its official language, political and economic stability, its legal system, its banking and business environment, the availability of visa-free travel for holders of that country’s passport, the country’s and its passports’ reputation, as well as the initial and long-term costs, are all important considerations when deciding whether or not to become a citizen of that country.
Advantages Of Having An Alternative Citizenship:
If you are unable to obtain or renew a passport in your native country for any reason, such as political instability or civil war, the option to obtain a second passport might be highly beneficial. In case you just misplace your passport, it may take some time before you can obtain a replacement, hence having a backup passport is extremely beneficial. To put it another way, if you need a visa and have to send your passport to the appropriate foreign embassy or consulate for processing, you will be unable to travel abroad during that period unless you have an alternative passport.
Keeps You Secure:
Most crucially, having citizenship and a passport, particularly from a small, peaceful country, might even save your life when travelling or in times of political instability, civil war, terrorism, or other critical situations, as has been demonstrated in recent years. Many multinational entrepreneurs from big countries and prominent individuals who are active throughout the world consider an alternative passport to be the best kind of life insurance money can buy, and with good reason.
Alternative Passport Is A Good Future Investment
Acquisition of an alternative citizenship in an uncertain and constantly changing globe is a prudent move and an investment in one’s long-term future. While you enjoy the benefits of a legal second passport, there is usually no need to give up your current nationality. Your citizenship of choice is permanent, and your spouse and children can be included. To be sure, you should verify the regulations of your present country (or countries) of citizenship to make sure that you are in a position to legally acquire a second nationality in the future.
Important Points To Consider In Citizenship Planning:
It is the relationship between an individual and a sovereign state, defined by the laws of that state and accompanied by commensurate duties and rights, that is referred to as citizenship. There is a state of freedom associated with the assumption of some duties. Citizenship is the most privileged form of nationality, which is a broader term used in international law to identify all individuals who are entitled to protection by a given state.
Nationality can also be used to describe the relationship that exists between a state and entities other than individual citizens or citizens of a certain country. A nationality is conferred on entities such as corporations, ships, and aircraft, among others. When the American and French revolutions took place in the 18th century, the term “citizen” evolved to refer to someone who possessed certain liberties in the face of the coercive powers of absolute monarchs. This was the beginning of modern concepts of citizenship.
The Interrelation Of Passports And Citizenship 
Passport is your personal identity and travel documentation for foreign travel that is issued by a sovereign state or an organization of the United Nations. Most of the time, only passports that are issued on the basis of a person’s citizenship are of any importance or use to the individual.
The only way to lawfully gain the right to a passport is through the acquisition of full citizenship. Non-citizen passports and other passports issued to non-citizens are generally of limited use, with a few exceptions, such as the non-citizen passport issued to persons holding a retiree residence permit in Panama, which is legal but also of limited use. The United Nations (UN) and refugee passports, as well as certain travel documents issued by international organisations or individual countries, are examples of exceptions to this rule.
Legality Of Diplomatic passports
When granted by the relevant authorities inside the issuing state or international organisation, diplomatic passports are valid and useful only if the possessor is properly accredited in the host country. Normally, diplomatic passports are only issued to individuals who are citizens of the country that issued the passport.
Holding A Dual Citizenship
When the laws of two or more countries interact, it results in dual (or multiple) citizenship being granted to the individual. When a person is born within a specific region, such as the United States, they immediately become dual citizens. They can also become dual citizens by descent from a citizen parent, by marriage, or after petitioning for citizenship in another country.
If the laws of the country where you currently reside allow for dual citizenship, you will be able to become a citizen of another country without losing your existing citizenship.
Even though many countries do not have limits on dual citizenship, and while there is a global trend away from stringent single-citizenship regulations, there are still significant exceptions to the rule. Singapore, for example, is a stringent single-citizenship country that will need documentation of the applicant’s surrender of any other citizenships he or she may have held in previous years. As a result, Singaporean citizenship is of slight importance to the vast majority of international clients.
Look Out For Illegal ‘programs’ And Unqualified Representatives:
If you’re analyzing the usefulness of an alternative citizenship, the most significant criterion to consider is whether or not it is obtained in accordance with the constitution and laws of the issuing country, which means it has to be legal. Unfortunately, obtaining citizenship documents and passports through unlawful means, such as bribery, is not prevalent at this time. For passports and citizenship documents in many nations, it is feasible to make illegal direct payments to corrupt government officials in exchange for passports and citizenship documentation. Holders of such documents run a high danger of being exposed, detained, and deported from the country.
When a payment is made to a government official in a country where there are specific legal provisions that give the prime minister, president, and/or other government officials a broader discretion in the granting of citizenship, it is considered bribery, which is punishable by law throughout the world. After a change of government, this discretion may, and in many cases does, result in the cancellation of citizenship and passports that were previously given. Persons who have obtained papers in this manner are regularly blackmailed and compelled to pay additional ‘fees’ at a later date. As a result, it is critical that citizenship be earned on the basis of particular legal rules and clear, official procedures. This is especially true in the case of children.
It is important to remember that even in countries that offer legal programs, have in recent years, attracted a wide range of companies and agents, real estate developers, and others who have been drawn in by some of the programs’ successes, such as the one in St. Kitts and Nevis, which has brought more than USD 1 billion to the country since the program was redesigned and internationally positioned. Due to the unfortunate fact that not all of these organizations adhere to proper business practices, considerable caution must be exercised today when selecting a lawyer or corporation to work with, as well as when purchasing real estate through one of the citizenship-by-investment programs.
