Should You Buy a Second Passport?

The Costs and Complications of Purchasing a Passport From Another Country.

If you Google “how to get a second passport,” you’ll probably end up on a webpage describing various “citizenship by investment” schemes… otherwise known as passports for sale.

The basic idea is simple. In exchange for investing in property, a business, a sovereign wealth fund, or some other vehicle, you get a passport. There is a due diligence process, which varies in intensity depending on the country.

Here’s a list of countries currently selling citizenship outright. In other words, they don’t ask you to obtain a long-term residence visa first and then live in the country until you’re eligible for naturalization. You just pay your money, submit a few documents, and one day your new passport arrives by courier:

	Minimum Price*	Visa-Free Travel	Schengen Visa-Free?	Pathway to EU Citizenship?
Antigua and Barbuda	$100,000	150	YES	NO
Dominica	$100,000	144	YES	NO
Grenada	$150,000	153	YES	NO
Jordan	$750,000	53	NO	NO
Malta**	€800,000	186	YES	YES
Montenegro	€450,000	126	YES	EU Candidate
North Macedonia	€200,000	125	YES	EU Candidate
St. Kitts & Nevis	$150,000	157	YES	NO
St. Lucia	$100,000	146	YES	NO
Turkey	$400,000	110	NO	EU Candidate
Vanuatu	$130,000	126	NO	NO

One thing that jumps out from this list is how many of these countries are islands: seven out of eleven. All the islands except Vanuatu are in the Caribbean. Two of the non-island nations are in the Balkans… the other two are in the Middle East.

Profit-seeking companies cooked up many of these schemes. They approached the governments in question with a ready-made program, offered to market it, and convinced them to enact laws authorizing it. The quid pro quo was that they would get a cut of the fees from every successful application.

That’s the core of these programs: money. Ultimately, the only reason a country will sell its citizenship to a foreigner outright is if it needs the cash.

This is understandable for the island countries. Most are popular tourist destinations, but don’t have much else in the way of economic activity. They also tend to have low rates of income tax. Sales and other taxes on economic activity keep the governments ticking over, but for any big-ticket items, they need cash injections. For that, they sell their passports.

The situation in the Balkan countries is roughly similar, although they have the additional selling point of being candidates for eventual EU membership. Malta is also primarily a money-earning scheme, albeit at a much higher price point, reflecting its current EU membership. Jordan and Turkey, on the other hand, appear to be primarily oriented toward bringing in foreign currency and deep-pocketed investors.

Clearly, these countries want new citizens. The question is whether you, as a prospective citizen, need them as much as they need you.

Here’s my take:

• If you want to live in one of these countries, go for it. Having its passport means you can stay permanently and enjoy the rights of any other citizen. Just keep both eyes and ears open.

• Be careful of acquiring the citizenship of a country that hasn’t yet been approved for EU membership, hoping to get into the region eventually. There’s no guarantee it will ever happen. For example, many websites touting Turkish citizenship mention its candidacy, but given its current political leadership, it’s highly unlikely in the short term.

• Except for Vanuatu, the island countries have been in the passport-for-sale game for longer than anyone else. They’ve managed to work out the kinks. A colleague of mine who works with several of the Caribbean islands says the U.S. has quietly recognized the validity of their citizenship-by-investment programs. But the situation is constantly changing. Before you take the leap, make sure the country’s program isn’t out of favor with other places where you’d want to travel, like the EU. China is aggressively trying to woo the Caribbean nations to its side, which could lead to complications down the road.

• Make sure you understand the state of the relationship between a country of potential second citizenship and the U.S. Does it have a double taxation treaty? What is the country’s reputation regarding extradition requests, asset protection trusts, company formation, and other legal matters? If wealth and asset protection is important to you, you should look for a jurisdiction that aggressively protects its citizens’ privacy from Uncle Sam’s reach.

• Make sure you understand the implications for estate planning of the various jurisdictions. Does it practice forced heirship, i.e., requiring you to distribute your assets equally amongst your heirs? Does the jurisdiction recognize U.S. wills?

Whatever you do, be clear about what the country’s citizenship will and won’t do for you.

Remember that unless you renounce your U.S. citizenship, you will still be subject to all its laws, including taxation and financial reporting. For a detailed account of expatriation, see the April 2022 issue of Global Intelligence. And if you do decide to expatriate, remember that your new country of citizenship will be the only place in the world you’re allowed to live permanently… and that you will require a visa to get back into the States, just like anyone else.