SECOND PASSPORT

Second Passport, Citizenship by Investment, Residency by Investment, Golden Visa, Dual Citizenship.

Those countries that; “sell their passport” are often frowned upon but the reality is that; all countries encourage immigration by High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) either through granting residency that; can lead to citizenship or granting citizenship itself in return of investment; it is just the price and timespan that; differs nothing else.

Equally there are still many countries around the world where the future, politically or economically is unstable, which encourages their citizens either to emigrate or take out an alternative residency or citizenship as an insurance policy. If these citizens have money to invest then it makes sense to do so in countries allows dual citizenship also will give them some kind of formal status, quality life and freedom.

Before considering applying for a second residency or passport under any Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) or Residency by Investment Programme (RIP) or Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) or Golden Visa Programme there are a number of factors are to be taken into consideration such as;

• The fund involvement of an applicant to gain residency
• The duration of time it will take for an applicant to become eligible for citizenship
• Total number of days (if any) that; the applicant is required to physically reside in that country
• Whether eligibility for citizenship is also extended to an applicant’s spouse or other dependents or co-applicant/s
• The most importantly the proposed as well as current country prohibits dual citizenship
• Whether the proposed country’s passport provides visa free entry to a significant number of other countries or the rank of the passport
• Whether the proposed country has any requirements related to educational qualification, management, work experience, language or an expat
• Whether the proposed country has any requirements for military or other mandatory Govt. service
• Living cost in the proposed country; including tax rates or any other payable taxes
• Whether the applicant’s country of origin impose any exit tax or any other penalties.

What we have observed so far is that; many developed countries around the globe are refining their immigration policies in order to attract only the best and wealthiest new citizens who are looking to relocate with their families or invest abroad or simply looking for a second passport. Each country offers different types of financial or investment scheme, different types of immigration procedures to benefits and attract to their venture capitalist.

Actually Canada’s Immigrant Investor Programmes (IIPs) are considered to be one of the the best-proven and well calculated residence and citizenship programme available right now, on the other hand; the British passport is ranked No. 4th in the world and one of the powerful passport to have in terms of visa restriction ratings because it permits a holder to visit 177 countries; the most countries worldwide without a visa.

One of the most recent Immigrant Investor Programmes (IIPs) developed for the international wealthy elite in the last few years is the Bulgaria-EU Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP), while a less well-known country that; offers direct citizenship-by-investment is the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies or Comoros in the Africa. In Comoros; Citizenship by Investment can be purchased even for USD ($) 45,000. And most importantly none of these programmes are actually requires applicants to physically reside in their country.

Malta, Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal and Latvia all offer residency and visa free travel throughout the EU in return for a modest investment in property. In case of Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong or Cambodia a legal right to live can be established just by forming a company or buying property or investing on Government bonds.

We “Offshore Tax Heaven & Worldwide Immigration” (OTHWI) guide our clients through the best and latest widely available Immigrant Investor Programmes (IIPs) or Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) or Golden Visa Programme in order to select the best one. We maintain up-to-date details and database of all available schemes around the globe, with their exact financial conditions, required investments, financing options, Government application fees and other requirements for the programmes, time frame to obtain permanent residence and to maintain it, as well as requirements for obtaining a citizenship. Also not to mention that, we have wide range of investment options starting from few thousand Dollars to hundred thousand Dollars.

VARIOUS INVESTMENT PROGRAMMES

Citizenship by investment (“jus pecuniae”, CIP) and Residence by Investment Programme (“golden visas”, RIP) have seen big growths in recent years. Jus pecuniae means acquiring citizenship against financial contribution. But citizenship for many immigrants, comes at a significant financial cost. Investment based citizenship/residency programmes may or may not require the applicant to reside in the country prior to naturalization. There are mainly two routes, that; lead to citizenship under investment option, one through naturalizing with residency and other without residency leading to direct citizenship  with a passport. The number of countries offering such schemes based on economic investment have increased, fueling global demand for passports and visas.

Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) gets you fast track citizenship within months, waiving naturalisation requirements such as residency, military service, language requirement etc. This is one of the main reasons why citizenship by investment programme are so popular and also less time consuming. The citizenship given is lifetime can be passed on to future family generations through children.

Residency by Investment Programmes (RIP), grant citizenship through residency usually takes years of uninterrupted living to naturalise for citizenship. You must also fully integrate to culture, language etc. You may undergo military service to naturalise for citizenship in some countries. In most countries, if you do not live in the country enough (absent for more than 3 months), you won’t even qualify for Citizenship or Green card. The processing time of citizenship applications through naturalisation may take many months or more than a year. It is worth pointing out that some countries like United Kingdom require a PR status before applying for citizenship. Golden visas are issued with limited time validity (say one or two years). You have to go to extend the validity of residence permit (under golden visa) once in every year or two years and to do this you must visit the country personally.

There are several quick investment routes to buy citizenship through investment. The best, easiest, less expensive and fastest option is one time donation payment to Government fund. You will get your money back if the citizenship is refused. You can also invest in real estate (must hold for 5 years) and get a citizenship, but it is an expensive route to citizenship. Under real estate, you are required to pay various property taxes, fees at end it will end up more than you bargained for. Another interesting option is buying Government bonds ($500,000 onwards), you will get your full money refunded back after 5 years (guaranteed by Government) with no interest. You keep your citizenship for life time. You will not lose your citizenship after getting back your money from bonds. A handful of countries grant residency or even citizenship against capital investments in  Art & culture projects, Research and technology sector, Green energy sectors and foundations or organisations serving public interest.

The benefits of second citizenship are enticing such visa free travel to several countries to Europe/UK, education for children, freely do business, tax free status, and also benefits stateless persons .

The biggest problem with programmes in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, yes they give you permanent residence status but you are required to physically immigrate and live there permanently. You can not be absent for more than 3 months in a year. Many investors do not want to move and live there away from home. Another problem is you are taxed on worldwide income, if you get permanent resident status.

Grenada has a very interesting citizenship programme in the Caribbean, which is worth looking at. Grenada signed visa waiver agreement with China on February 25th, 2015, since then Grenada is the only country in the Caribbean offering visa free travel to China (PRC) to its citizens. Citizenship in Grenada also provides backdoor access to United States through E-2 treaty visa. E-2 visa is a non-immigrant business visa, a cheaper alternative to EB-5 investor visa, as it requires no investment minimums and does not require job creation. E-2 visa holders also have ways to avoid world wide taxation in the US unlike EB-5 visa holders.

Tax planning offshore can not be overlooked when acquiring a second citizenship. In most countries, you are taxed based on your residency (live 182 days/year), not citizenship for the income generate inside the country. The United States and Eritrea are the only two countries in the world with the “Citizenship based tax regime”. The US taxes both citizens and non-citizens on their worldwide income. There are virtually no taxes in the Caribbean. In case of Europe; Austria (55%), Netherlands (52%), Sweden (62%), Finland (56%-62%), Denmark (56%) has the highest income tax rates.

In Europe, only Malta and Cyprus have the official citizenship programmes. All other countries in Europe require residency first before citizenship. There are about 16 countries in Europe offering residency or citizenship to foreign investors against an investment. These are two types:

1. European Citizenship by Investment Programmes EU- CIP and
2. Golden Visas in Europe.

WHAT ABOUT DUAL CITIZENSHIP?

If you get a new citizenship in a foreign country, you have to think about dual citizenship laws. In countries such as China, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, dual citizenship is prohibited.

Country	Dual citizenship		Country	Dual Citizenship
United Kingdom	Allowed		Panama	Allowed
Spain	Allowed		France	Allowed
Belgium	Allowed		Andorra	Not Allowed
United States	Allowed		Mauritius	Not Allowed
Netherlands	Not Allowed		Fiji	Allowed
Austria	Allowed (by exception)		St.Kitts & Nevis	Allowed
Singapore	Not Allowed		Dominica	Allowed
Canada	Allowed		Antigua & Barbuda	Allowed
Switzerland	Allowed		St. Lucia	Allowed
Ireland	Allowed		Grenada	Allowed
Portugal	Allowed		Comoros	Allowed
New Zealand	Allowed		Bahamas	Not Allowed
Greece	Allowed		Seychelles	Not Allowed
Australia	Allowed		Hong Kong	Allowed (in general)
Malta	Allowed		Latvia	Allowed
Hungary	Allowed		Monaco	Not Allowed
Cyprus	Allowed		Brazil	Allowed
Brazil	Allowed		Vanuatu	Allowed
India	Not Allowed		Colombia	Allowed
Turkey	Allowed

Dual citizenship NOT allowed if you are born in these countries:

Here are a quick summary of all the citizenship and residency programmes currently available

Citizenship by Investment Passport:

Country	Started on	Minimum Investment **	Residency requirements	Time for citizenship	Visa free countries*
Malta	2013	€ 900,000	12 months	15 months	168
Cyprus	2011	€ 2,000,000	6 months	4 months	159
Dominica	1993	$100,000	None	2 months	119
St. Kitts & Nevis	1984	$150,000	None	4 months	132
Antigua & Barbuda	2013	$100,000	5 days	3 months	134
Grenada	2014	$150,000	None	2 months	121
St. Lucia	2015	$100,000	None	2 months	125

Citizenship by Residency Programme:

Country	Started in	Minimum Investment **	Residency requirements	Time for citizenship
Portugal	2012	€ 350,000	7 days/year	6 years
Spain	2012	€ 500,000	None	10 years
United States	1993	$ 500,000	must live permanently in US	7 years
United Kingdom	1994	£ 200,000	must live permanently in UK	6 years
Canada	1990	C$ 800,000	must live permanently in Canada	4 years
Greece	2014	€ 250,000	None	7 years
Hungary	2015	€ 300,000 (closed)	None	8 years
Latvia	2010	€ 80,000	None	10 years
Italy	2017	€500,000		10 years
Australia	2012	A$ 1,500,000	40 days/year	4 years
Switzerland	2011	$ 1,000,000	must live permanently	12 years
New Zealand		N$ 1,500,000	146 days/year	5 years
Belgium	2012	€ 300,000	None	5 years
Ireland	2012	€ 500,000	None	5 years
Netherlands	2014	€ 1,250,000	None	5 years
Bulgaria	2009	€ 512,000	None	4 years
Malta	2012	€ 275,000	must live permanently	5 years
Cyprus	2012	€ 300,000	must live permanently	8 years

There are talks that; Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro will be introducing their citizenship or residency programmes very soon.

Qualifying Investment Routes to Citizenship

Real Estate Investment	Donation to Government fund	Government bonds	Business Investment	Bank Deposit	Art, Culture, Research, Public Interest
• Spain • Portugal • Latvia • Ireland • Malta • Cyprus • Andorra • Monaco • St. Kitts & Nevis • Antigua & Barbuda • Dominica • St.Lucia • Grenada • Panama • Fiji • Bahamas • Greece • Turkey	• Malta • St.Kitts & Nevis • Dominica • Antigua & Barbuda • St.Lucia • Comoros • Vanuatu • Grenada	• United Kingdom • Hungary • St.Lucia • Canada • Cyprus • Malta • Bulgaria • Turkey	• Australia • New Zealand • Belgium • Switzerland • Portugal • Spain • St.Lucia • Hong Kong • Singapore • United States • United Kingdom • Netherlands • Latvia • Seychelles • Antigua & Barbuda • St.Lucia • Ireland • Netherlands • Italy	• Cyprus • Latvia • United Kingdom • Turkey	• Portugal • Spain • Ireland

COUNTRIES MAY OFFER CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT (CBI) IN FEATURE

The Caribbean

Country	DEBT to GDP	Population
St. Vincent & Grenadines*	87%	110,000
Trinida & Tobago*	44.4%	1,365,000

*Will Start Soon
The Caribbean is a hotbed of Citizenship-by-Investment Programmes (CBIs), with 5 currently active CBIs. With the price war that; has been ranging since the entry of St. Lucia into the market and the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, the Caribbean is unlikely to welcome another CBI with open arms. Fortunately for the current players, few other nations in the region will consider another form of CBI, either because their passport is not highly rated (Jamaica, Dominica) or because they are dependent on a European nation (Bermuda, Cayman Islands). This leaves us with only 2 countries: St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago. St. Vincent & the Grenadines opposition party has declared its interest in creating such a programme and in light of the nation’s mounting debt, a Citizenship-by-Investment Programme is logically an option. But we might need to wait for the 2020 general election for a real chance of seeing a CBI take off. Trinidad & Tobago is the other possibility, but a CBI programme there is unlikely to be on the books in the foreseeable future.

America

Country	DEBT to GDP	Population
Belize*	69%	367,000
Costa Rica	65%	4,857,000
El Salvador	65%	6,345,000
Guatemala	25%	16,580,000
Honduras	38%	9,113,000
Nicaragua	47%	6,150,000
Venezuela*	23%	31,570,000

*Will Start Soon
Today, no Central American country offers a Citizenship-by-Investment programme, but they have existed in the past. The infamous Belize programme was suspended in 2002, and Peru had one in the ’90s. But currently, CBI is unlikely to remerge anywhere in the Americas. Belize might be in a situation where they could be tempted, as its debt remains high. The same can be said about Venezuela, a country in the midst of an extreme financial crisis. However, it’s unlikely that; the highly unpopular current regime would instigate such an unpopular action. Furthermore, a CBI would not help save the economy of a country of 32 million plus people.

Europe

Country	DEBT to GDP	Population
Grece*	179%	10,750,000
Albania*	70%	2,876,000
Bosnia & Herzegovina	30%	3,517,000
Macedonia	39%	2,081,000
Serbia*	61%	7,057,000

*Will Start Soon
Eastern Europe seems to be the next battleground for the citizenship industry, with Montenegro and Moldova having engaged in creating a CBI, with both set to launch their programmes soon. Albania is the most likely to offer a CBI in the near future. Success and tolerance by the EU of Citizenship-by-Investment programmes will most likely open the gate for other Balkan countries to follow suit. Their possible ascension to the EU in the future makes CBI in the region highly attractive. Serbia is witnessing huge Chinese investments and their fragile economy, they could pave the way for more open-minded attitudes towards foreign investors from the East who seek naturalisation. Greece is a wild card here, as national pride is unlikely to allow it. However, making CBI common in Europe might make Citizenship-by-Investment easier to sell to the Greek people so they can finally reduce their ballooning debt.

The Pacific

Country	DEBT to GDP	Population
Kiribati	9%	115,000
Samoa	55%	195,000
Timor-Leste	10%	1,269,000
Tonga*	45%	107,000
Tuvalu*	41%	11,100

*Will Start Soon
** Exist from 2017.
Today, Vanuatu is the only Pacific island with a CBI and investment start from USD $ 150,000, but Tuvalu and Tonga ran controversial CBIs that; were shut down. Back in the 1990, rumors abounded that; other Pacific nations were in the practice of granting passports for cash, but in a less formal way. Two years ago, Vanuatu rebranded its failed CBI and restarted from 2017, and had much more success with it. China has been lending large amounts of money; billions of dollars to the Pacific nations. As Vanuatu is a large recipient, questions could be raised in the future about the integrity of the programme if China starts asking about their nationals in possession of Vanuatu passport. Nevertheless, a success story with the Vanuatu programme could see others in the area follow suit, and for some, a return to the habit of offering 2nd citizenship. Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu are the most likely candidates here. Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands possess a Gold Passport, but their close relationship with the US makes it practically impossible for them to contemplate a CBI programme.

The Rest

Country	DEBT to GDP	Population
1. Georgia*	44%	3,720,000
2. Mauritius*	65%	1,263,000
3. Seychelles*	62%	94,700

*There are talks that; Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro programs will be introducing their citizenship or residency programmes very soon.

Note: Above mentioned information, fund involvement etc., are collected form Government website as well as from various sources/ media and there may be variation in time to time.

NB*: Dual citizenship laws change from time to time. Please contact the foreign ministry office or embassy in your country for specific legal advise. The information above may not be accurate at all times.

We even can arrange passport (including citizenship) of few other countries around the globe apart from above mentioned list; may get in touch with us for more details.

Kindly note that, for all the programmes, as per Government rules, you will have to apply through proper channel or authorised agents or service providers or the agency like us having direct contact with the concerned authorities rather than approaching the Government directly. Government does select only best of the best and wealthiest people to develop their country. We even can arrange passport (including citizenship) of few other countries around the world which are not entered in the above mentioned list; may get in touch with us for more details or for personal discussion. We are ready to meet you personally at your country or place of your choice if needed.

“Offshore Tax Heaven & Worldwide Immigration” (OTHWI) assists with global investment citizenship and residency programmes around the world. We provide wide range of services, such as, offshore bank account, company/ trust formation, real estate, tax planning and immigration to common people to very wealthy investors and their families.