Generally as a citizen of two or more different states you are in a privileged position compared to having just one citizenship, you have more planning options and more personal freedom.
Most importantly citizenship and a passport from a small, peaceful country can save your life when travelling in times of political unrest, civil war, terrorism, and other difficult situations. Many international businesspeople and important people who are active worldwide actually consider an alternative passport to be the best life insurance money can buy.
In an unsettled, ever-changing world, acquiring a second citizenship is a wise decision and an investment for the future. When you acquire citizenship, your spouse and children, and sometimes parents,25 may be included. Citizenship is for life and can be passed on to future generations.26 Depending on the other country or countries of which you are a citizen, there is often no need to give up your present citizenship while you enjoy the benefits of a second citizenship and passport, as states increasingly allow multiple nationalities.27
2.2 Who is interested in a second citizenship?
People from all over the world and from a wide range of backgrounds are interested in multiple citizenships and consequently hold more than one passport.
Many of the wealthiest individuals and most internationally successful people hold more than one passport. In recent years, an increasing number of internationally forward-thinking entrepreneurs and investors have specifically acquired one or more additional citizenship(s) to diversify their personal exposure and options. They realize that not only their investment portfolio, but also their residence and citizenship portfolio needs to be diversified to reduce risk and increase international flexibility.
More than ever, wealthy citizens are becoming a target for kidnappings, terrorism, and in some countries politically motivated violence. Wealthy people are at risk in insecure countries where organized crime, in particular kidnapping, is widespread, as in many South American countries; but also where they may be part of an ethnic minority group and may face hostility within their own country or in regions with significant political upheaval, such as the Middle East in recent years, or where the future of their home country is uncertain.
Even if the home country is stable and personal security is not an issue, citizens of countries where the political and economic situation does not allow widespread visa-free travel for its passport holders are a further group where an alternative travel document offers great merits.
Persons who travel frequently to countries requiring visas also need an alternative citizenship and passport. They may need to travel at short notice while they are waiting for such visas to be issued on their current passports, and often passports have to be sent to the relevant embassies or consulates and remain there, sometimes for several weeks, before being sent back. This also includes the risk of one’s passport being lost in the process and therefore having an alternative is critical if you wish to remain flexible with regard to international travel.
Citizens of countries with an uncertain future acquire alternative citizenship and passports to ensure that they will continue to be able to travel or have the option to relocate after possible political changes. Unfortunately, many countries fall into this category; citizens of these countries cannot be sure about the political future of their home. Alternative options need to be secured in good time.
Persons who value privacy when travelling, doing business or for banking and investment are interested in protecting their interests and their personal data by using a different citizenship depending on where they operate and what they do. In times of widespread data abuse, identity theft and cyber crime, it is increasingly important to be able to protect one’s personal profile. Having more than one citizenship and passport can help achieve this.
Citizens who wish to have the option to renounce their current citizenship must first acquire another citizenship; otherwise they would become stateless, which is a status to avoid at all costs.28 There are many reasons why one may wish to give up citizenship, for example to legally avoid otherwise compulsory military service requirements or taxation.
Persons who were rendered stateless by birth or through accidents of history need to acquire citizen status of at least one country, in order to have the freedom of travel and other rights that citizens can enjoy. They may not be able to acquire citizenship by naturalization in their country of residence29 and thus may need to immigrate elsewhere or acquire citizenship-by-investment. If you have no citizenship, the situation can be extremely difficult.
Citizens of countries with high direct taxes may acquire alternative residence and citizenship as part of a strategy to reduce their tax liability. Citizenship may play a role in the determination of one’s tax domicile, even though of course the main factor remains the place of residence and usually citizenship has only a very limited role to play.
Finally, anyone who wishes to have the possibility to retire in a safe country at any time in the future can secure this permanently by acquiring citizenship of that country.
2.3 How to obtain a second citizenship
The principal grounds for acquiring citizenship are birth within a certain territory, by descent, marriage to a citizen, and grant of citizenship or naturalization.
The conditions under which the privilege of citizenship by naturalization is granted vary from country to country, but essential factors are usually family relationships or certain periods of residence, besides character, language and other requirements.30
Birth within a territory
Nowadays relatively few countries grant citizenship to anyone who is born within their territory. The US is the most important of those countries. The principle that citizenship is passed on by birth within a certain territory is called ius soli (“law of the soil”). In most countries, however, which apply the ius soli principle, this is limited to second-generation immigrants and requires the parents to be legally resident for some time in order for the children born in the country to become citizens at birth.
If you know where you were born you can relatively easily find out whether you may have the right to another passport – or, in case of the US, whether you may actually be a US citizen (and possibly never filed tax returns and therefore need to consult urgently with a US tax lawyer).
You can plan your children’s citizenship portfolio to a certain extent. If your children are born in a country that grants them citizenship either right away, or will make the acquisition easier later on, the right steps need to be taken prior to their birth.31 Some countries faced significant birth tourism32 and adjusted their laws to make it more difficult to just fly in and give birth. Countries which did not adjust their laws, like the US and some Caribbean nations, are trying to be restrictive in granting visas to pregnant women.
Ancestry
Many people may not be aware that they are entitled to an alternative citizenship by virtue of their ancestry. The principle that citizenship is passed on by descent is called ius sanguinis (“law of the blood”). Americans (and Argentineans, Australians, Canadians etc.) in most cases have traceable ancestry in Europe. If the ancestry is not too far back, it may be possible for them to re-acquire the citizenship of their ancestors. For example many US citizens are entitled to Irish, Polish or Italian citizenship due to the mass immigration from these countries to the US in the early twentieth century. For example an Irish-born grandparent, or also a grandparent from Poland or Lithuania, may be the basis for a successful claim to Irish, Polish or Lithuanian citizenship and – as a result - to an EU passport. In Croatia, to reclaim citizenship it is sufficient to have proof of Croatian ancestry, no matter how far removed.
Even though many countries have tightened their nationality laws, it is constructive to investigate the option, especially if one of your closer ancestors was born in another country. Dual or multiple citizenships offer numerous benefits beyond the possibility of taking up residence in the country of citizenship