Citizenship Insurance is Almost Essential in Today’s Volatile World
Multiple citizenships are a key tool in today’s volatile world. Having multiple citizenships gives you more options. Having more options gives you more freedom. At first it may seem counterintuitive that having more passports leads to more freedom. After all, to get multiple citizenships you must submit to time consuming and inconvenient bureaucratic procedures in the country where you’re seeking a new citizenship. It’s worth the effort however as having multiple citizenships will libertate from the clutches of any one government.
Here are 7 reasons why multiple citizenships are essential:
Never be Dependent on any One Government
It can be dangerous to depend on one group of bureaucrats for the right to travel. In a real free world international border controls and passports wouldn’t be necessary. But today we have over 200 countries and a government document is required to travel between them. If your government cancels your passport, you can’t leave your own country. With tyranny increasing in western countries, you never know when you might need to escape.
You think your government wouldn’t cancel your passport? Already the US government won’t issue a passport to anyone with an alleged tax debt of $50,000. The British government is planning to cancel the passports of recreational drug users.
Governments see passports as a tool to control the masses. Having multiple passports takes that power away from your government.
You Will Always Have a Safe Haven Country to Live
When you have multiple citizenships, you always have a safe place to go. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your part of the world. You can always pack up and leave. Throughout history people have been forced to flee their countries to escape war, famine, and government tyranny.
With war in Europe right now that could escalate a means of escape for you and your family may become essential. Who knows what the future holds? Multiple citizenships have helped people avoid all sorts of unpleasant things such as conscription. Right now, Ukrainian men under 60 are banned from leaving their country and forced to fight. Is it too much of a stretch to imagine that such a thing could happen in other countries?
Multiple Citizenships can Help Avoid Extradition
Extradition is where the government of one country requests the government of a country you are in to arrest you and hand you over to face criminal charges. Many so called crimes nowadays are victimless crimes. Increasingly people are being criminalised for their thoughts, for saying the wrong thing or for visiting the wrong country. Needless to say there are always two sides to every story. The point is it’s easy for normal people to find themselves on the wrong end of the law nowadays. Anyone running a business must navigate a minefield of regulations. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an insurance policy in place in case the worst happens, and you’re accused of a crime?
Many countries refuse to extradite their own citizens. If you choose your citizenships carefully, you’ll always have a safe haven.
Reduce Taxes Substantially
Most countries don’t tax based on citizenship. They tax based on residency. This is more reasonable because if you don’t live in a country and don’t use any government services why would you pay tax there? There is a glaring exception to this. The US government taxes based on citizenship, not residency. If you were born in the US and never set foot in the country again, you’d be liable to pay US taxes for life. This isn’t fair. An increasing number of people renounce US citizenship every year to dump this burden. Before renouncing it’s necessary to have other citizenships in place.
It’s likely that other countries will introduce citizenship-based taxation in the future. If you’re prepared with multiple citizenships, it won’t affect you.
Access to Investment Opportunities
It’s more difficult than ever to open overseas bank accounts. Offshore banks often restrict who can open an account based on citizenship. Unless you have very large amounts to deposit banks can be reluctant to accept US clients. This is because of US government regulations that forces reporting requirements on banks around the world if they have US clients.
It’s the same for investment opportunities. You’ll often see prospectuses with a warning on the front page that the investment is not open to citizens of the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Multiple citizenships will open up more opportunities.
Make Travel Easier
The more passports you have, the more visa free travel opportunities you’ll have. Countries where the governments don’t have good relations make it difficult for the citizens of their respective countries to visit. Citizens of the US, UK, Canada, and Australia need visas to visit Russia, for example. Getting a visa is intrusive and can take a few weeks. If you have a portfolio of passports, you can use the passport that gives you visa free access to the country you want to travel to. This avoids the tedious process of getting a visa.
Avoid Becoming a Target for Your Government’s Foreign Policy (Mis)Adventures
The foreign policy misadventures of western governments are not very popular in most of the world. If you’re unfortunate enough to be on a hijacked airline the terrorists are likely to single out the US and UK citizens for special treatment. In that scenario a passport from Costa Rica or Portugal might just save your life.
