Second Passports

[Marc Rich]

Hi all, very new to this thread and how things go here.. Want to start a thread discussing so called economic citizenships for sale i.e. citizenship by investment programs. Which ones would you recommend and why? Well known Caribbean such as St Kitts, Dominica, Antigua etc or lesser known such as Vanuatu? What would be the best 3 passports to hold? Looking forward to gathering some insight..

 

[Gediminas]

Hey,

There is a good website to check the ranks of the passports - Global Passport Power Rank 2021 | Passport Index 2021

Or here: Second Citizenship | Offshore Bank Accounts

 

[Allisgood]

I would go for those that don’t publish lists of new citizens.
I think they are:

• St Kitts and Nevis
• Vanuatu
• Grenada
• Antigua and Barbuda

Grenada is a bit more expensive but gives you visa free to China which the other 3 don’t have. Also if you are a family some could be cheaper in total than others.

Finally there is some confusion about Vanuatu being honorary citizenship so not sure I would take that one. But that’s just personal preference. It may still work for some.

 

[NicolasMaduro]

I have read alot about second passports. One of the things was that many banks dont even accept them?
Do anyone have actual experience they want to share? Like can I get a residency, FZ Company in UAE by only showing a St Kitts passport or do I hit a Wall and will someone ask to see my “original passport”?
Im asking because I know that the Comoros passport had those issues(it was useless)

 

[Marc Rich]

For UAE residency, yes you can. I have met many people who have UAE residency, but on their Emirates ID it says 'St Kitts' or 'Dominica'. Even a western European with Emirates ID that showed Nationality: Comoros..lol he got questioned a lot for that

Regarding opening a FZ company in UAE - difficult, but possible. For example, Dominica passport holder, difficult as considered 'high risk country' and will take longer time. Vanuatu - doable in 1 day as not considered high risk.

About banking, yes this is true. I know of some company operating out of Dubai though that has actually opened Bank accounts in many reputable countries (think UK, Austria, Switzerland, HK and so on..) for Vanuatu passport holders, but yes generally would be a problem, and most cases yes you would not be accepted.

 

[Marc Rich]

I would go for those that don’t publish lists of new citizens.
I think they are:

• St Kitts and Nevis
• Vanuatu
• Grenada
• Antigua and Barbuda

Grenada is a bit more expensive but gives you visa free to China which the other 3 don’t have. Also if you are a family some could be cheaper in total than others.

Finally there is some confusion about Vanuatu being honorary citizenship so not sure I would take that one. But that’s just personal preference. It may still work for some.

Vanuatu wanted to make yellow passport for it's honorary citizens.. I believe they have abolished this silly idea now

 

[Marc Rich]

What about financing options for second passports? Can @CaptK provide some insight on this as he seems to be well versed in this industry

 

[CaptK]

You can't really finance a passport because you have to show funds as part of the KYC. You can request more time to pay as you typically get 3 months to clear the balance before your application is closed and you have to start again

 

[Golden Fleece]

I have read alot about second passports. One of the things was that many banks dont even accept them?
Do anyone have actual experience they want to share? Like can I get a residency, FZ Company in UAE by only showing a St Kitts passport or do I hit a Wall and will someone ask to see my “original passport”?
Im asking because I know that the Comoros passport had those issues(it was useless)

Be aware that all passports still show your place of birth (except possibly Switzerland), so that will strongly indicate the possibility of dual citizenship. St. Kitts was forced to add place of birth a while ago. So, it depends on the KYC rules of the bank and the country regarding any follow-up questions a bank may ask.

I have never heard of banks declining a legitimate passport by investment to open a bank account, but they may have a duty to determine whether there is a reporting requirement to another country. That is certainly the case for Americans under FATCA if there is indicia of U.S. citizenship, one of which is place of birth. On the other hand, I have read reports of many banks not caring about such things. So, it depends on the jurisdiction and the particular bank.

 

[CaptK]

In my experience banks don't care about the place of birth. Some citizenship programs will accept sanctioned citizens so long as they live outside of the their country. For example an Iranian who lives in Dubai

 

[Fred]

I have read alot about second passports. One of the things was that many banks dont even accept them?
Do anyone have actual experience they want to share? Like can I get a residency, FZ Company in UAE by only showing a St Kitts passport or do I hit a Wall and will someone ask to see my “original passport”?
Im asking because I know that the Comoros passport had those issues(it was useless)

Can confirm that passport from Antigua and Barbuda had no issues either residence Visa or Bank Account opening.

 

[CaptK]

Comoros, Vanuatu and St Kitts the same, no issues with residency and bank account opening.

 

[bizniz]

Banks really only care about place of birth if it says USA. Then, if you are claiming not be a US citizen, they will ask for evidence that you renounced.

Some banks are stricter than others on asking for proof of residence (which has nothing really to do with your passport)

Beyond that it is entirely up to individual banks. Most banks have certain target markets and lists of countries they consider higher or lower risk.

But there is absolutely no reason why a bank should reject a passport just because you "bought" it. That does not figure in their risk matrix.

 

[Dorothy Atwater]

I would go for those that don’t publish lists of new citizens.
I think they are:

• St Kitts and Nevis
• Vanuatu
• Grenada
• Antigua and Barbuda

Grenada is a bit more expensive but gives you visa free to China which the other 3 don’t have. Also if you are a family some could be cheaper in total than others.

Finally there is some confusion about Vanuatu being honorary citizenship so not sure I would take that one. But that’s just personal preference. It may still work for some.

I checked into Vanuatu, but there were too many red flags. Most of the government web site is way out of date and many of the links, including the one to contact them, do not work.

 

[Golden Fleece]

I checked into Vanuatu, but there were too many red flags. Most of the government web site is way out of date and many of the links, including the one to contact them, do not work.

Yes, Vanuatu would be last on my list (now that Comoros is gone), unless you plan to live and work in Asia or the Pacific region and have a particular need for it. Their CBI program has been quite sketchy from the beginning.

 

[CaptK]

I checked into Vanuatu, but there were too many red flags. Most of the government web site is way out of date and many of the links, including the one to contact them, do not work.

Vanuatu is a good passport, accepted in all countries and banking in UAE, America, UK Switzerland, Singapore, Australia and HK it’s been accepted.

St Kitts is slightly better because if you pay the UK government another 10K you can get investor status and start a business. Your children also get 50% off University fees

 

[bizniz]

Vanuatu is a good passport, accepted in all countries and banking in UAE, America, UK Switzerland, Singapore, Australia and HK it’s been accepted.

St Kitts is slightly better because if you pay the UK government another 10K you can get investor status and start a business. Your children also get 50% off University fees

Why would you not get UK investor visa status from Vanuatu?

 

[CaptK]

It’s cheaper and easier than asking for a tier 2 visa where you have to invest £250K into a company and employ people on top of that. So your T2 visa could end up costing you £300K before you start paying salaries.
St Kitts and the add on would cost you about $200K (about £150K) half the price and 140 countries visa free or on arrival.

 

[Golden Fleece]

The government of Montenegro decided that it will not extend the duration of its Special Investment Program after the expiration of the three-year period of the program ending on December 31, 2021.

Montenegro's loss is the Caribbean islands gain

<a href =https://menafn.com/updates/pr/2021-03/30/CNG_da875690-3_Image_In_Body.jpg target=_blank><br/><img src='https://menafn.com/updates/pr/2

menafn.com

 

[Marc Rich]

Vanuatu is a good passport, accepted in all countries and banking in UAE, America, UK Switzerland, Singapore, Australia and HK it’s been accepted.

St Kitts is slightly better because if you pay the UK government another 10K you can get investor status and start a business. Your children also get 50% off University fees

Can you please elaborate more on the St Kitts and adding 10k gbp ontop to get investor status?