Different studies estimate that only about 1% of the world’s people have two or more citizenships; well, at least only 1% has more than one passport. This means dual citizenship is a pretty exclusive club. Many people are born with dual citizenship depending on the jurisdiction where they’re born or where they left. Some countries grant a child citizenship if she is born to two parents who are citizens. Other countries grant citizenship to every child born within their borders. That means someone could be the child of citizens in the first type of country and born in a birth right citizenship country. That child would incur immediate dual citizenship.
Other people assume dual citizenship by immigrating to a new country, applying for citizenship and not renouncing their previous citizenship. However, some countries have changed the landscape forever.
Investment
Some countries are allowing foreign nationals to gain citizenship through different investment strategies and programs without ever having to actually move to that country. Certain countries will allow you to claim citizenship without ever moving to the country if you make a sizeable investment in real estate or a business venture. You can apply for residency or citizenship through one of these different investment programs. Many people seek to become citizens of members of the European Union through these kinds of investment programs. That’s because the European Union offers easy travel, employment, and settlement amongst the member nations of the EU. However, the United States, Grenada, Malta, Antigua and Barbuda, and many other states, offer compelling reasons to invest in their countries as well. Many nations simply want investors to bolster their economies and push their business ventures forward, so they’re willing to offer pretty good deals to entice people to invest.
Hedging
Financial markets are historically unstable. You need to make sure that you’re hedging your investments somewhat so that you can insure yourself against losses in the future. Investing in hard currency is a good piece of advice, since it is considered a good hedge. You can get much of this type of advice from experts, such as those at www.berkeley-cs.com. These types of experts will help you navigate the different tax rates, export rates, import rates, and many other types of regulations that you might face. Most importantly though, they’ll help you become a citizen of a second nation. That way, you will be able to start reaping all of the benefits that citizens experience. For many nations, citizens do not have to import taxes in their businesses, because they are citizens moving something into a country in which they have citizenship. If you were, for example, a citizen of Country A and also Country B, it’s possible you could export from Country A with no export tax and import into Country B with no import tax. That would be the ideal situation, which is somewhat unlikely. Most national governments are trying to take a cut of your profits to keep themselves funded, but they’ll likely give you some breaks if you’re a citizen.