Being a citizen of a country comes with two different strings, obligations, and rights. Even though it is widely believed that every person in the world is a citizen, that’s not entirely true. There are people without citizenship in this day and age. They are put under the category of stateless, and no it doesn’t mean that they are always refugees.
At the same time, we have people who hold more than just one passport. It means that the holder has citizen’s rights in two different countries. In many cases, it means that they will have a much wider broad of economic and personal freedoms, which is always a plus, right?
However, many are thinking about how is it possible to obtain a second citizenship. Well, it needs to be said that different countries have different regulations regarding this aspect. In this article of ours, we want to provide you with a couple of common procedures for a second one. Without prolonging any further, let’s get down to some of these.
Marriage
The most widespread procedure for obtaining a second citizenship is through marriage with a native. We can see that this is a possibility in practically all the countries in the world, with only a handful of exceptions. The only differences are in how complex this procedure might be after the marriage.
For instance, some countries require an applicant to spend a couple of years in the country, without leaving it for a considerable amount of time, usually one month a year. At the same time, there are other cases, like Cape Verde, whose government will issue a passport immediately after the wedding.
What needs to be said is that getting married solely for obtaining citizenship is not advisable. The thing is, most countries are pretty rigid towards foreigners who marry natives, especially if they sense something is not right with the marriage. Therefore, make sure that your marriage is a result of the love between you and your partner. If you’d like to know more about migration legalities be sure to check out AustralianMigrationLawyers.com.au.
Ancestry
The next procedure we want to talk about is obtaining second citizenship by ancestry. It means that you can get a passport of a country your ancestors come from. Pretty much all the countries that offer this possibility made this process quite simple. The applicant just needs to prove his ancestor’s origins.
The thing is, some countries will accept your proof of heritage only if your grandparents have moved out of the country. In some other cases, there will be no limitations. In any case, this is perceived to be the simplest out of all the procedures of this sort. The applicant just needs the proper documentation to back it up.
Investment
Citizenship by investment is not nearly as widespread as some other procedures are. There are only a handful of countries that offer such a possibility to foreigners. We are talking about countries like Malta, Montenegro, Dominica, Vanuatu, Turkey, Cyprus, St. Kitts and Nevis, etc.
The governments are offering foreigners a list of requirements they need to fulfill, in terms of how much money they have to invest to get the passport. As soon as these requirements are fulfilled, the applicant will get the documents as swiftly as possible. Naturally, these conditions differ from country to country.
In most cases, you will find that these requirements come in the form of real estate. Sure, this doesn’t mean that there are other cases where opening a business in the country does award you with a passport. For that reason, you should study these requirements closely and understand what is asked of you. If you want to learn about this procedure, visit https://imperiallegal.com/citizenship-by-investment.
Naturalization
Residing in a country for a certain period is also something that can help with getting citizenship. As is the case with all other procedures we have named here, this period is different from country to country. Therefore, you should understand this requirement before you make a citizenship application.
There are cases where an applicant needs to reside in the country for a decision before this becomes a possibility. But to get into some of the countries, like the United States or Canada, you need to enter by obtaining a visa. It means that you can enter only as a tourist, worker, or student.
If you work inside the country for a couple of years, then you can become a citizen. Even though naturalization might seem like the most straightforward procedure, it isn’t. It simply takes too long to achieve the goals. That’s why we must say that it is not among the most popular ones.
What are the Benefits?
When it comes to the benefits of holding two citizenships, they are certainly numerous. The one that immediately comes to mind is being able to travel more than usual. The thing is, some passports are stronger than others, meaning they offer you more possibilities when it comes to countries you will visit.
So, those who hold a passport that doesn’t offer them the possibility to visit certain countries are bound to look for second citizenship. The other set of benefits revolves around economic benefits. The highlight of this string is getting access to overseas markets, which is always important for business owners.
That way, it is possible to connect the business in your native country to other countries and make it international, which always opens a lot of doors and possibilities. Maybe you can get some tax discount if you hold a passport from a certain country, who knows?
As you can see, these benefits are numerous, and naming all of them would take too long. But one is for certain, having two passports to show instead of one is a large advantage in this day and age.
Summary
Holding two passports is a privilege not many people have. Even though doing something like this is challenging, it is certainly not impossible. Here, we’ve provided you with the commonest procedures on how to achieve just that. We are sure you will find each of them informative and interesting.
