Legality The single most important consideration when evaluating the usefulness of an alternative citizenship is that it be legal in every respect. That fact may seem obvious, but the proliferation of fly-by-night passport fraud operations requires not only this reminder, but strict adherence to it when making second passport plans and decisions.
If you are going to expend a considerable sum of money to acquire a second citizenship and then use a second passport as your basis of personal international movement, you should demand that these documents and your status be in strict accord with the constitution and laws of the issuing nation.
A few countries actually do have provisions in law that give the head of government or other government ministers discretion regarding the granting of citizenship to foreign nationals in exceptional cases. But even then, if criminal bribery is involved, the person acquiring the passport may face revocation of this previously granted citizenship after a subsequent political change in the issuing nation’s government. Persons with such documents frequently are subject to blackmail by being forced to pay further “fees” later on. That’s why it is imperative that second citizenship must be firmly based upon clear provisions in the existing law of the issuing nation.
The prospective second passport client most at risk is one lured into an “instant” or “immediate” passport deal that promises to waive residency requirements and grant quick citizenship. Immediate passports are a favorite lure for attracting unsuspecting and ill-informed would-be buyers who need and want a quick passport, but haven’t done sufficient investigative groundwork and due diligence.
And even legal passport programs can come and go swiftly, so a candidate must always determine what actually is current. Ireland had an immediate citizenship program for wealthy investors, but ended it in 1996. A similar Cape Verde economic citizenship program ended in 1997. The same year the Seychelles cancelled their program in the face of European Union complaints about its questionable operation.
A casual recent Internet search using the terms “second passport” and “economic citizenship program” produced scores of Web sites offering allegedly “instant” passports from Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras, Tonga, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Greece, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Paraguay and Chile. Yet not one of these countries has such an official program. The reasonable implication is that what these sites offer is either fraudulent and/or illegal.
All this may also reflect a little known fact; that there is a huge, lucrative underground black market in forged and faked passports. In October 1997, forged Canadian passports were carried by two Israeli hit men that took part in an unsuccessful assassination attempt in Jordan. And even legal passports can go astray. In 1998 the Western Samoan government announced 150 of its official passports simply had been “lost”.
Avoid Passport Fraud In late 1999, if you read the classified advertisements in such respectable journals as The International Herald Tribune and The Economist, you would have seen an ad that promised to provide a “European Union passport, fully registered and renewable” for only US$19,500. A contact phone number in Ireland was listed.
When we made inquiries of this advertiser, the person who answered the phone said, yes, for a price his company could arrange “official citizenship” in the Netherlands and/or Switzerland. When we asked for citations to specific Dutch and Swiss laws authorizing the sale of such passports, the spokesperson gave several answers; a) the company had a special deal with senior Dutch and Swiss officials; b) they had arranged an accelerated naturalization process; c) their legal counsel who could explain more fully how all this worked was away at the moment.
Consular officers at both the Swiss and Dutch embassies were astonished when told about the company and their claims. The officials confirmed what we already knew. Neither nation has ever had an economic citizenship/passport program at any price. They assured us their national police authorities would be immediately alerted about this passport fraud and action taken to end it.
We cite this example only because it is typical of the passport frauds that abound in offshore publication ads, even in so well respected publications as these. As we said, the Internet is loaded with hundreds of passport fraud Web sites masquerading as legitimate passport services, many claiming to have official sanction from the countries whose “passports” they hawk. Passport frauds result from corrupt and dishonest officials in some countries, now and in the past, such as Belize and the Dominican Republic, where there may also be legitimate second passport programs.
Unlike the fraudulent passport huckster and their false claims, what you see here you can believe and reply upon.
International Recognition Before you acquire it, be certain that the passport is one that commands widespread acceptance and prestige in the international community. If the document is not likely to be recognized by most other countries, it is worthless from the start.
And in this age of instant communications, it takes only hours, certainly no more than a few days, before customs and immigration officials worldwide know when a passport is called into question. This happened in 1992 with official, but illegally issued Dominican Republic passports, and again in 1999, with passports issued by Panama. In the latter case a high passport official resigned alleging she had been pressured into issuing passports to various foreign business associates of the outgoing president. You can be certain that when the facts are revealed, anyone holding such a passport will soon find it valueless.
Of course, if you intend to become a citizen of another nation, and possibly spend time there, your consideration should include geographic location, language, stability of the political and legal system, the banking and business environment, visa free travel possibilities and of course, total initial and future costs.
Do You Need A Lawyer? There is something to be said for dealing directly yourself with the officials of the nation from which you seek a second citizenship. This can be done at the appropriate embassy in your nation’s capital city or at a local consulate. Information and applications can be obtained by phone or fax.
But that assumes you have the time, expertise and patience to go the often tedious bureaucratic route that can take months or even years. Working directly with diplomatic and consular officials eliminates the middleman and may lessen the chance of fraud or mistakes. But it is better to employ an experienced attorney, an established, reputable professional who specializes in immigration and passport matters. These experts usually know the legitimate shortcuts and have personal acquaintances with the involved foreign nation officials. That can speed your application and approval process considerably.
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