Buying a Citizenship/Passport is the next big thing..

The business of citizenships has never been better. With rising global trade and rapid industrialization of even the poorer economies, has brought in significant revenues to families which was not deemed possible 2 decades back. USA being the strongest economy globally has enabled other economies to grow alongside and massively increasing consumption.

NASDAQ has grown from just around 2000 levels in 2010 to 18,000 levels in just 14 years. Massive trillion dollar companies now rule global trade. AI has brought in significant revenues through mindboggling business ideas. Invideo an AI-based automated video making platform gained 7 million+ customer in just a few months of operation, a figure almost impossible to scale for normal businesses in such a short time.

This new IT driven economy has made thousands of people quick millionaires. And unlike old times when people used to invest massively in real estate, times have changed with Covid and the frequent wars. Suddenly, countries that were a safe haven are not safe anymore. Economies that were safe from recession, are now under threat of sanctions e.g. India and China because of trade with Russia. Ukraine-Russia feud showed anyone can be forcibly drafted and sent to the war front to fight for the nation. One single global event has the capability to wipe out your business and assets in no time.

Families realized life is short and they have just one life. They have to make the most of it.

In this situation, the best option they realize is to migrate to a safer zone. Migration has always been a constant and happened for centuries, especially in the 20th century, where people moved to towns/ cities for better opportunities and still do. Just that now people migrate internationally and permanently to another country. A country where their interests, assets, and families will be more safe and sound. With considerably less exposure to unwanted events. This move is often seen unpatriotic or treason amongst the masses, especially in countries with radicalized nationalism. However that has not stopped millions of people migrating to safer economies or even buying citizenships.

India lost almost a quarter of a million citizens every year for the last 2 years in a row. This is an increase of 30-40% seen consistently for 2 years compared to pre-covid years, proving our point. (Citation Hindustan Times article)

The most common method is to find employment in a country of choice and the least favourite is paying for citizenship, in other words, Citizenship by Investment. A lot of countries in the Caribbean now offer citizenship to individuals and families on basis of investments made starting from 200,000USD. At such a low entry point for investment, millions of people qualify for the eligibility requirements.

One of my friends qualified due to his investments in Bitcoin which made him a Dollar millionaire, and he introduced me to this concept of Citizenship by Investment. While my friend picked up properties in Spain, Portugal and Italy, which are considered safe havens from a socio-political perspective, he still pursued Citizenship by Investment in the Dominican Republic. The reason being that an Indian Passport does not easily open access to first world countries. While the Dominican Republic one gives remarkably easy access to almost 159 destinations. Anyone with business interest will agree that this is incredible and also the first step towards finally moving to a first world country a few years down the line.

People buy citizenship for a variety of reasons, including:

• Trade and Tourism: A powerful passport gives visa-free access to other countries. For example, citizenship in an EU member state like Malta grants citizenship rights in all EU countries.
• Safety: It will help protect the family against geo-socio-political instability, wars, unfavourable conditions in home country.
• Tax benefits: Lower taxes and ease of doing business. e.g. Crypto is still illegal in a lot of countries, but legal in UAE.
• Opportunities: A good Passport/ Citizenship opens up doors to better business opportunities globally.

Again, like I said, families realized that they have just one life and a limited time to make it big in life. This is where nationalism takes a permanent backseat and personal growth takes precedence. This is exactly where buying a passport gives a steroid-level push to their growth plans. None of whom have migrated, do ever regret their decisions.

I leave you with a detailed article about Citizenship by Investment in the Carribean. Another great resource portal for people looking to invest/ move to other geographies is the Nomad Capitalist. Both of them are a good starting point.