Obtaining a Second Passport

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

I've finally collected all of the documents needed to submit the application with the consulate. They just arrived back from the translator. Once I acquire citizenship I can make my wife Italian as well. Apparently there are two ways to do so. We can apply at the consulate and wait two years or we can go to Italy and get married again. Guess which one she chose.

Chad
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Chad »

File a form and relax at home for two years?

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GandK
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by GandK »

Ego wrote:I've finally collected all of the documents needed to submit the application with the consulate. They just arrived back from the translator. Once I acquire citizenship I can make my wife Italian as well. Apparently there are two ways to do so. We can apply at the consulate and wait two years or we can go to Italy and get married again. Guess which one she chose.
Woohoo!

G's paternal grandparents were both born in Italy, so we believe he also qualifies for this and have discussed it. However, he's is not convinced that having dual citizenship will be beneficial. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences.

P.S. Venice is my favorite place in Italy... I love the lack of cars. It's like stepping back in time. Siena is G's favorite. YMMV. :D

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

Chad, I think she has something like this in mind...

Image

GandK, go for it! I can't think of a reason why not to do it. The process of piecing together clues and figuring out where the ancestors were born was fascinating. I googled the address from my great-grandmother's 125 year old birth certificate and found this....

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=38+via+r ... DxvrQ8DlFA

I've spent a lot of time down at the LDS Family Research Center. They provide access to ancestry.com and other fee based research sites for free. There are centers in every major city. Also, they've got the world's largest collection of genealogical records which they share freely (or for a minimal cost if they have to mail film or fiche.) LDS volunteers have been going through every record in their collection and carefully typing out (indexing) them. They've posted the Italian records on the web for free here: https://familysearch.org/italy

If you run into a wall, pm me and I'll be happy to help.

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

I just got an email saying my application was approved. I can now go to the consulate and pick up my passport. Yipee!

henrik
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by henrik »

Well done as far as "opening up new options" goes. You can now legally live and work in 28 new countries. Also to stand in the (mostly) shorter passport control line when arriving anywhere in the EU:)

SimpleLife
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Re:

Post by SimpleLife »

jacob wrote:Oh man, I wish the world's national leaders would believe as much in the free movement of people as they would of the free movement of stuff and capital.
The EU passport is certainly handy because it opens up a large part of the developed world to live it.
The alternative approach is to be rich. It's more than ERE standards, but about $500k will give you access to countries through start-up business visas. Some countries charge less, for the US it's around half a mil. I even remember seeing some organization in the US that was running some LLC where you bought a 500k share---it has to do with "creating jobs for Americans".
The second alternative approach is to be highly educated. That's the H1 or J1 equivalent of the US. Of course that ties you to a company instead. This transnational corporation domain is probably where the world is moving anyway.
Then there's the WTSHTF reason which is escaping a country gone crazy. This would likely be done along with a bunch of other refuges and having an alternate passport to separate yourself from the crowd would help. (I really think North America is one of the least likely regions in the world to call for this problem.) In this regard, I'm not sure a passport from an alternative trouble-zone is going to be as strong as a trouble-free country.
The downside to dual citizenship, I'm told, is that if you're ever in diplomatic trouble, each country might say that you're the "other country's" problem. Also more paperwork wrt taxation for some countries.

As usual, Jacob has covered every angle.

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

Henrik, now that it has actually gone through, the options are swirling through my head.

RealPerson
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by RealPerson »

I have had a US and EU passport for many years. Never encountered a drawback. Good options with both, although in reality I almost never use the EU passport. I did use my EU passport to enter Brazil, because they had a huge entrance fee for the US, but EU was free. That would be "nationality arbitrage". 8-)

I often wondered if it would be better to use the EU passport more. Especially in the Arab world, the US is not particularly popular. The color of your passport may determine whether you live or die in some parts of the world. I don't know if there are cases where dual citizens saved their hide by pulling out the right passport given the circumstances.

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

RealPerson wrote: I did use my EU passport to enter Brazil, because they had a huge entrance fee for the US, but EU was free. That would be "nationality arbitrage". 8-)
RealPerson, how did the mechanics of that work? Did you show both passports when leaving the US? Did you present both when arriving in Brazil? I would imagine that the Brazilian immigration would be curious as to why you do not have a US exit stamp in your EU passport.

RealPerson
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by RealPerson »

@Ego

This was a land crossing from Argentina to Brazil. The exit stamp from the US was not the issue: you don't get an exit stamp. However, I used my US passport to enter Argentina. Upon entering Brazil, I presented my pristine EU passport. Brazil immigration wanted to see my Argentina entry stamp. So I had to present both passports. They were fine with it and did not charge the exorbitant entry fee (around $100 or so at the time, in retaliation for US border tightening after 9/11). In retrospect, I should have entered Argentina with my EU passport. It just takes some getting used to.

Another benefit is the opportunity to enter Cuba without worrying about the legality. So countries off-limits for US citizens are no problem with your EU passport. Enjoy your new found freedom!

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

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RealPerson, that is great info.... Thank You!

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

Spain is finalizing a law that will permit Sephardic Jews, those who can prove Sephardic heritage and those with Sephardic last names to obtain Spanish citizenship. No need to actually be Jewish. Seeing that they expelled the Jews in the late 1400s, that's a lot of people.

http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Spain-clo ... 492-395200

jacob
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by jacob »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Ric ... tes_colony

Another way to Spanish citizenship is via Puerto Rican residency.

elegant
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by elegant »

One could also convert to Judaism or prove Jewish ancestry (a Jewish grandparent would suffice) to acquire Israeli citizenship.

Pros: high quality state sponsored healthcare till you're dead; low crime; lucrative tax benefits for new immigrants; nice weather
Cons: occasional security tensions; males under 30 could be drafted; forget about visiting the arab world.

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jennypenny
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by jennypenny »


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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

The other day I was reading about the Social Security agreement between the US and Italy.

http://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreem ... italy.html

Apparently many governments have similar agreements. If I work/have a business for a year in Italy I am then eligible to choose which country's Social Security system I would like to use in retirement. Italy will count my years working in the US toward their system, and visa-versa. Italy's system is more generous and requires more years of work, 20 vs 10 for the US. Get this, in Italy you can retire regardless of age if you've got 35 years of credits. Top of my head calculations tell me that I've only got a few years to go to reach 35 years, assuming they count work-permit jobs when I was in high school.

That said, I'm not sure my conscience would allow me to do it.

OldPro
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by OldPro »

There are many ways to obtain a second passport. No one has mentioned marriage or emmigration or retirement visas for example.

I have 4 passports. One through birth, one through emmigration(my parents moved our family when I was 7), one through marriage and one through investment.

Not all investment routes require you to start a business either. Just park some money in a bank account and that's enough in some countries. Nor do all have residency requirements as you can see on jennypenny's list above. Residency which can then lead to citizenship and a passport can be had through a retirement visa with some countries only requirement being that you prove an income of as little as $1000 a month in some cases.

The real question is why would you want a second passport. One main reason is to be able to live and/or work in another country. A passport from an EU country means you don't need to consider the Schengen 90 day rule for example. Anyone who has ever considered spending a year travelling in Europe after they retire quickly discovers just how annoying that 90 day rule can be.

Another major reason is for tax purposes. That's probably the most interesting reason for ER people. There can be major advantages in terms of taxes to be paid if you can move your residency to another country. I feel sorry for US citizens for whom it is next to impossible to keep the IRS from sticking their hand in your pocket no matter what you do though. Canada for example has a similar 'world wide income' clause but you can with some hassle become 'deemed to be non-resident for tax purposes.' US citizens don't have that choice.

OldPro
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by OldPro »

Regarding pensions Ego I would take a more global view of it all. Some national pensions favour you and some do not. The most notorious is the UK national pension which penalizes UK citizens who choose to move and live in some countries vs. others. Read here: http://www.expatforum.com/banking/briti ... inked.html
So a UK pensioner who wants to move to Canada or Australia will not get an index linked pension but one who moves to most other countries will. Where is the fairness in that?

If the Italian pension favours you vs. the US pension and you then also look at the unfair UK pension law for some of their expats, I would see that as a 1-1 tie. People 1, Governments 1. You win on the Italian and someone loses on the UK. If I have to take the loss I can at least grin when I hear you got a win.

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Ego
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Re: Obtaining a Second Passport

Post by Ego »

Good story from NPR's Planet Money on buying a second passport from St Kitts & Nevis.

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/ ... s-passport

This is the book they mentioned in the story, The Cosmopolites, The Coming of the Global Citizen.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cosmopolites- ... 099097636X

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