
The New American Status Symbol? A Second Passport - znpy
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/style/golden-visa-second-passport-dual-citizenship.html
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classichasclass
Except my Australian passport has done me exactly jack here in the USA during
the pandemic (I'm a dual citizen). My wife can't leave Australia because she
doesn't qualify for a waiver, and we're not sure I'll get into Australia due
to the arrival caps even if I could get time off, which won't happen very
soon. We haven't seen each other in over six months.

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Bayart
I see a lot of "grass is greener" nonsense. I hope those who chose to move to
Italy or elsewhere don't get backlash once the honeymoon period is over,
because _it is_ a very different country to the US. I wouldn't even consider
it without fluency in Italian.

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Mediterraneo10
> I wouldn't even consider it without fluency in Italian.

For the affluent, obtaining a second passport though e.g. citzenship-by-
investment programs is all done through intermediaries. You pay a law firm a
few tens of thousands of euro and they take care of everything – the only
action required from you is going to an office to pick up your passport at the
very end of the process. Since these affluent individuals are so used to
relying on expert assistance, no knowledge of the local language is ever
really necessary.

For less affluent people, especially those obtaining citizenship through
ancestry, there are sometimes requirements to prove a B1 command of the local
language, so in that case actually learning the language is a must.

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throwaway4747l
I think GP isn't talking about the passport acquisition process but really the
experience of _living_ there. The culture shock is real and you're in for a
rough surprise if you think Europe is anything like the US. For starters,
you're going to find your that the role of English as a lingua franca is
largely overstated. Depending on your personality, you may not completely
adapt and end up going back home.

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Mediterraneo10
Yes, but the experience of _living_ there might be very different for the
highly affluent people who can invest over a million euro in a citizenship-by-
investment program. Many of them don't do their own shopping or will ever deal
directly with a plumber or electrician – that is all taken care off by hired
staff. Opportunities for culture shock are limited because they have little
exposure to the overall local culture, instead they live in a cosmopolitan
bubble with people of similar wealth.

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bluedevil2k
Disappointing article really, they discuss various ways to get a 2nd passport
but only explore Italian ancestry and Greek ancestry. I would have liked a
story about someone who “invested” in Grenada and how that’s worked out for
him. Or an American ex-pat who got a relatively-easy-to-get Panamanian
passport.

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rabbit123
Look up Nomad Capitalist on youtube. Lots of good info there. Including on
Grenada and Panama.

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Ancalagon
The biggest scare for me personally is the cost of healthcare in the US,
especially as one grows older and complications out of our control arise (e.g.
cancers, mental degradation, etc.) Of course there is something to be said for
being truly patriotic and sticking around to make life better for you and your
countrymen that live in your nation, but I a huge concern there is that the
country is already under too much influence from the super-wealthy, and its
nigh impossible for an average person to make the change they want to see.

Anyways, that's why I've looked into dual-citizenship. I agree with one of the
premises of the article: the cost of healthcare (and basic necessities) for
Americans is too high, and its a good idea to diversify your hedges and get
dual passports/citizenship if you can.

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wiglaf1979
Go give Moneyland a listen or read. It isn't just a new phenomenon and it's
going to get worse. With enough money you can dine a la carte to whatever
gives you the best options. UK libel laws being one of the better options.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39979237-moneyland](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39979237-moneyland)

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DeonPenny
This isn't good for the class of people who want to raise tax on the wealthy.
What if this becomes a thing and all those people the day you tried to tax
them threw their american passport in the ocean.

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mikeyouse
In theory they still owe exit tax..

[https://americansoverseas.org/en/knowledge-centre/us-
taxes-a...](https://americansoverseas.org/en/knowledge-centre/us-taxes-and-
liability/exit-tax-us/)

I suppose you could just toss it in the ocean and not formally renounce your
citizenship, but you’d need to keep up on your taxes to avoid it in the
future.

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mariuolo
For anyone hitting the paywall:
[https://archive.is/3gFSR](https://archive.is/3gFSR)

