There are many advantages to getting a second passport. The most interesting one being it may come in handle when you need to escape a country. Former Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, experienced that when he fed Japan in a wooden box to Lebanon. Japan had confiscated Ghosn’s French passport after they arrested him. What they didn’t realized was Ghosn also have passports from Brazil and Lebanon as well.
To get a passport from another country, you need to become a citizen of that country. This is normally a 5 to 10 years long process that requires you to actually live in that country. However, there are many countries that will simply sell you citizenship. They are known as citizenship-by-investment programs, or golden passports, and can be purchased for as little as $100,000.
The investments can range from starting a business, buying real estate, creating jobs, investing into the local economy, or just making a donation to the government. The following is a list of ten countries with citizenship-by-investment programs, from lowest to highest cost.
- Antigua and Barbuda: $100,000 minimum investment required
- Dominica: $100,000 minimum investment required
- St. Lucia: $100,000 donation required
- Grenada: $150,000 minimum investment required
- St. Kitts and Nevis: $150,000 donation required
- North Macedonia: €200,000 minimum investment required
- Montenegro: €250,000 minimum investment required, plus a €200,000 donation
- Turkey: $400,000 minimum investment required
- Jordan: $750,000 minimum investment required
- Malta: €738,000 to €888,000 investment required