The Best, Easiest & Cheapest 2nd Passport Option I’ve Seen Yet

Here at TDV I’ve told people for years the value of living as a Permanent Tourist/Prior Taxpayer (PT) and also the value of having a second passport… for a myriad of reasons.

And in five years of telling people and also trying to find ways for them to get a second passport as easily and cheaply as possible I’ve seen how it is getting harder and harder… and more expensive by the month… which I warned years ago would be the case.

The new one world government (NWO), as exemplified in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), they are trying to put in place is locking things like this down.

As an example, it used to be easy to get citizenship in the Dominican Republic (DR). It used to take a few trips to the island and about three years to get full naturalization. Then they changed it to four years. Then 5… 6…. 7… and it is now about 8 years. A few years ago I asked the top legal firm in the DR why it was becoming so hard to become a citizen of the island. They looked around to make sure no one was listening, coughed, and said, “the US government”.

In fact I’ve seen this in so many countries now that I know it is true. The US government is losing so many of their tax citizens who are fleeing the US in record numbers that they’ve been using all their power to put pressure on nearly every country in the world to make it as difficult as possible for Americans to get a second citizenship (Here is a US person trying to crowdfund the ability to renounce!). Unfortunately, this pressure has been working and since a country can’t come right out and say that they won’t accept Americans as new “immigrants” but will accept other nationalities it has also meant that it is harder and harder for nearly anyone to attain a second citizenship.

If you have recent family heritage from another country (say Italy, as one example) it is possible to get nationality there… but I’ve seen the horror stories of people spending years trying to prove their genetic lineage and a lot of money only to end up at dead ends.

Canada had been offering what was essentially a “residence by investment” program for the paltry sum of $500,000 (just for residency, not even for citizenship) and they were flooded with mainland Chinese applications and suddenly shut that program down in 2014 leaving 50,000+ applicants in the lurch.

Some countries in need of funds have been offering “citizenship by investment” programs which have been very popular. St. Kitts is one in particular. Recently I met a wealthy Libyan who said his friend had paid the $500,000 to become a citizen there as his Libyan passport had him virtually unable to travel and conduct business. He received the St. Kitts passport and then tried to fly to London where the agent said to him, “This is a new passport? Did you buy it?” and he responded, “Well, yes, I invested in the country to become a citizen”… he was turned away and not allowed into the UK.

Last year, around the same time, the US and Canadian governments both insinuated that ANYONE who had invested in the St. Kitts “citizenship by investment” program was considered to be a possible terrorist and Canada changed their laws so St. Kitts citizens had to undergo a rigorous process to be allowed to even visit Canada. In another instance, a famous bitcoin entrepreneur, originally from the US who attained a St. Kitts passport was denied a visa to visit family in the US with no explanation given.

I could recount story after story like this.

It has become so difficult that I officially got out of the business of trying to help people get second citizenships years ago and turned over the business to a good friend who was willing to put up with the never-ending headaches.

However, I still try to offer information on countries where it is still possible to fairly easily and cheaply attain residency and citizenship.

And the best, cheapest and easiest country that I currently know of is Peru.

PERUVIAN RESIDENCY & CITIZENSHIP

Peru has an interesting history in offering citizenship. Back in the 1990s Peru was so broke that they offered citizenship for an easy, flat rate of $25,000 and you didn’t even have to go to Peru to get it (New York Times/1993: “Peru Citizenship Sells for $25,000“)… you could just pay at a local embassy and receive your documents. In retrospect it was a great bargain.

Unfortunately, as often happens, the deal didn’t last very long and either due to ineptitude or under pressure from the international community as well as Peruvian citizens (who felt it was shameful how easy it was to become Peruvian) it faded away.

However, in recent years, Peru has been economically rising and has realized that attracting wealthy (or at least reasonably well-off foreigners) to come to their country and invest is something that should be sought out.

Lima, Peru

Now, Peru, in my opinion, offers the best option with the greatest ease and price of any other option currently being offered by any other country.

Here’s why.

Quality passport. Different people want passports for different reasons but if what you are looking for is a second passport that is easy to travel with then Peru is and will soon be one of the best outside of passports like EU, UK, Swiss, US and Canadian passports. Just with the residency card alone you can travel visa-free throughout Mercosur (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador). You can’t even do that with a US or Canadian passport as both Brazil and Paraguay require US and Canadian citizens to apply for a visa to visit. As well, it was announced in May and expected that in December Peruvian passport holders will have visa-free travel to the EU. And talks are in progress and it is expected Peruvian passport holders will have visa-free travel to the US sometime in 2016 or 2017. Many other countries like Canada and Australia often follow the US’ lead on visa requirements and so visa-free travel to places like Canada and Australia could soon follow.

Ease of acquiring residency and citizenship. To start the process you just need to work with a specialized agent who knows the process to help you apply at a local Peruvian embassy. The residency applications are generally approved within 45-90 days and once approved you have six months allowable (although you can go at any time) before you go to Peru to finalize your residency visa. Once you have that you then can live wherever you like and after 24 months from the time of receiving your residency visa you can apply for citizenship. This is much faster and much easier than most other countries where a certain amount of time is required (sometimes many years) of living in the country is required and often it is 4 years or more of residency before you can apply for citizenship. As well, Peru is one of the few countries in the region that constitutionally allows you to hold more than one passport so you can keep your other passport(s) all legally as well. Also, Peru is one of the only countries in the world currently welcoming nearly all nationalities including Middle Easterners who are being shut out of citizenship options on a near daily basis. In fact, numerous Syrians, Libyans and others are flocking to Peru for this opportunity as are many from the EU including Greeks, and of course, Spaniards, who are trying to escape their dying economies and make a new life for themselves.

Cheap. Most other legal citizenship programs where you can attain citizenship in two years or less cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars… or even millions. Currently this program is being offered for only $25,000 USD and installment payments are an option. And once you process the paperwork through a local Peruvian embassy and get approved (taking 30-45 days on average currently) you are ready to make your trip where you will receive your residency card within 7 business days!

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE

Currently the only company that is offering this complete service and is already processing clients, all with customized service and using some of the best lawyers in Peru is TDV Immigration.

There are a number of options, including investment options available and pricing options as well through TDV Immigration.

The process is very simple by international standards and clearly laid out in the Constitution of Peru and its Nationality Law which can be seen here.

CONCLUSION

In the latest TDV newsletter (subscribe here), which just went out today, I lay out much more information on residency and citizenship options including more details on the Peruvian option.

Most people are unaware of how much Peru is booming. It has been one of the star economies in South America and there are amazing investment opportunities there as well… that are easier to facilitate, too, as a resident or a citizen.

I’ve said for years that my two favorite areas to live and invest in the world are Latin America and Asia… and having residency or citizenship in Peru may be a passport to being able to not only live easily in the entire MERCOSUR region but also invest.

Originally Appeared At The Dollar Vigilante