Worldwide, there is increasing interest in second citizenships, especially among business people and the wealthy, including many South Africans.

The desire to hold the passport of another country is driven by various factors: you can select the passport of a country that allows for greater ease of travel than your home country’s document provides; you may hope to provide your children with the opportunity to obtain an education of international standing; and you gain a sense of security knowing that you may be able to live elsewhere in the event of political or socio-economic instability in your own country.

These factors resonate with South Africans: for those of us wanting to travel regularly, our passport is a limitation since we need to apply for visas for most of the countries we would like to visit; there is concern at the moment about the future funding and quality of our tertiary education system; and people feel generally uncertain about the future because of the precarious political situation and slow economic growth.

“The high net worth market understands the need for strategic planning when it comes to their financial affairs. They know they need to develop citizenship portfolios alongside their investment portfolios in order to mitigate the risk associated with a single citizenship. A second citizenship also allows them to globalise their family’s opportunities and expand their business interests,” explains Sandra Woest, Senior Manager at Henley & Partners South Africa.

With a residence-by-investment programme, you gain residency rights within a particular country through an investment in the country.  This provides for ease of travel and the right to reside in the country.  A citizenship-by-investment programme, on the other hand, allows you to acquire an additional nationality and an alternative passport in return for a significant financial contribution to the country. You gain ease of travel and the right to live, work and study within the country or in the case of EU member states, within the European Union.

“The majority of people who consult Henley & Partners are looking for the additional rights offered by citizenship programmes, but determining which programme is most suitable is based ultimately on the particular individual’s personal circumstances and needs,” says Woest.

Factors to consider

When considering a residence or citizenship programme, you need to take the following factors into account:

What goal do I want to achieve?

If it’s largely to gain greater ease of travel, then a residence programme may be your best option.  Portugal’s Golden Residence Permit, for example, allows for visa-free travel throughout the Schengen region of the EU and many other countries worldwide.

If the aim is to open the door for your children to study, live and work anywhere in Europe, an EU citizenship programme would be the answer as a residence programme will only allow for these rights in the country itself.

How much money can I afford to invest in the programme?

The donation or investment amount is generally less for a residence programme. If you are limited by how much you can invest, weigh up the benefits of each programme against the costs involved.

Is my life flexible enough to allow me to spend some time in the country granting me the rights?

In some instances, you can obtain citizenship without visiting the country at all; residence programmes require that a certain number of days are spent in the country every year or during a particular, specified period.

Can residence rights become citizenship rights?

This is possible but the time period during which this can happen is considerably longer than for a citizenship programme – years as opposed to months.  If you wish to extend residence rights into citizenship, there are also more requirements other than the initial donation or investment.

Information provided by Henley & Partners