What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a second passport?
Jay Butler - Asset Protection Services of America
There are several key advantages to holding a second passport (or dual citizenship) which include, but are not limited to, the ability to:
- Leave the country in the event of civil unrest;
- Travel internationally with greater anonymity to nations which are not hospitable toward your (home) country;
- Open certain types of offshore bank accounts and investment funds;
- Reduce or eliminate various forms of taxation;
- Further protect...
There are several key advantages to holding a second passport (or dual citizenship) which include, but are not limited to, the ability to:
- Leave the country in the event of civil unrest;
- Travel internationally with greater anonymity to nations which are not hospitable toward your (home) country;
- Open certain types of offshore bank accounts and investment funds;
- Reduce or eliminate various forms of taxation;
- Further protect assets, including precious metals and real property;
- Securely hold ownership to offshore instruments;
- Permanently live and work in the foreign country wherein the dual citizenship is held.
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The are few (if any) disadvantages to having a second passport, shy of the negative media publicity toward individuals who are 'prepared' for difficult times ahead. You will want to be attentive to various tax consequences as holding citizenship in one jurisdiction may not preclude you from owing taxes in another jurisdiction, however there are Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) to help mitigate this.
Posted April 1, 2013
Ian Usher - House Sitting Magazine
I believe there are many advantages to having a second passport, but few, if any, disadvantages. I've had two passports for over seven years now.
I was born in England, and through marriage I ended up living in Australia, where I became a citizen and received a second passport and dual nationality. Since leaving Australia in 2008 I have traveled extensively and always carry both passports with me.
I discovered one of...
I believe there are many advantages to having a second passport, but few, if any, disadvantages. I've had two passports for over seven years now.
I was born in England, and through marriage I ended up living in Australia, where I became a citizen and received a second passport and dual nationality. Since leaving Australia in 2008 I have traveled extensively and always carry both passports with me.
I discovered one of the great advantages to having a second passport when traveling through South America with a friend from the States. Each South American country charges for an entry visa a fee equivalent to that charged for it's own citizens when traveling in the other direction.
So, for example, entering Argentina the cost might be $40 for a citizen of the UK, $0 for an Australian, and $125 for a person carrying a US passport. Obviously I'd decide I was Australian at the Argentinean border.
On our journey this became a bit of a standing joke. "Oh, free for me if I'm English coming into Brazil. How much for you Val? $125 again? Oh dear!" I didn't pay one cent in visa fees in South America by chopping and changing my citizenship as appropriate. My friend shelled out over $500. I'd say my second passport certainly paid for itself on that trip.
Of course there are all the other advantages too. I can choose to live and work in either location. I have the freedom to go and live elsewhere if a country becomes intolerable for political or financial reasons, or for any other reason at all.
I can also choose where I live for tax purposes, and to whom I report my income. I believe this isn't a luxury afforded to holders of a US passport, who have to report all income, no matter from where it is sourced, and where they are living.
Disadvantages? The only one that comes to mind is that on occasion I am asked a few pointed questions at borders, particularly the US. If I fly from England, obviously I leave as a UK citizen, but I have to arrive in the US as an Australian, as my Australian passport carries the electronic authorization that the US insists I have to pay for every few years.
With my Australian passport showing no evidence of where I have been just before arriving at their border sometimes results in an invite into a small office. Producing the second passport usually clears the issue pretty quickly.
However, I have had quite a few amusing border incidents, and have written about them at length in my latest book, "Paradise Delayed".
If you have the opportunity to get a second passport, I'd highly recommend it, just for the extra options it gives you.
Posted June 16, 2013