The merits of a second passport

By Robert Bauman

The English political philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-97) observed: "Early and provident fear is the mother of safety."

That's still good advice for world travelers. Safety means travel using a national passport that keeps the bearer as far away as possible from controversy and danger. Americans who travel in the Middle East, parts of the Balkans, Russia, or Asia, using their U.S. passport may risk becoming a target for terrorists.

But there are other good reasons to obtain a second passport. Holding a passport from any one of the European Union nations gives you the valuable right to live, work, and do business in all of the 28 E.U. nations. It could also allow you to establish a tax-free residence in a tax haven country-that means free of local taxes only. Americans are liable for U.S. income taxes no matter where in the world they live, or wherever they may earn their income.

Second passports can be obtained as a matter of right based on your ancestors (parents or grandparents), if your relatives were born in nations such as Ireland, Italy, Poland, and the U.K., for example. If you can afford it, what is called "economic citizenship" can be obtained at a high price from the two nations that still sell these: the Commonwealth of Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis-both independent Caribbean area nations and members of the British Commonwealth.

You don't have to surrender your current U.S. passport if you do acquire a second passport. U.S. law fully supports the right of Americans to enjoy dual citizenship and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld this right. Nevertheless, the U.S. State Department discourages dual citizenship, falsely implying on its website that it may be illegal. It is not.

Can a person from nations other than the United States be a citizen of more than one nation? Can you hold two passports, or, in other words, enjoy what is called "dual citizenship?" The law of most nations, including the U.S., holds that acquisition and exercise of dual citizenship need not affect a person's original national legal status. In the final analysis, it's the law of the nation that is seeking to impose its control over a dual national that determines whether "expatriation," or loss of citizenship, occurs. American citizenship can be ended only by signing a special statement of intent and filing it with the U.S. State Department.

Some nations demand that a foreign national seeking citizenship formally renounce his original national allegiance. That was once the U.S. law, but, in fact, it was not enforced. Immigrants to America can and do retain their original citizenship, if they so wish. Some nations, notably Japan and China, automatically exclude from citizenship any child born from the matrimonial union of one of their citizens and a parent from a foreign nation. In 1998 Mexico amended its constitution to allow dual citizenship, automatically conferring that status on many thousands of Mexican Americans, either born in the U.S. or naturalized as U.S. citizens, and their descendants.

Although there have been proposals to repeal the provision, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants citizenship to any child born within American territory, regardless of the citizenship of the parents. Many other nations also confer citizenship to any child born within their territorial jurisdiction.

It's worth noting again that American law clearly confirms the right of a U.S. citizen to dual citizenship. Dual citizenship certainly is worth considering, at least in the context of your future estate and for financial and retirement planning. That dual status can be useful for those who engage in offshore business or live abroad. In an unsettled world, acquiring a second citizenship is a wise decision, an investment in your future. Your second citizenship is a choice for life and that protective shield can be extended to your spouse and children, too. IL