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What are the costs involved in having a Plan B in place or perhaps your future Plan A in terms of global residencies and citizenships?
Will having multiple passports or residencies only apply for the super-rich? Can you buy a residency or a passport outright – legally? If yes, how and where is this all done? Does your current country allow this type of residency and citizenship purchases?
Why are people in this day and age even considering having a Plan B or maybe a Plan A in place for themselves, their family, and future generations?
These are the points we will uncover today in this article with accompanying live stream video posted here.
At INGWE, we have successfully helped thousands of families since 2018, from over 55 countries navigate the complex landscape of business and investment immigration. Connect with us for a personalized assessment - click here.
We’re not talking about diamond encrusted Bentleys or private jet airplanes – not at all. We’re talking about you and your future with your family. At any time in your life these are some of the critical points you would would be considering:
• Financial freedom
• Do you want to give you children, and your children’s children a better future with more options than what you had growing up?
• Beautiful sunny weather or continuous clean air
• Avoiding the rat race (not necessarily retiring – but taking it easy while working at your own leisure)
• Paying less taxes
• Family reunification
• Diversifying your investments into different currencies, or geographic regions or asset groups (i.e. mitigating political and geopolitical risk in your investment portfolio)
• Investing in your children and future generation’s options for education abroad and better or more affordable healthcare?
• The freedom to stay as long as you like in the country or destination where you plan to spend time over the coming 10 years?
• Alternative financial footprint abroad with your 2nd or 3rd passport or residency
Here is the good news; If you have or can provide proof of a valid passport, a police check you may qualify for most of these programs. Even better news is that many of these programs allow your family, maybe your parents or even a benefactor make the investment on your behalf to qualify you. Exceptions may apply but we’ll cover them below in this article.
We’ll cover these points in depth right after we do some myth busting on global residencies and citizenships:
Yes, it is legal for Americans and Canadians to have multiple residencies and/or citizenships (meaning you could even have 10 passports, and it would be 100% legal)
Of course not, residencies can start at $165,000 and above and passports from $235,000 and above depending on your family size. For the price of a luxury high-end RV, or a Cadillac Escalada-V or similar high-end cars which are not really considered an asset in the North America or Europe – you can invest in a Plan B for your entire family and future generations. And did I mention that parents can be included too?
Yes, your children, your children’s children, your spouse, your common-law, and even your parents also acquire this residency or citizenship which you are investing in
I’ll give you a few examples to help you to come to your own conclusions:
• The USA administration recently announced it’s $5m gold card to access the US as a resident and potential future citizenship path. This is quite the leap from the $800,000 EB-5 program which was launched approx. 35 years ago at $500,000 per family
• The Canadian investment residency program offered by the province of Quebec started at. CAD$400,000 back in 1986 when it first launched. Today’s price tag for this program is $1.2m with a whole list of new restrictions & conditions attached to it.
• Caribbean citizenship investment programs, also known as CBI’s, were approx. $145,000 to $165,000 just before July 2024, and now they are all over $235,000 as of 2025.
• Both the golden visas in Portugal and Spain had offered the real estate options for applicants to invest €500,000 for their residency path. Both countries removed real estate as an option – which in turn pushes investors into a higher risk asset category such as private equity funds.
• The Canadian Startup Visa program used to be cheap –at a price tag of approx.. CAD$100,000 before April 2024. Today’s price is closer to CAD$200,000 due to the government policy changes for this program implemented last April capping the number of startups each designated organization can endorse for permanent residence applications under this specific Startup Visa program (which is the only direct PR Federal business immigration program left in Canada for prospective overseas investors)
The facts are all out there in the public domain. Does this help you answer the question on whether programs stay the same, cost the same and are available without change? We hope so. Just like anything else in life, such as education, healthcare, or becoming a homeowner– nothing becomes cheaper or easier to attain.
Of course it is. Governments around the world have specific programs where you can donate or invest in that country to obtain citizenship and a passport for yourself, family, parents and even siblings who are financially dependent. We’ll name some of these countries later in this article.
The answer is ‘Yes’
Not at all. The majority of the CBI programs don’t require you to visit at all and only 1 or 2 of the countries we are covering today require a short visit before becoming eligible.
If you don’t reside in that specific country, you are not a tax paying resident but rather a citizen living abroad. Of course, if you live in the country in which you invested to obtain a residency or citizenship, and your source of income is in that same country – while you still maintain an American citizenship – then you would have to look into dual tax treaties between the two jurisdictions. For Canadians – as long as you become a non-tax paying resident of Canada – you are not obliged to pay taxes in two jurisdictions. Almost all of the citizenship-based investment programs being offered (CBI), do not tax their citizens on global income. We’ll name a few of these countries in this article. We highly advise to consult with your CPA/CA/Tax advisory service provider in your current country of residence, and we can connect you with our tax experts around the world depending on which program you decide to apply to. Planning is everything and we will show you how!
Of course not. Many countries do not tax personal crypto-currency trading income – which is why many seasoned crypto traders or even recent millionaire newbies become residents of jurisdictions such as Malta (EU), Panama, Dubai, Estonia and other jurisdictions which have more relaxed taxation regulations – whether crypto income or any other type of income earned globally.
If you are an American citizen, no matter where you live or reside outside the USA, you still need to file your taxes with the IRS. You just need to take advantage of any dual taxation treaties between the two countries. If you are not a tax resident of a specific country, you continue to pay your taxes only to the country you are still a tax resident or in the case of Americans, due to their citizenship based taxation, to the IRS. Many countries have dual taxation treaties with Canada, USA, Europe and other jurisdictions allowing you to calculate and plan your tax implications before you become a resident. As well, most of the investment residency programs, besides Canada and New Zealand – don’t require you to become a tax resident unless you stay in that jurisdiction physically for 183 days a calendar year. Many of the Golden Visas or investment residency programs don’t even require constant residency to maintain your status – hence easy to mitigate your tax footprint. Tax planning will require you to involve your current CPA/CA/Tax advisory service provider from your current country of residence along with our tax exports globally to plan a clear strategy and roadmap to avoid surprises!
This is the multi-million dollar question many Americans ask. The answer is ‘Yes’. Of course you need to have a 2nd passport or citizenship ready when you are renouncing your own, but that’s the easy part. We call this step, trading in your passport for another passport. Of course you want to make sure you trade-in for equivalent value or higher passport otherwise it would seem like you are downgrading – which nobody likes. Citizenship renunciation is 100% legal for Americans – although the overseas USA embassies have a long waiting time for this step as it’s not in their best interest to let you go as a tax paying citizen (USA). We always like to use the analogy of trying to cancel an online subscription to a website or platform – it’s easy to subscribe, but they may make you jump through a lot of hoops before cancelling your subscription. You can consider yourself as a tax-subscriber to your current country of citizenship and/or residency J Other countries may take less time or the same processes to complete the renunciation steps – as this is not something government prioritizes to lose tax paying citizens. Keep in mind that you need to plan your ‘exit’ strategically with your local CPA/CA and tax advisors as there are ‘exit’ taxes , in other words calculations on disposing of all your assets at the time of renunciation in order to tax you one more time before you leave for good J Of course, if you plan ahead correctly before your asset pricing increases or have trusts and estate planning done correctly – all this can be minimized during your renunciation. Proper tax planning with your local advisors and the destination country tax experts within our network will be a key asset in taking that leap!
The answer is ‘Yes’ for many of the citizenship programs being offered, also known as CBI’s, and even residency programs in central America, Europe and so forth. You can have your parents pay, siblings, or anyone who has a vested interest in helping you. The only exceptions usually are for countries such as Canada, New Zealand, USA and Malta. But we’d be happy to check your eligibility against a portfolio of 20 programs and countries in the world depending on your specific scenario and financial situation.
Let’s look at the list of countries you can buy a citizenship or passport outright, including approx. costs, timelines, and if you need to reside there before receiving your citizenship:
1) The Caribbean CBI programs are the most flexible with no requirement at all to visit the islands before you obtain your citizenship and passport. The entire process can be completed remotely and take anywhere from 4 months to 10 months depending on which island you choose. The costs start at approx. US$235,000 and higher depending on whether you select a donation option, real estate, and the size of your family and whether you want to include your parents and dependent siblings. The countries in the Caribbean which offer this are St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, and Grenada. The only country in this group which does require you to visit at least once, is Antigua & Barbuda, and this is only required after you have been granted citizenship and received your first passport – but before the passport renewal (within the initial 5 years) you are required to do a short visit. Another positive point of these programs is they do not tax you on your global income or inheritance at all and you can pass the citizenship to your children and their children as well – protecting your investment for future generations.
2) There are also 2 islands with lower cost citizenship programs which are typically serving a different market and demographics. This is Nauru and Vanuatu which are both located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean – both tiny islands or as they call them ‘micro’ They have very affordable citizenship-based donation programs starting at US$135,000. The main clientele for these countries are those seeking an alternative citizenship to be able to open up bank accounts and have financial footprints in various jurisdictions without showing their original citizenships. It’s a very niche market.
3) Last but not least is Malta – which is a full EU member and the only EU passport you can currently purchase outright. The whole process takes approx. 14 months, does not require you to live there permanently, BUT does require 3-4 short trips to the country during this 14 month period. The cost can start at approx. €1m in donations, contributions, and admin fees without legal fees – in case you rent a property in Malta (which is a separate cost). You can also purchase property as part of the program for citizenship for Malta but the total cost would be approx. €1.5m which still includes contributions, donations and admin fees combined with your property purchase. You would receive a full EU passport in approx. 14 months and can reside anywhere in the 27 EU countries as a full-time resident – which is what all EU citizens are allowed to do. You don’t need to technically live in Malta, but could purchase the passport, and then decide to live as an EU citizen full time in south of France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus or even Croatia if you wish to do so without any restrictions of how long you can stay or what you can do in those countries. Don’t forget that Malta also has excellent low tax regimes and flexibilities if your income is sourced from outside the country. Malta is also a very crypto friendly tax jurisdiction as well.
Most of the programs are easy to apply to, and most applicants would qualify. All you need is proof of funds that you have enough to invest, a background check (such as Police Clearance Certificate or FBI report in case you are American), a medical check, and a valid passport. Of course, if you are bringing along your family, you would need marriage and birth certificates as well. In most of these programs except the Canadian program – you don’t need work experience, you don’t need proof of language ability, you don’t need any proof of education. It’s simple, and as long as you have the funds to support the process – it’s a very simple paperwork process which we our office and licensed support team can guide you throughout the whole process.
Now you can understand a bit of what we mean by tax friendly jurisdictions or programs.
Perhaps you want to live by the Miditerranean and earn tax free income from abroad – then a residency in any of the EU countries in our portfolio can facilitate this for you.
Perhaps you want your children to have educational options abroad – significantly cheaper than state universities in the USA. Perhaps Canada, or even EU would fit the type of programs you are seeking. Or perhaps you cannot reunify with your family and relatives in in a third safe country due to political or other immigration challenges in your current country of residence or citizenship. Obtaining a fast and hassle-free residency is easy in such jurisdictions such as Panama, Dubai, Portugal, Italy, Malta which can allow you, your family & relatives all to apply and be reunited.
Or perhaps you want to own a property in the Mediterranean or near a beach somewhere in EU, Vancouver Island, Southern Pacific Ocean or central America – in that case you also want the flexibility to stay anytime as long as you wish and not be treated as a tourist or short term visitor with travel and stay restrictions. This would be an ideal case for a residency that you can purchase or invest in depending on the country you choose- that can either provide you a temporary residency of 5 years, renewable, or permanent residency – without the obligation to become a tax resident.
Whether it’s for yourself, your family, your business or your children’s children – you can now appreciate that having alternative residencies and citizenships is like having a life insurance policy – it’s there in case you need it and it makes you and your family feel safe. It can also be considered like a diversified investment. Have you ever asked your broker or investment advisor to invest in different industries, funds, and even emerging economies around the world or different currencies. The reason you do this is to mitigate and balance risk in your investment portfolio – to protect you and your family’s financial future. In the global residency and citizenship industry we call this service protection of generational wealth. It’s easy – fast – and doesn’t cost more than a high-end electric SUV – and it would be considered an asset, not a liability with depreciating cost and monthly installments.
If you are ready to put your Plan ‘B’ into action, for yourself, your family or perhaps your clients, you can reach out to us here. Join our online live stream every Thursday at 11am EST, or 8am PST, to share your feedback, post your questions, and engage with others who are also exploring these opportunities – just by clicking on our YouTube channel link down below.
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