How many passports is too much?

[DDE]

The matter of the case compltely aside - since he was a diplomat from neither of the four, those passports won’t exactly help him - and keeping in mind that these were not secondary identities, the Irish diplomats visited him yesterday and they too know him as Paul Wheelan, here’s an abstract question I have:

Why would anyone grab every citizenship you can file for like a magpie in a jewelry store? I get having a double citizenship when your “primary” isn’t a Western country - which is why I make an effort to keep my ‘Murrican tourist visa valid - but all of his are in the Anglosphere.

[Shpaget]

IMO, two is too many, but I do see why would somebody want to hold multiple. Tax evasion being the principal one.

So, let's figure out how many can you realistically get? 

Your parents with that have different citizenships are on vacation in a third country and you just so happen to be born there. That's three. Get married to a spouse of fourth citizenship. Move to a fifth country and spend long time there. Play football (the real one) and get sold to a sixth country, you are now on a fast track to getting another passport so you can compete for the sixth country in the upcoming championship.

What happens once you have kids? Do they inherit all your citizenships?

[Green Baron]

 

1 hour ago, Shpaget said:

 

What happens once you have kids? Do they inherit all your citizenships?

 

Depends on country regulations.

If i am not mistaken, only a few countries allow a second citizenship and only in special cases. But the passport is not necessarily a sign of a citizenship. A European can have a passport of one country and live and pay taxes in another.

 

Anyway, i have no idea about the case above ... i doubt the guy has obtained all of the papers lawfully ...

 

[DDE]

5 minutes ago, Green Baron said:

Anyway, i have no idea about the case above ... i doubt the guy has obtained all of the papers lawfully ...

Born Canadian, naturalized American, and Ireland lets you register even if you’re someghing like a third-generation emigrant. Mo info on the British passport.

6 minutes ago, Green Baron said:

A European can have a passport of one country and live and pay taxes in another.

Which would make them a resident and a tax resident, but not a citizen. There’s a sophisticated network of thousands of bilateral treaties regulating tax residentship.

8 minutes ago, Green Baron said:

If i am not mistaken, only a few countries allow a second citizenship and only in special cases.

Nope. Those that enforce renunciation of foreign citizenships are the exceptions.

[Green Baron]

Well, ok then, i'm wrong ... :-)

But what's the problem then ?

Edited January 17, 2019 by Green Baron

[DDE]

15 minutes ago, Green Baron said:

Well, ok then, i'm wrong ... :-)

But what's the problem then ?

That’s a whole lot of red tape to force on yourself for no evident gain.

For example, holding onto American citizenship means that, via FATCA, the IRS will know of your bank accounts. All of them. Anywhere in the world (unless you’ve found a bank willing to endure a 30% surcharge on all operations with FATCA-compliant banks).

Ditto for EU via the CRS.

Edited January 17, 2019 by DDE

[kerbiloid]

"How many?"

65536

Then you need moar bytes.

***

"Why?"

On a bet.

Edited January 17, 2019 by kerbiloid

[YNM]

The UK allows dual citizenship on a wide basis. I think the same goes to all of the Crown Territories too, as well as Ireland. The US officially doesn't do dual citizenship, but more often than not just skims over it. Many countries in Europe has a "meh" approach to dual citizenship, as it's all under the EU anyway, with some even going to "encourage dual citizenship".

 

Where I live (Indonesia) the laws clearly says that foreign (non-Indonesian) second citizenship is illegal unless received on a non-voluntary basis (so only honorary citizenships, ex. our 3rd president). So if you applied to become our citizens you have to renounce all of your other citizenship (don't ask me about enforcement), and if you're discovered to already have another citizenship that you applied for then your Indonesian citizenship is automatically invalid.

One thing sure : everyone can go here 30-days visa-free, but I barely can go anywhere visa-free

[qzgy]

On 1/17/2019 at 8:08 AM, YNM said:

Where I live (Indonesia) the laws clearly says that foreign (non-Indonesian) second citizenship is illegal unless received on a non-voluntary basis (so only honorary citizenships, ex. our 3rd president). So if you applied to become our citizens you have to renounce all of your other citizenship (don't ask me about enforcement), and if you're discovered to already have another citizenship that you applied for then your Indonesian citizenship is automatically in

Wait so this is actually relevant to me. I am a minor which means I can slash sort of do have triple citizenship for Indonesia (parent) , along with a US (by soil birthright) and Dutch (by parent). So does that mean I have to renounce one set or the other after I am not a minor? The way it was explained to me I do, but the way you have it worded seems like I don't? Or maybe I'm misreading something. 

[YNM]

On 1/19/2019 at 9:47 AM, qzgy said:

So does that mean I have to renounce one set or the other after I am not a minor?

No, you just have to validate one (or two - Dutch and US citizenship can be dual with each other) of them. If you've validated the Indonesian one, then you can't validate the others for the Indonesian one to be valid; but if you've validated one (or both) of the non-Indonesian ones you can't validate your Indonesian citizenship.

I say take the Dutch (which is also the EU) and the US one - lots of visa-free places you can visit with either one of them ! (map 1, map 2) And we allow 30 days visa-free visit for both.

 

An oddity arise, if you're a Brazilian citizen but you want to naturalize (or is invited to naturalize) as Indonesians - Brazil does not allow renunciation of their citizenship even if asked for by an application of other citizenship, and therefore you will retain both citizenship. This has happened a few times with our football players who originate from Brazil and other countries which have a similar stance - they're technically invited to be naturalized as Indonesians.

On 1/17/2019 at 4:45 PM, DDE said:

(unless you’ve found a bank willing to endure a 30% surcharge on all operations with FATCA-compliant banks).

All transactions in US Dollars around the world are handled by US federal gov't anyway (through the Federal Reserve).

And most of the world's foreign exchange transactions are handled in US Dollars, even if the start and end is not in US dollars.

Edited January 25, 2019 by YNM