What Is The World's Most Powerful Passport?

Whether you seek to explore distant lands, or you just want to sit on a remote island beach with a margarita, your passport can be your biggest travel asset. The right document grants you visa-free access to over 150+ countries, and makes applying for entry to the other places a short and easy afterthought.

But, as Visual Cpitalist"s Jeff Desjardins notes, a passport can also be your biggest liability. Having a passport from the wrong place means travel is extremely restricted to just a few countries – and these are generally not the places travelers want to go, anyways.

Even worse, passports on the lower end of the spectrum are also heavily scrutinized at entry-points around the world. If you have a document from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, or several other countries, there may be many hoops for you to jump through to get to your final destination.

(Click image for giant legible version)

Source: Visual Capitalist

THE MOST POWERFUL PASSPORT

According to the Passport Index, the distinction for the world’s most powerful passport actually ends up as a tie between Germany and Singapore. Both have unparalleled access to visa-free entries, each with a list of 159 countries that citizens can go to without any hassles.

Like Germany, most other Western European nations do similarly well in the visa-free department:

In Asia, however, things are quite different. After Singapore and a few other countries (Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia), things drop off faster.

Further down the list in Asia, citizens of certain countries find themselves in even a tougher place, especially if they reside in the Middle East. Countries like Afghanistan (22), Pakistan (25), Iraq (26), Syria (30), and Bangladesh (35) have some of the shortest lists of visa-free countries that citizens have access to.

NORTH AMERICA

In North America, the United States and Canada both have powerful passports with 157 and 155 visa-free options respectively.

However, they differ in a few key areas. Americans have visa-free access to Armenia, Equatorial Guinea, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Central African Republic, while Canadians have visa-free access to Bolivia, Venezuela, and Gambia.

DON’T OWN THESE PASSPORTS…

We alluded earlier to the fact that a passport can also be a traveler’s biggest liability.

Here are some of the countries that you would likely not want to have a passport from:

Turkish NBA Player Has Passport Revoked By "Hitler Of Our Century"

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Enes Kanter is a Turkish citizen who plays center for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

Like many professional athletes, Kanter has a couple of charities in his name.

His education fund provides first-year college scholarships to support selected US students – including a family’s first female child and children of law enforcement and firefighters who lost their lives on duty.

Kanter’s other charity is the Light Foundation. This one has an international bent, providing meals and clothes to needy families.

A global tour with the Light Foundation stirred up Friday’s troubles.

After traveling to a few countries, Kanter and his team flew from Indonesia to Romania. But upon landing in Romania, Kanter found his passport cancelled by the Turkish embassy.

Kanter’s crime? His political views.

Enes Kanter has long been a vocal critic of Turkey’s president, Recep Erdogan, calling him the Hitler of our century.

Although not a Hitler, Erdogan is far from an angel.

In July 2016 when facing a coup, he ordered his forces to open fire on his own people, killing 270. He had another 50,000 arrested.

Last month in the country’s constitutional referendum, Erdogan consolidated greater power by the slimmest majority – 51% of the votes, if the vote count is to be believed.

With that victory, Erdogan has near dictatorial powers, which is why he was able to unilaterally suspend Kanter’s passport.

Last week, I wrote about Venezuela. There, government-sanctioned snipers scan the streets. Its starving, desperate citizens are trapped inside the country’s borders with no way out.

To Europeans and Americans, Turkey’s crackdown and Venezuela’s hell on earth are a world away from their comfortable lives.

But in the West, symptoms of government overreach that adversely impact its citizens’ futures are everywhere.

The war on cash continues unabated.

Near-zero interest rates return nothing on retirees’ life savings.

Easy credit ensures that any entrepreneur with a bozo idea receives funding. And it fuels both our insane stock market valuations and consumer debt to all-time highs.

US regulators crank out 150, 200, sometimes 300+ pages daily.

And then there’s the ballooning national debts of the Eurozone and the US.

It would be foolish to place all your faith and confidence in only one such government.

Enes Kanter’s experience with Turkey is the latest example. It shows how susceptible citizens are to an out of control government, even when traveling beyond its borders.

Whether locked inside borders like Venezuelans or locked out of travel like Kanter, these cases highlight the importance of having a Plan B.

A savings account in a well-capitalized foreign jurisdiction, investments outside the ridiculously valued stock market (e.g. Peer to Peer lending backed by real collateral), a second residence and yes, a second passport…these are steps to ensure that no matter what, you’ll be okay.

You’re not going to be worse off because you’re holding a significant amount of, say, Hong Kong dollars.

You’re not going to curse the fact that you receive steady and safe investment returns.

And you’re not going to worry about your ability to freely travel around the world.

Oh, and if what happened to Kanter seems impossible, consider this:

On December 30, 2015 when no one was looking, the US government passed H.R. 22 (The FAST Act), which authorizes them to revoke your passport if they believe, in their sole discretion, that you owe $50,000 in taxes.

It’s important to note that they don’t actually have to prove any wrongdoing.

They can make a simple allegation. It could even be a clerical error. Then, poof, no more passport.

It’s important to have a hedge against this to ensure that your entire life and livelihood isn’t held in the hands of a single government.

Do you have a Plan B?

As Millions Of Venezuelans Try To Flee The Country They Run Into A Problem

While shortages of basic foods, medicines, and toilet paper may be a major societal problem, the people of Venezuela face an even more existential problem: the nation now lacks the materials to meet the soaring demand for new passports – making it almost impossible to leave the socialist utopia.

"People used to move to Venezuela from all over the Americas, Europe and Asia and now they are all trying to leave," Sonia Schott, the former Washington, D.C., correspondent for Venezuelan news network Globovisión, told Fox News.

While estimates of how many passport requests the socialist government received last year vary from between 1.8 million to 3 million, only 300,000 of the elusive documents were doled out.

Everyday, hundreds of people line up outside the passport agency, known as Saime, in the capital of Caracas in the hopes of obtaining one.

It’s an ironic, and yet sad situation, for a country that used to be one of Latin America’s wealthiest and one that was used to seeing people flock to, not away from.

Tomás Páez – author of “The Voice of the Venezuelan Diaspora” – told Bloomberg that since Chávez took power in 1999 nearly 2 million Venezuelans have fled the country and hundreds of thousands are marking their time until they obtains the funds and the passport that will allow them to leave.

Maduro has acknowledged the issue of the chronic shortages in passports and last week launched a new “online” option that will rush a passport to customers within 72 hours for about double the price of waiting in line. The website, however, has crashed numerous times and it is unclear how many passports have been expedited through this process. Saime has stated that the backup in processing passport applications is because the agency lacks enough “materials,” but did not specify what that means. Observers say that while the government may not be able to afford the paper to make the passport. Paper products in the country, including toilet paper, are in short supply in Venezuela. But skeptics think the Maduro government may also be trying to keep people from leaving the beleaguered nation.

“People with the means to get out want to, but the problem is you need a passport and you can’t get it,” Cynthia Arnson, the director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center told Fox News.

“It’s kind of an excuse by the Venezuelan government that they don’t have materials, because they know the real reason people want a passport is to leave the country.”

Most of Venezuela’s 30 million resident, however, don’t have that kind of money as the monthly minimum wage in the country comes to less than $30 a month on the black market.

U.S. Marshals Scan Passenger Retinas to Board Flight: “Like Everyone Else, I Complied”

During the war on terrorism, Americans compromised their liberties to fight for freedom. Now, during the war on immigration, Americans will again be compelled to sacrifice liberties for American sovereignty.

In the name of security, anywhere, anytime. All measures will be justified, everyone will be authorized and the population will be controlled.

That is the moment we have arrived at in America.

A combination of policies that President Obama put into place, as well as fresh executive orders put in place by President Trump’s executive orders, have created a new front in the world of national security. They are now using biometrics to verify passport and identity, in the name of cracking down on immigration.

Additional scrutiny, and an over-bearing scent of gestapo is again cropping up in airports, as yet another layer of surveillance is added to the line up.

Here’s a look at one version of the machines now being tested and phased in at airports and other checkpoints:

Both visitors from abroad, and American citizens alike have now been required to submit to biometric iris scans in order to board a flight. Wow.

via Jeffrey Tucker of the Foundation of Economic Education:

For some 15 years, airport security has become steadily more invasive. There are ever more checkpoints, ever more requests for documents as you make your way from the airport entrance to the airplane. Passengers adapt to the new changes as they come. But my latest flight to Mexico, originating in Atlanta, presented all passengers with something I had never seen before.

We had already been through boarding pass checks, passport checks, scanners, and pat downs. At the gate, each passenger had already had their tickets scanned and we were all walking on the jet bridge to board. It’s at this point that most people assume that it is all done: finally we can enjoy some sense of normalcy.

This time was different. Halfway down the jetbridge, there was a new layer of security. Two US Marshals, heavily armed and dressed in dystopian-style black regalia, stood next to an upright machine with a glowing green eye. Every passenger, one by one, was told to step on a mat and look into the green scanner. It was scanning our eyes and matching that scan with the passport, which was also scanned (yet again).

Like everyone else, I complied. What was my choice? I guess I could have turned back at the point, decline to take the flight I had paid for, but it would be unclear what would then happen. After standing there for perhaps 8 seconds, the machine gave the go signal and I boarded.

I talked to a few passengers about this and others were just as shaken by the experience. They were reticent even to talk about it, as people tend to be when confronted with something like this.

I couldn’t find anyone who had ever seen something like this before. I wrote friends who travel internationally and none said they had ever seen anything like this.

I will tell you how it made me feel: like a prisoner in my own country. It’s one thing to control who comes into a country. But surveilling and permissioning American citizens as they leave their own country, even as they are about to board, is something else.

This isn’t required for all flights, yet.

This writer encountered a Homeland Security / U.S. Customs and Border Protection test at select airports… they are still working out the kinks.

But the question is, after all the frustrations that Americans had with flying after 9/11, and watching their liberties sacrificed at the alter security, after dealing with ridiculously long lines – are Americans now willing sacrifice even more liberties and submit their biometric scans?

Unfortunately, they may be.

As a general mass, Americans have proved underwhelming in their opposition to invasions of privacy on the part of private corporations, especially those online and in computing and communication devices. They have also shrugged off and become immune to fifteen years of airport harassment and additional checks and scans.

Now, iris scans might even one day make security faster – but it’s a devilish tradeoff, and an enormous trust of power an agency that was created into existence out of the 9/11 emergency atmosphere, and which grows only when feeding the machine fear and terror.

Update: a reader has pointed me to this page at Homeland Security:

As part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) border security mission, the agency is deploying new technologies to verify travelers’ identities – both when they arrive and when they leave the United States – by matching a traveler to the document they are presenting. CBP’s goal is to enhance national security and protect a traveler’s identity against theft through the use of biometrics.

Biometric information (such as finger, face, or iris) measures a person’s unique physical characteristics. CBP incorporated fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in 2004, and is now testing facial and iris imaging capabilities to help improve travelers’ identity protection, the integrity of our immigration system, and our national security.

I happened to be on the “one daily flight” that gets exit scanned.

[…]

What people don’t often consider is that every rule that pertains to immigration ultimately applies to emigration as well. Every rule that government has to treat immigrants a certain way also necessarily applies to citizens as well.

Chandran Kukathas is right when he says that “controlling immigration means controlling everyone.” (source)

It looks like their tests have so far met with very little resistance, and all signs green, as support for Trump’s new order of police, border, military and security agencies are given new mandates to enforce laws, and take necessary measures to control borders, verify individuals and protect the country. That’s the narrative, and Americans are cheering it on with very little forethought about the consequences it could hold.

For now, Americans are willing to accept new controls.

That is, if nobody reawakens to the massive civil liberties issue that is going on.

Welcome Aboard, But First US Marshals Will Scan Your Retina,BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT FREE

Read more:

Under UN 2030 Plan, “Biometric ID Required For Everyone” On the Planet

TSA Administrative Directive: Opt-Outters To Be Considered “Domestic Extremists”

Special Ops Armed with Rapid DNA Scanners: “Get Ready for Advanced Biometric Warfare”

Want Cash? Next-Gen ATMs Demand Biometric Verification: “Smartphone and Eye Scan To Dispense Money”

The Other, Less Reported Travel Ban – For U.S. Citizens: “Due Process Undermined Significantly”

This article was written by Shaun Bradley and originally published at The Anti-Media.org.

Editor’s Comment: These days, it might not take as much as you think to rack up $50k in back taxes. If you do, forget about legally traveling anywhere outside the country. With a barrage of headlines about the travel ban against Muslims, the IRS has motioned the new administration to quietly give teeth to its travel ban as well. The IRS ban, however, is targeted against American citizens – and with a determination by the agency that you are liable for a large tax debt, your rights to travel can be revoked without due process, official charge or even consideration by a judge.

Frozen, denied, unauthorized and grounded from whatever plane you thought you might catch. The fact is, that while attempts to control immigration are sorely needed, the heavy police state approach is likely to have some severe blowback – starting with even tighter security at airports and transportation centers. Biometrics and fingerprints are being implemented now, and may soon require all persons – including American citizens – exiting or entering the country to submit fingerprint, all ten digits even. This is a drastic violation of civil liberties, and a dangerous atmosphere to take hold. While many cheered on a reform of the system, and a tough approach to the country’s biggest problems, no one wanted a return to the George W. Bush era of security and brainwashing every time 9/11 is mentioned… no one wants anything close to that. People must demand their freedom, and make wise avoidance of the system of monitoring, tracking and enslavement.

The New Travel Ban You Didn’t Hear About Is Against U.S. Citizens

by Shaun Bradley

As emotions intensify over Trump’s recent immigration ban, the State Department and IRS have quietly used it as a smokescreen to roll out a new policy that targets U.S. citizens for unpaid taxes.

The passports of these individuals can now be revoked and their citizenship status undermined at the behest of one of the government’s most corrupt agencies. By granting the Internal Revenue Service control over passports, due process has been significantly undermined. The shield of protection that U.S. citizenship used to represent has transformed into an inescapable brand of ownership. The desperate financial condition of the federal government will only worsen in the future, forcing it to further consume its own people’s wealth in order to survive.

The new program is set to be implemented over the next few months, and currently only those with ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ are in the crosshairs. An individual must have $50,000 worth of tax debt to be subject to revocation, but that number can easily be adjusted downward in the future. Once identified by the IRS, a certification is sent to the State Department to begin the process. The taxpayer is then informed of the action taken against them, but any recourse from there is extremely limited. This policy blatantly targets citizens living outside of the country who may not have filed with the IRS while earning an income abroad.

The United States is one of only two countries in the world that entitles itself to tax citizens while they work in other countries. These regulations were bolstered by FACTA legislation, which requires all foreign financial institutions to report account information on Americans. The additional risks that come with having to deal directly with the U.S. government have led many foreign banks to deny American clients altogether.

As society progresses into the next age of authoritarianism, it’s clear that control over travel is going to play a key role in the power structure. The National ID is just one sign of the changing tide and will require federal identification instead of a state driver’s license to travel. These new cards would establish a kind of ‘domestic passport’ system that would open the door to serious abuses against law-abiding citizens. The consolidation of authority into agencies like the TSA and IRS should act as a canary in the coal mine to those worried about the suppression of their freedom of movement.

The ACLU has come out strongly against this kind of control grid being established:

“Americans have long had a visceral aversion to building a society in which the authorities could act like totalitarian sentries and demand ‘your papers please!’ And that everyday intrusiveness would be conjoined with the full power of modern computer and database technology. When a police officer or security guard scans your ID card with his pocket bar-code reader, for example, will a permanent record be created of that check, including the time and your location? How long before office buildings, doctors’ offices, gas stations, highway tolls, subways and buses incorporate the ID card into their security or payment systems for greater efficiency? The end result could be a nation where citizens’ movements inside their own country are monitored and recorded through these ‘internal passports.’”

Considering all of this, the implications of Trump’s border wall should start to appear more sinister than ever to individual freedom. In the years to come, the wall could just as easily be used to keep people in rather than out.

When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot , come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security – big trouble!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017

The pride that used to be associated with American citizenship created a country of opportunity for those willing to work hard, but now that pride has been replaced with a ball and chain that drags down the prosperity of those hindered by it. Tax evasion is seen by many as a crime deserving of severe punishment, but the hypocrisy of a nation like the United States claiming the moral high ground is laughable. Those who can distance themselves from the jurisdiction of bureaucrats in Washington should do so as soon as possible. America is starting to resemble the Titanic, and there aren’t enough lifeboats for the passengers. The objective now should be to avoid being pulled under the water when the $20 trillion debt bubble implodes.

This article was written by Shaun Bradley and originally published at The Anti-Media.org.

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Please Spread The Word And Share This Post

Author: Shaun Bradley
Views: Read by 180 people
Date: February 7th, 2017
Website: http://theantimedia.org/irs-travel-ban-us-citizens/

Copyright Information: This content has been contributed to SHTFplan by a third-party or has been republished with permission from the author. Please contact the author directly for republishing information.

The New Travel Ban You Didn’t Hear About Is Against U.S. Citizens

February 6, 2017   |   Shaun Bradley

(ANTIMEDIA) As emotions intensify over Trump’s recent immigration ban, the State Department and IRS have quietly used it as a smokescreen to roll out a new policy that targets U.S. citizens for unpaid taxes.

The passports of these individuals can now be revoked and their citizenship status undermined at the behest of one of the government’s most corrupt agencies. By granting the Internal Revenue Service control over passports, due process has been significantly undermined. The shield of protection that U.S. citizenship used to represent has transformed into an inescapable brand of ownership. The desperate financial condition of the federal government will only worsen in the future, forcing it to further consume its own people’s wealth in order to survive.

The new program is set to be implemented over the next few months, and currently only those with ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ are in the crosshairs. An individual must have $50,000 worth of tax debt to be subject to revocation, but that number can easily be adjusted downward in the future. Once identified by the IRS, a certification is sent to the State Department to begin the process. The taxpayer is then informed of the action taken against them, but any recourse from there is extremely limited. This policy blatantly targets citizens living outside of the country who may not have filed with the IRS while earning an income abroad.

The United States is one of only two countries in the world that entitles itself to tax citizens while they work in other countries. These regulations were bolstered by FACTA legislation, which requires all foreign financial institutions to report account information on Americans. The additional risks that come with having to deal directly with the U.S. government have led many foreign banks to deny American clients altogether.

As society progresses into the next age of authoritarianism, it’s clear that control over travel is going to play a key role in the power structure. The National ID is just one sign of the changing tide and will require federal identification instead of a state driver’s license to travel. These new cards would establish a kind of ‘domestic passport’ system that would open the door to serious abuses against law-abiding citizens. The consolidation of authority into agencies like the TSA and IRS should act as a canary in the coal mine to those worried about the suppression of their freedom of movement.

The ACLU has come out strongly against this kind of control grid being established:

“Americans have long had a visceral aversion to building a society in which the authorities could act like totalitarian sentries and demand ‘your papers please!’ And that everyday intrusiveness would be conjoined with the full power of modern computer and database technology. When a police officer or security guard scans your ID card with his pocket bar-code reader, for example, will a permanent record be created of that check, including the time and your location? How long before office buildings, doctors’ offices, gas stations, highway tolls, subways and buses incorporate the ID card into their security or payment systems for greater efficiency? The end result could be a nation where citizens’ movements inside their own country are monitored and recorded through these ‘internal passports.’”

Considering all of this, the implications of Trump’s border wall should start to appear more sinister than ever to individual freedom. In the years to come, the wall could just as easily be used to keep people in rather than out.

When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot , come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security – big trouble!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017

The pride that used to be associated with American citizenship created a country of opportunity for those willing to work hard, but now that pride has been replaced with a ball and chain that drags down the prosperity of those hindered by it. Tax evasion is seen by many as a crime deserving of severe punishment, but the hypocrisy of a nation like the United States claiming the moral high ground is laughable. Those who can distance themselves from the jurisdiction of bureaucrats in Washington should do so as soon as possible. America is starting to resemble the Titanic, and there aren’t enough lifeboats for the passengers. The objective now should be to avoid being pulled under the water when the $20 trillion debt bubble implodes.

This article (The New Travel Ban You Didn’t Hear About Is Against U.S. Citizens) by Shaun Bradley is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Shaun Bradley and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. Image credit: seantoyler. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

The Future Of Passports (& Citizenship By Investment)

Submitted by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com,

"The bottom line is that anyone can be ISIS. We therefore need an approach to securing civilized societies that doesn"t allow individuals to hide behind the cloak of Western passports… The time has come for a "global passport," a parallel digital certification of a person"s identity, background, criminal record, travel history, and other details. The digital record would be regularly updated based on databases from airlines, customs agencies, banks and other sources, and could be managed by an independent international authority.”

The above quote comers from CNN, an American news network that has done such an exemplary job in recent years in serving as a mouthpiece for the US Government.

The argument for global passports is a familiar one – “You are in danger of being killed by terrorists. We will save you by removing yet another of your freedoms.” Or, as Hermann Goering said,

“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”

Over one billion people presently cross borders each year. In addition, there are over 250 million people who are expatriates – living outside their home country. These numbers are higher than ever before in history and growing. As The Great Unravelling progresses, we will witness a dramatic increase in both statistics. Along the way, we can expect the more restrictive governments, particularly those of the EU and US, to institute limitations on travel for their citizens, in order to keep them captive at home.

So, we can therefore anticipate changes in the issuance of passports. There are two concepts afoot with regard to the future of passports, and they’re direct opposites of each other. The first is for a Global Passport, that all countries would issue and all would share computer information on all passport holders. The other is a proliferation of passports created by an easing of citizenship requirements in small countries, resulting in each individual having the ability to possess several passports, thus diminishing his “ownership” by his home country.

These two concepts are both almost certain to develop considerably in the coming years and for the same reason. As stated, the more restrictive countries are likely to push for a global passport – an Orwellian document that says, “No matter where you are, you travel on our document. We have all your information and we own you.” The more this trend increases in prominence, the more the second trend will increase, in direct reaction. More and more countries will offer citizenship to non-nationals, as the demand for freedom increases amongst oppressed people.

Most of the countries that presently offer “Citizenship by Investment” are small countries – Malta and Cyprus in the Mediterranean, plus five island nations in the Caribbean: Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica and, recently, St. Lucia.

A visit to any of the small Caribbean countries will reveal that since the decline of the sugar industry, they have had few choices with regard to future prosperity. Quaint small towns and villages and nice beaches attract a certain amount of tourism, but something greater is needed to support an entire population. Decades ago, St. Kitts & Nevis decided to try Citizenship by Investment. At first, the takers were few, but, in recent years, with much of the world imploding, the programme has attracted greater interest.

The way it works is that an applicant can either buy citizenship (approval takes only a month or two) for $250,000, or he can buy into a real estate project for $400,000 or more. Due to recent success, other island nations have jumped on board, offering their own programmes… and here’s where it gets interesting.

As soon as eight or 10 island nations are offering similar programmes, it will become a citizenship norm for the Caribbean. And, of course, that will mean competition will develop. With many countries to choose from, prices will need to drop. At some point, national leaders will seek to increase gross sales by lowering the sale price. Although $400,000 is out of reach to most who dream of buying an alternate passport, there will be far more takers at $200,000 or even $100,000, but I believe the magic price point to be $50,000. At that price, hundreds of thousands of second-passport seekers will jump on board. Indeed, many will purchase passports from several islands. (If one backup passport is good, multiple backup passports are better.)

But, why are “bargain” passports not already available? From my own experience, as a West Indian, this is due to the fact that our political leaders often fear a dramatic influx of new voters. They feel safer appealing to natives than outsiders and worry that the electorate balance may be upset and cost them their seats in future elections.

Yet, many West Indian countries already have laws that limit the rights of new citizens (with particular regard to the right to run for public office). To date, none of these countries has figured out that citizenship without the right to vote is an easy solution. Once they twig onto this new category of citizenship, we may see a major drop in citizenship costs and a dramatic increase in the number of applicants.

At present, the passport schemes have attracted Russians, Canadians, Middle Easterners, Chinese and, increasingly, Americans. At present, the US is the foremost objector to Citizenship by Investment, describing its purpose to be “to provide cover for financial crimes.” However, over one hundred other countries, including most of Europe, accept the passports and the US is very much in the minority here.

This is an issue to be watched closely. Historically, whenever governments have put the squeeze on their citizens’ freedoms, citizens have reacted by trying to wriggle out. The squeeze in many countries is presently at its zenith and many, many people are voting with their feet. There will always be takers in the world when this occurs and, in the Caribbean, opportunities for increased freedom are very much on the increase.

*  *  *

A second passport is the ultimate insurance policy against an out-of-control government. Think of it as your “freedom insurance.” The rules on second passports can change quickly. This is why it’s so important to have the most up-to-date, accurate, and actionable information out there. Be sure to get the guide we just released on the easiest countries to get a second passport from. Click here to download the PDF.