Nowadays, many people are wondering how to get citizenship after moving overseas. This is especially true with citizens of the United States, who get to "enjoy" the benefits of being taxed even when they've moved out of the country. If you ever want to get away from the IRS, you'll need to renounce your US citizenship, which you can only do after getting citizenship elsewhere. Economic citizenship Many countries, the United States included, offer a fast track for a residency visa if you're able to bring in a certain amount of money. They may require that you start a company and hire a certain number of local citizens, or you may just need to put the money on deposit somewhere for the required amount of time. However, this only gets you residency in most cases, not citizenship. The only countries where you can currently get an economic citizenship (contributing to a government-approved program or buying real estate), are St. Kitts & Nevis, the Commonwealth of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic), and Austria. However, they tend to require more money than most people can afford - around US$100,000 for Dominica, US$250 - 400,000 for St Kitts & Nevis, and a few million dollars for Austria (with no guarantees of acceptance). In the past, more countries had economic citizenship programs. You'll still find companies on the Internet who say they can get you a passport quickly. But, as one person I know found out, you won't get anything useful from them. Just broken promises and (maybe) useless documents. First, get residency in your new country For the rest of us, what we need to do is gain residency, live in the country for several years, and then apply for citizenship. Typically, countries require you to be a permanent resident for five years, although that could be as short as three years in some countries, or as long as twenty years in others. Be aware that not all residency visas lead to citizenship. If you are in your desired country on a student visa, your time there may or may not count towards citizenship. Next, actually live in the new country Some people are stating that you can get citizenship in several South American countries without spending any time, or just a few days a year, actually living in the country. They can even show you the appropriate laws. However, besides the laws, you'll need to deal with the bureaucratic regulations. That's where most people have their problems. Even if there isn't anything written down, you still need to get your citizenship application past someone who may not really want you to be a citizen (or maybe they just don't really want to do the work). Watch out for the pitfalls In some countries, such as Singapore, if you do gain citizenship there, you are required to renounce your previous citizenship. That may be something you planned to do anyway, or that could be a reason to consider a different country. You may also find that now you, or you children, will be required to enlist in a national service program or the military. Are there any shortcuts to citizenship? Usually, the only way to shorten the amount of time to citizenship is to get married, or to have a child, with someone in your new country. Then you may be able to get citizenship faster. This is often quicker for women than for men. You may also find people, especially online, who tell you that they can "expedite" your citizenship...for a small cash payment. This is dangerous to do. You'll probably end up losing your money, and getting nothing in return. However, if you do get a passport, you may find that it's counterfeit, stolen, or not in the system. That will make for a very uncomfortable conversation when you try to use it to pass through Immigrations somewhere. And you may be denied when you try to renew it. So, if citizenship is your ultimate goal, check out everything before you start the process. If you hire someone to help you apply for residency, ask them how many people have gone on to citizenship. Ask them how long it takes and what additional fees there are. If you don't get a straight answer, then you may need to have someone else assist you with residency, or even reconsider the country where you plan to move.
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Nowadays, many people are wondering how to get citizenship after moving overseas. This is especially true with citizens of the United States, who get to "enjoy" the benefits of being taxed even when they've moved out of the country. If you ever want to get away from the IRS, you'll need to renounce your US citizenship, which you can only do after getting citizenship elsewhere.
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