Funny that the EU would ban those with purchased passports but show up on a raft with no documentation of any sort and you are welcomed with open arms.
The visa policy creep here is fasinating because Norway's approach bypasses formal EU coordination entirely just individual enforcement discretion at borders. This creates legal ambiguity that's probably worse than an explicit ban, since CBI holders have no clear timeline or criteria for when access might stabilze. The $22B industry built on 41 years of trust is now discovering that soft power shifts faster than treaties.
I am uneasy about this. They have valid passports. So now any country can unilaterally decide which passports are valid. What’s next? Oh, you had your gender marker changed, your gay. I don’t expect Norway to do it. But they are paving the way for others to do it. A slippery slope.
My partner and I moved to Malta 6 months ago on a retirement visa. Process was smooth due to guidance from the team at ACT. https://www.act.com.mt/ message me for more info on process we followed.
Such a valuable post. We have considered a second passport by investment, but it never made sense to us financially. With the way the world is right now, I suspect we may see more stories like this. Interesting days.
1. Boy am I glad I got my passport because my grandparents' brothers were murdered rather than paying 200,000 euros. 2. This explains why Portugal ended the golden visa program. Thanks for the primer.
Vanuatu is a well-recognised centre for money laundering and those passports were almost exclusively held by people you don’t want in your country. No mistakes were made in processing. The system was corrupt and everyone knows it. AML/CTF means countries MUST crack down. Know where Vanuatu never had visa-free access, while still accessing Schengen? Australia. And there’s a reason for that. The concept of passport for purchase is ludicrous and only of interest to the wrong people. And Vanuatu has spent decades courting them and making their financial system as opaque and inviting as possible. It’s no innocent little island of naive and capacity-constrained bureaucrats.
But "everyone knows it" needs some actual evidence behind it.
The Guardian actually got the names of all 2,000+ Vanuatu applicants from 2020 and went through them. They found a handful of questionable cases, most involving people who became problematic after getting approved.
The "only wrong people" part I really disagree with. Approx. 50,000 people get CBI citizenship every year globally. Most are buying travel freedom or a Plan B. A few bad headlines don't represent the whole population.
Vanuatu's standards were too loose and the EU suspension was probably fair. But assuming every buyer is a criminal is just wrong.
I’m a former diplomat and Pacific island expert. I know a bit more about it than you are giving me credit for. In the Pacific, everyone knows, it’s a small place and information is currency. The Guardian has no access to suspicious matter reports from the international banking system, they only see what reaches the courts and that is much, much less than what is known.
The Norwegian government calling second passports "fraud by omission" reveals how citizenship itself becomes a commodity when wealth can purchase belonging. This crackdown suggests we're witnessing the collapse of the Westphalian order's final pretense that nations are anything more than exclusive clubs with varying entry fees. What happens to national identity when the ultra-wealthy treat passports like collectible cards, and governments respond by revoking the very concept of dual allegiance?
Probably prudent, any wealthy American or Israeli citizen can just buy another passport and get unfettered access to their citizens. Gotta protect those borders from the terrorists, right?
The same reason I think you should just have one wife or husband at a time. Now if the current wife isn't working out by all means leave that one and make a commitment to another one.
Travel around (date around) all you want but if you want a country to have your back and in exchange you need to have a commitment to that country.
Of course you wouldn't, you make money by helping to get multiple citizenships/passports do you not? Play your own devil's advocate and tell me what are the downsides for people having multiple passports? If you can't come up with some yourself then I don't think you've given it much thought or would be persuaded by anyone else's argument.
I might propose that everyone should be born with a passport for earth but people wouldn't make money from that process either.
You have to decide, which trade-offs you are willing to live with. And for some people, the trade offs for having multiple residencies and optionality, outweigh the ones of only having one place to legally stay.
To the "this is how you make money" part, yes, this is how I make money.
Everyone on this planet is making money with something.
And ideally, you make money with something, that brings the most value to people, who are interested in the thing that you make it with.
The value I bring, is giving people optionality. And I LIVE this optionality myself. No one paid me to create the life I live.
I'm not trying to "persuade" anyone. I write and talk about what I believe is true.
And I don't give a damn if people agree with me on that, or not.
It’s not the people that choose to have multiple citizenships that is the problem. It’s the it’s the countries being taken advantage of. The blatant buying of citizenships of convenience no doubt contributes to negative opinions of immigration.
I only point out you make that you make money at this to explain why you might struggle to see both sides of it. That’s only more obvious when it goes over your head.
Funny that the EU would ban those with purchased passports but show up on a raft with no documentation of any sort and you are welcomed with open arms.
That's a whole other discussion in itself. Just a note, Norway is not an EU-member however, but they are part of Schengen.
The visa policy creep here is fasinating because Norway's approach bypasses formal EU coordination entirely just individual enforcement discretion at borders. This creates legal ambiguity that's probably worse than an explicit ban, since CBI holders have no clear timeline or criteria for when access might stabilze. The $22B industry built on 41 years of trust is now discovering that soft power shifts faster than treaties.
Yes!
I am uneasy about this. They have valid passports. So now any country can unilaterally decide which passports are valid. What’s next? Oh, you had your gender marker changed, your gay. I don’t expect Norway to do it. But they are paving the way for others to do it. A slippery slope.
It's a very slippery slope!
My partner and I moved to Malta 6 months ago on a retirement visa. Process was smooth due to guidance from the team at ACT. https://www.act.com.mt/ message me for more info on process we followed.
Thanks Margo, thats very helpful that you share someone that you can recommend! I will DM you about this, if you don’t mind.
Retire
Added you!
Whaaat, this is crazy! Great to keep up to date through you as always, Benny 🫶
You are most welcome! 😎
Such a valuable post. We have considered a second passport by investment, but it never made sense to us financially. With the way the world is right now, I suspect we may see more stories like this. Interesting days.
Thanks guys, appreciate it! And yes, will be interesting to see what else is to come.
Retire
Hey Stacia, you can either subscribe or send me your mail via DM, then I can add you! :)
1. Boy am I glad I got my passport because my grandparents' brothers were murdered rather than paying 200,000 euros. 2. This explains why Portugal ended the golden visa program. Thanks for the primer.
Portugal did not end its Golden Visa program. The requirements for approval changed, but it is very much active.
Very welcome! :)
Passports for sale. Great.
When are you getting yours? :)
I'm on social security and I can afford to pay my bills but I can't afford to do anything else.
Thank you—such a clear and useful post for those of us looking for options outside our home country
Very welcome Christine! And thanks :)
Vanuatu is a well-recognised centre for money laundering and those passports were almost exclusively held by people you don’t want in your country. No mistakes were made in processing. The system was corrupt and everyone knows it. AML/CTF means countries MUST crack down. Know where Vanuatu never had visa-free access, while still accessing Schengen? Australia. And there’s a reason for that. The concept of passport for purchase is ludicrous and only of interest to the wrong people. And Vanuatu has spent decades courting them and making their financial system as opaque and inviting as possible. It’s no innocent little island of naive and capacity-constrained bureaucrats.
I agree background checks should be rigorous.
But "everyone knows it" needs some actual evidence behind it.
The Guardian actually got the names of all 2,000+ Vanuatu applicants from 2020 and went through them. They found a handful of questionable cases, most involving people who became problematic after getting approved.
The "only wrong people" part I really disagree with. Approx. 50,000 people get CBI citizenship every year globally. Most are buying travel freedom or a Plan B. A few bad headlines don't represent the whole population.
Vanuatu's standards were too loose and the EU suspension was probably fair. But assuming every buyer is a criminal is just wrong.
I’m a former diplomat and Pacific island expert. I know a bit more about it than you are giving me credit for. In the Pacific, everyone knows, it’s a small place and information is currency. The Guardian has no access to suspicious matter reports from the international banking system, they only see what reaches the courts and that is much, much less than what is known.
The Norwegian government calling second passports "fraud by omission" reveals how citizenship itself becomes a commodity when wealth can purchase belonging. This crackdown suggests we're witnessing the collapse of the Westphalian order's final pretense that nations are anything more than exclusive clubs with varying entry fees. What happens to national identity when the ultra-wealthy treat passports like collectible cards, and governments respond by revoking the very concept of dual allegiance?
Norway was a bargain. The USA wants $800,000 to 1 Mil. !
Probably prudent, any wealthy American or Israeli citizen can just buy another passport and get unfettered access to their citizens. Gotta protect those borders from the terrorists, right?
Buying passports certainly is a path towards discrimination of immigrants. It looks very much like an opportunity for corruption.
Though I have no power to influence this I'd like to see people have one passport. Want a Caribbean one, great give up the one you currently own.
Why should people only be allowed to have one passport?
The same reason I think you should just have one wife or husband at a time. Now if the current wife isn't working out by all means leave that one and make a commitment to another one.
Travel around (date around) all you want but if you want a country to have your back and in exchange you need to have a commitment to that country.
Not sure if the comparison of a passport to a life partner holds up.
Of course you wouldn't, you make money by helping to get multiple citizenships/passports do you not? Play your own devil's advocate and tell me what are the downsides for people having multiple passports? If you can't come up with some yourself then I don't think you've given it much thought or would be persuaded by anyone else's argument.
I might propose that everyone should be born with a passport for earth but people wouldn't make money from that process either.
EVERYTHING has upsides and downsides.
The hill I'm willing to die on is this:
You have to decide, which trade-offs you are willing to live with. And for some people, the trade offs for having multiple residencies and optionality, outweigh the ones of only having one place to legally stay.
To the "this is how you make money" part, yes, this is how I make money.
Everyone on this planet is making money with something.
And ideally, you make money with something, that brings the most value to people, who are interested in the thing that you make it with.
The value I bring, is giving people optionality. And I LIVE this optionality myself. No one paid me to create the life I live.
I'm not trying to "persuade" anyone. I write and talk about what I believe is true.
And I don't give a damn if people agree with me on that, or not.
It’s not the people that choose to have multiple citizenships that is the problem. It’s the it’s the countries being taken advantage of. The blatant buying of citizenships of convenience no doubt contributes to negative opinions of immigration.
I only point out you make that you make money at this to explain why you might struggle to see both sides of it. That’s only more obvious when it goes over your head.