Alternative passport and citizenship scams are alive and well.
I recently discovered a Web site offering second passports from several countries, including Switzerland, Belize, The Bahamas, and Panama.
I'm also aware of a Web site offering second passports from two unnamed countries in the European Union. One clue that these passports are fraudulent comes in the promotional text, which claims that the price of a travel document from either of these EU countries includes a birth certificate.
Passports from Guyana, Suriname, Nicaragua, and even diplomatic passports are also available. Several Web sites also sell Dominican Republic passports.
NONE of these countries have officially sanctioned citizenship-by-investment programs. In all such cases, the resulting passports are subject to cancellation and confiscation at any time. Worse, the persons using them could face fines and even imprisonment.
(However, some of Panama's immediate residence programs (including the pensionado program) offer a document called a cedilla to foreigners. This is NOT a passport, and is only good for entry and exit from Panama. The cedilla can't be used to cross other national borders.)
When you purchase a second passport, be sure that the document you receive is officially sanctioned in law. Currently, the only countries with officially sanctioned economic citizenship programs are Austria, the Commonwealth of Dominica, and the Federation of St. Kitts/Nevis.
Of these, only the Dominican and St. Kitts/Nevis programs offer a realistic path to a second passport and citizenship. The Austrian program requires investing millions of euros in an Austrian business, with no guarantee that a passport will be forthcoming. It's also politically controversial.
In contrast, when you apply for a second passport in either Dominica or St. Kitts/Nevis, you make the necessary investment only after you receive approval for your application.
Incidentally, if you have a handwritten Dominican passport, it's no longer valid. You must renew it with a machine-readable document. This is true regardless of the passport's expiration date.
For more information on legitimate economic citizenship programs, contact The Nestmann Group, Ltd. at info@nestmann.com.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann
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