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How To Get A Second Passport
By Mark Tier http://www.marktier.com/2ndpassport/This report started an industry. When I wrote it, it was impossible to find information in this topic inone handy volume. Pretty quickly, that changed — in significant part because this report wasshamelessly plagiarized and copied all over the world. And my ads caused people in the passportbusiness to realize that it definitely “pays to advertise.”How To Get A Second Passport went through three editions and seven printings from the time it wasfirst published in September 1984 to its last edition in July, 1990. Today of course you can findinformation on this topic just about anywhere (though, especially since 9/11, most of the easiestoptions have been firmly blocked).What led me to write it was the 1997.”Crisis in Hong Kong.” In 1984 the then-British Prime Minister,Margaret Thatcher, signed an agreement with Beijing that would pass the sovereignty of Hong Kongto China on July 1, 1997. The reaction in Hong Kong was, to put it mildly, one of panic. The HongKong dollar collapsed; and people, especially the wealthy, began hunting for the exits. It was in thisenvironment that I wrote “How To Get A Second Passport”, which I published in September 1984. Asyou can imagine, in Hong Kong it sold like hotcakes.
The Sincerest Form of Flattery
If plagiarism is any indicator, “How To Get A Second Passport” is the most successful thing I’ve ever written. It was shamelessly stolen and published in Britain, Canada, and Greece (I even went to courtin Athens and won — not that that made any difference). An American had it translated into Chineseand tried to sell it in Hong Kong! I was told that was it was on sale at the Manila Hotel in thePhilippines — as a photocopy. While I was sitting in his chair, my dentist in Hong Kong shamelesslytold me he had a photocopy of it! It’s amazing what lengths people will go to get something for nothing. The first time I ran an ad for “How To Get A Second Passport” in the local Hong Kong paper,the very first phone call that morning was from an Indian gentleman who wanted to know whether there was really a money-back guarantee. Sure enough, a couple of days later the copy he boughtwas returned for a refund — after, no doubt, he had photocopied it. What really surprised me, though,is that when I ran an insert in my investment newsletter, “World Money Analyst”, about 10% of mysubscribers bought it — even in countries like Australia and the United States. In large part it wascuriosity value — though I was visited by one very wealthy American who wanted to stop payingtaxes to Uncle Sam.
A Word of Caution
I’ve put this up on the internet as several people have asked where they can get a copy. Now they —and you — can read it with my complements. But you need to be aware that this is the text of thelatest edition, published in 1990! So much, if not all, of the information is out of date.That's especially true of the centerpiece of my report: Portugal. Back in the 1980s, you could becomea resident of Portugal if you merely owned property there. Six years later you could become a citizenwith no more than two or three visits to Portugal over that time. There was one other requirement: youhad to pass a Portuguese language test. This was laxly enforced — but one of the first things thePortuguese government tightened. (I was told that the wife of Portugal's Consul in Hong Kong wasdoing a roaring trade giving Portuguese lessons.). As Portugal came under pressure from British
 
government (who were afraid of an influx of Hong Kong Chinese moving to Britain with their newPortuguese passports) and the EU, Portugal changed its rules.Given that and the other information that is no longer current, the main reason you might want to skimthrough How To Get A Second Passport (aside from curiosity) is that the principles applied inanalyzing passports, citizenships and residence have not changed.In addition, I have provided links where you can find current information on some of the countries Italked about.Here are the chapter headings...Chapter 1- Why Do You Want A Second Passport?Chapter 2- Citizenship: the Two Stage ProcessChapter 3- Do You Need A Lawyer?Chapter 4-Citizenship Without ResidenceChapter 5- Central and South AmericaChapter 6- Portugal: For the “Man of Means”Chapter 7- The Big LeagueChapter 8- How Another Passport Could Save You a Bundle in TaxesChapter 9- Portuguese Property: Suggestions and CalculationsChapter 10- Future Developments
 
Chapter 1 - Why Do You Want A Second Passport
A second passport can give you peace of mind. It can help save you taxes. It can expand your travelopportunities. In some circumstances a second passport could even save your life. Here morespecifically are some of the reasons why you might want a second passport.Residence.Residence gives you the right, without having to ask permission, to live and work in the country of your choice.Security.“Just in case.” The world is an unstable place. Anything could happen — although it probably won’t.Against the day when it might, however, a second passport, or second nationality, means that whenyou decide you’re no longer happy in your normal place of residence, you do not need to apply for permission to reside somewhere else, because you already have the right to do so.Travel.A second passport can make it easier for you to travel to many countries, especially if you now hold arestricted passport such as a Hong Kong Certificate of Identity, or a Taiwanese, Israeli or SouthAfrican passport. Depending on your choice of second passport, or second nationality, the process of gaining entry to many other countries can be made much more simple.Safety.Even if you hold one of the world’s most respected passports~ such as that of a US citizen, there canbe times when you wish you were able to show some other piece of identification. For example: whenthe aircraft in which you are travelling is hi-jacked by anti-American terrorists.Business and Work.Another passport will more often than not give you the right to work and do business in its country of issue without obtaining a work permit, and similar advantages above and beyond those of your current national status. Citizenship of a member state of the European Economic Community givesyou the right, under the Treaty of Rome, to live, work and/or establish a business in any other member country of the EEC.Taxes.A change of residence or citizenship (depending on your current nationality) can, if properly handled,save a high taxpayer a significant amount of money.There are many reasons why you might want a second passport. But the process of obtaining onefrom most countries usually requires 5 or 6 years’ residence in the country concerned. Unless youreally want to go and live there right now, that price may be more than you want to pay. You may haveto give up, in whole or in part, your present career and life pattern. Moreover there are often manyhurdles to surmount in obtaining the initial right to reside without which the qualifying period of residence cannot even begin; so the number of people who do qualify is small compared with thenumbers of people who would like to do so.
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