Posted on 02/13/2013 3:41:14 PM PST by posterchild
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Hadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he's one of its newest citizens.
Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new Dominican passport after sending a roughly $100,000 contribution to the tropical nation half a world away.
"At the start I was a little worried that it might be a fraud, but the process turned out to be quite smooth and simple. Now, I am a Dominican," said Mezawi, who like many Palestinians had not been recognized as a citizen of any country. That passport will help with travel for his job with a Brazilian food processing company, he said by telephone from Dubai.
Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has led to a surge of interest in programs that let investors buy citizenship or residence in countries around the world in return for a healthy contribution or investment. Most are seeking a second passport for hassle-free travel or a ready escape hatch in case things get worse at home.
Nowhere is it easier or faster than in the minuscule Eastern Caribbean nations of Dominica and St. Kitts & Nevis.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“At the start I was a little worried that it might be a fraud, but the process turned out to be quite smooth and simple. Now, I am a Dominican,” said Mezawi O.P.
My guess the bakery line. Works with the "dough" making yellowcake.
Forget the Caribbean, I want to buy membership in an Indian tribe.
Just bolt like an East German. The Democrats aren’t yet having Americans gunned down as they flee, although if the flow swells enough I imagine they’ll get serious about “border security” PDQ.
Since this is done by the governments of Doominica and St Kitts, it’s legal. Perfectly legal. The passports are worth well over $100K to those ‘citizens.’ And, of course, they can now travel freely into the US and in the case of St Kitts, the EU.
Having dual citizenship makes a lot of sense today, especially if you like to travel internationally. With an American passport, you are a target. With another passport you can travel without a bullseye on your back.
There are several countries that will give you citizenship simply because your grandparents were citizens. Ireland and Poland are off the top of my head. My wife and I are looking into that.
The main benefit to dual citizenship is more privacy in your personal affairs. And you don’t have to have a large estate for this to make sense. Just seek professional help in this matter or you could be subject to scams and what not.
“The main benefit to dual citizenship is more privacy in your personal affairs. And you don’t have to have a large estate for this to make sense. Just seek professional help in this matter or you could be subject to scams and what not.”
To continue...
If you have one citizenship and passport, you are owned lock, stock and barrel. No escape plan. No guaranteed right of movement. No guaranteed passport. No right of residency outside your own country, should you want to do so. You are just a milk cow belonging to your government. When things get bad, you can quickly become a beef cow.
Two citizenships with two travel documents (passports) opens up a new world.
Now, personally I don’t know anything about all this. Any information, passports, citizenships, etc., were lost in a tragic boating accident last year. I suppose there’s an office to report this to, but I don’t know which one...
Experience shows that having a dual citizenship could pave one’s road to the White House.
I was being a bit facetious in that all we hear is the ‘poor Palestinians’...
I can only hope you didn’t break a sweat to write what I already know.
The problem with US Citizens and anyone with a US Green Card is that they are captives of the US tax and financial surveillance system and its web of tax treaties. With few places in the world for a US Person to hold assets that can be done without the US government being able to observe and even take, the only way out is to get a passport from another country and eventually to remove all assets from US reach.
It is a sad day when US citizens are no longer free, but the sad truth is that the US is no longer free in many respects.
The net cost is much lower because part of the deal in Dominica is a required investment in some approved asset like real estate.
$100,000 is a bit out of my price range. However, I was looking into buying property overseas a few years ago, and I found out something interesting. In the Philippines, land is cheap, but non-citizens can’t technically own property. They usually have to have natives own in it their names, or marry a citizen and put it in her name. However, you can apply for a special type of visa, called a Retirement & Investment visa, which is like a permanent resident visa that allows you to own property and work or run a business there without becoming a citizen.
All you seem to need to get that visa is to show that you have liquid assets of something like $30,000 that you are willing to invest in the country. So, you can get some of the benefits of buying a citizenship without having to actually give all that money to some government.
“somewhere in the Caribbean”
I predict that once the Castros die in the next decade or so, Cuba will become a new offshore haven for stuff like that. It’s got the best location for it, and once Americans are free to invest there again, there will be a gold rush I think.
That would be quite a reversal of govts, and you may well be right.
I doubt you’d be able to afford it, even if you could find a tribe willing to sell one. Better off just trying to woo an Indian and get them to marry ya :)
Dominica!= Dominican Republic. But otherwise, spot on.
That would help their financial status more than dis-enrolling members to increase the payments to each member.
And as a member of a Native American tribe, you get better legal protection if CPS wants to take your kid, access to other court systems and protection from some federal laws.
The policy of Dominica is usually favorable to white immigrants.
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