.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Dual Citizenship

Wathching the Coming Storm said...
Other posters are correct - this is exactly what is happening in the US, but at a much slower pace.

FerFal, I have some questions for you, and perhaps you would be willing to answer in a post so that others could benefit.

First, if one could get dual citizenship in another country, would you advise it? For example, I am of Italian descent, and I am thinking of getting dual Italian-US citizenship. Do you see any advantages and disadvantages to this?

Second, if my father was Argentine and my mother was American, would that qualify me for Argentine citizenship?


People, I’m sorry for not answering some of the emails and questions. I’ve been really busy with the book.
About downloadable versions, I know it’s a problem for some of you to get the book but please understand the amount of work I’ve put into it ( and of course the blog that is free and anyone can ask anything and I’ll do my best to answer).
Sending it for free or selling a downloadable version would be assuming a huge risk. All you need is one person uploading it to share and your hard work goes to waste.
Not to mention that people can simply change the name, edit it and put it online as their own material, which s something that has happened to me before. (As you can see now, my name is not Esteban Morales :) )
About the comment, with an Argentine mother you can become an Argentine resident, but better look into that a bit more. I don’t think you can have dual citizen with Arg. and USA. But you can apparently be USA-EU just like I am Arg.-EU.
I have both Argentine (place of birth) and European citizenship (Jus sanguinis "right of blood"). My father was born in Spain and So were my mother’s parents.
Having the EU citizenship gives you a lot of benefits. You may or may not like the socialist twist Europe has. I certainly do not like that much socialism, none the less the advantages of dual citizenship are still there.
In my book there’s a chapter precisely about relocation, and I suggest having 3 countries, plan A, B and C as last resort plans.
Relocating…………………………………………………………..246
3 Countries: Plan A, B, and C……………………………….247

If there’s anarchy in a country bugging in and shooting bad guys all day isn’t much of a plan. In my opinion you should leave such country before that.
When the civil war hit Spain my grandparents moved to Argentina. When there was the Dirty War in Argentina, those that had strong political backgrounds exiled to other countries, during the 2001 crisis a lot of people left, they left by the thousands and many paid dearly to have lawyers and researchers gather enough proof of a Italian or Spaniard relative so as to get the much sought after EU citizenship.
So yes, it is a good idea if you can get it.
I didn’t know if you can get the Italian citizenship and keep the American one as well, but then I found this article.
I’m not the most sensitive guy on the planet, but the title shocked me because it’s EXACTLY what happened in Argentina.
Replace “U.S.” and “Americans” with “Argentina” and “Argentines” and this could have been a 2002 title of a Buenos Aires paper.

With U.S. in slump, dual citizenship in EU countries attracts Americans


My idea is to have at least three alternatives, plan A Band c, A being your current home country and B being your other 1st world alternative. If something happens in US, you move to another country of somewhat equal standard of living. Plan C is your serious, more unlikely and far fetched SHTF plan, mostly a far away country (3rd world) where your little investments or retirement multiply in buying capacity. Example, Argentina or other south American countries, maybe Philippines if you have friends or family there.
This isn’t any novel idea. It’s been decades since Ted Turner and Arnold Schwarzenegger own lots of land and nice retreats in Patagonia here in Argentina. Lots of land, food and mostly a lot of potable water thanks to the glaciers and mountain lakes.
These guys, you may not like them, but stupid they are not.
About being patriotic or not, I don’t think its got anything to do with taking advantage of the possibilities you have. It’s not as if you’d go fight for the Germans if they ever start war with the US.

FerFAL

7 comments:

DaShui said...

Hey FerFAL congrats on the book. I will buy it soon.

I know plenty of people not only with 2 passports, but with 3.
These are not rich people, they keep their options open in case they need medical care, or in case the US gov. tries to draft their kids.
On the other hand, be aware if one has duel citizenship one's kids might have to serve in the military.
I thought about Singapore, and Switzerland myself.

DannyHSDad said...

The best Dual Citizenship (at least for U.S. citizen) info you'll find is at:

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

I have children who have dual citizens and want to see that they retain them. (I have followed this FAQ for almost 20 years, before our children were born.)

Pompompom said...

Even if you can't have the citizenship, you can at least open a bank account in another country and spare your eggs in another basket.

Or create a small business in a business-friendly country with a bank account on its behalf. Make some money on it. Make it non profitable so you don't pay taxes at home (not for the money lost but not to attract attention on you from your governement)
When the shtf (that could be an individual story in a BAU world), it will be much more difficult for the governement's inquisitor to seize your stash elsewhere. Especially if you forget to tell him!
To make it non profitable, carefully choose your business model so that your gear is tax deductible!

Daniel said...

"All you need is one person uploading it to share and your hard work goes to waste."

depends on how you define waste. Isn't the biggest reason you wrote the book to HELP other people prepare? If so, even if someone reads your book while having obtained it by illegal means, your main goal is still achived. And if this is not your main goal, then I think most your readers would not be interested in reading it anyway. i.e. Don't call it a waste, you can still make your point anyway.

personally, even if it was available in a pirated version, I for one will not read a book online. I only read paper.

Anonymous said...

Isn't the biggest reason you wrote the book to HELP other people prepare? If so, even if someone reads your book while having obtained it by illegal means, your main goal is still achieved. And if this is not your main goal, then I think most your readers would not be interested in reading it anyway.First of all, that is a ridiculous and naive statement. I think this attitude is a side-effect of the liberal tactic of pitting the poor against the "evil" capitalist. This has only been made worse by Obama's endless class warfare tactics.

Just because a person makes money, doesn't mean their heart isn't in the right place. If I produce a good or service that helps hundreds of people, and I make money from that good or service, am I a bad person?

What if I offered that same good or service for free, but I could only help 10 people before going broke? Should I say, "Well, my true intentions were fulfilled"? Which scenario would you consider to have made the greatest contribution to society, the one that helped hundreds, or the one that helped 10?

In FerFAL's case, would you rather him earn enough money from book sales to be able to have the time and resources to provide everyone with much more helpful information, or would you rather him make his book free to everyone, not make a dime, and have to dedicate most of his time away from this blog trying to earn a living by some other means? Who does that help?

I think if you're honest with yourself Daniel, you're really trying to use guilt in hopes that FerFAL will give in and release the book electronically, so you can get a free, illegal copy.

personally, even if it was available in a pirated version, I for one will not read a book online. I only read paper.Right. And I have a pet unicorn.

CapnRick said...

Saludos....

Re: having a bank account in a foreign country.

Saludos....I have an HSBC internet account which allows me to access my funds in any country with an ATM. This internet account is hosted from the UK. One must set up transfers to the UK bank. Also, HSBC has branches in the US and Argentina, where I live... as well as many other countries.

I am not recommending HSBC... I'm just valdating the suggestion that a bank account be available in a second or, in my case, a third country.

My wife has US and Argentine passports. Three of our 5 kids have Brazilian and US passports, one has Argentine and US passports. I plan on getting an Argentine passport/citizenship as soon as possible.

Because of my wife's parentage, our kids are also eligible to become Spanish citizens as well, in much the same way as FerFal.

If anyone finds other countries with less strict procedures for citizenship, I suggest that others can benefit if you post it here.

Suerte -Rick

Angelina said...

I found a website which is a better source to provide better services about the green Card process in U.S. It helps the people to get green card in easy and short time.