Viewing Multi-Citizenship as an Asset
Boing Boing pointed me to Kevin Kelly and Brian Eno’s “Unthinkable Futures” list, which included a disaster scenario that fired some neurons (it’s Saturday morning before ten, this is unusual):
People begin leaving the U.S. Many arrivals to the US keep resident status but choose not to adopt citizenship. The world sees more people without allegiance.
Whenever people ask me “where are you from?” I’ve always had difficulty answering the question. I was born in Australia, grew up in Canada, and hold Irish citizenship and US Permanent Residence status. Technically, I’m from somewhere around 30 countries.
I’ve always viewed multi-citizenship as an imperitive in an increasingly interconnected world. The ability to easily move and work in another country has always struck me as a logical complement to my highly transportable skill set as an engineer. While international treaties, such as NAFTA, typically simplify the process of moving between countries for highly-skilled workers, citizenship reduces the complexity even further.
In fact, one might even view citizenship as a new asset class. Not only is it an easily transportable asset, but it also can be passed on to descendants in most cases. When Ashley and I have kids, they could have as many as four citizenships: Canadian, Irish, Australian, and US.
That said, I, as many others, are wary of US citizenship. The primary reason for this fear is the draconian US tax law, which demands its citizens file taxes on their world income regardless of whether they are in the country or not. The US always wants its share in exchange for the benefit of citizenship. Other countries, in contrast, generally don’t require you to file taxes unless you’re actually in the country for a significant portion of the year.
I could see this becoming a liability for the US, leading to the outcome that Kevin Kelly and Brian Eno predict. US citizenship is only an asset so long as the US is a highly desirable labour market, and supports a high quality of life. In the absence of those attributes, the asset of citizenship is outweighed by the liability of onerous over-taxation.
Of course, in the long-term this hopefully becomes a non-issue as international borders and nation-states become increasingly irrelevant. Maybe.
You are right in your analysis. I’m from the U.S. and am concerned about taxes being raised significantly by Obama. There are economic citizenship programs that enable you to buy citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis and Dominica but neither of those passports enable visa free travel to the U.S. which I would like. I’ve thought about Canadian citizenship. I don’t want to live there for 3 years to get citizenship. Do you know anyway to buy citizenship in Canada? Unofficially? I know that you can officially become a citizen after living there for just 3 years but would rather not.
First of all, it is my understanding that Obama’s tax increases will only apply to those earning over $200K a year. So, if you’re in that boat, then congratulations! It’s a nice problem to have. However, if you’re earning less, you actually will be paying less taxes, which isn’t a bad thing.
Nevertheless, pursuit of another citizenship is still a worthwhile undertaking. There are programs in Canada that enable business investment as a way to smooth the immigration process. However, coming from the US, I’m not sure those would offer much of an advantage. And, to boot, you’d only be gaining the right to live and work in one additional country (one which, depending on your profession, might already be quite easy to do under NAFTA – after all, an American can live in Canada for six months without so much as a visa, I believe).
It would probably be better to investigate an EU citizenship. Access to 30 or so different countries offers a lot of opportunity and options in the event you decide to move. You might consider looking at your ancestry – in some cases, you may be able to claim citizenship through a grandparent. Also, if you’re married, check out your partner’s ancestry – they may be able to claim citizenship and then sponsor you as a spouse.
Good luck!