How to Get a Second or Third Passport

If you’re a US citizen, the American government has a lot of influence and sway over your life even if you leave. This includes having to file and even pay taxes to the IRS because of citizenship-based taxation. The United States is one of only two that enforce this. The other being the African nation, Eritrea. Having a second passport might be your ticket to opening new doors that fit your needs in another country. As a second point, it can also open up more visa-free access to you so you can choose which passport to travel on.

Latin for “right of the soil.” Your citizenship is based purely on the land you were born on. This is the case for the United States, which has birthright citizenship. Essentially, if you are born on US-owned land, you are automatically a US citizen.

Latin for “right of the blood.” Your citizenship is passed onto you through blood, meaning you must have a parent that holds citizenship of that country, and it has nothing to do with where you are born. Most countries in the world follow this rule, so if you’re born in Japan but your parents are French, you will be given French citizenship, not Japanese.

These would be “jus soli” or “jus sanguinis,” which we’ve already covered. It’s possible to be born a dual citizen if your parents hold different passports. This is the gold mine if you’re lucky!

In the case you have foreign parents but are born in a country that practices jus soli, such as the US, and are born on US soil, you’ll have dual citizenship of the United States and the nation of your parents. This is as long as they still hold their foreign citizenship. You could even get three citizenships this way if your parents hold different passports from each other.

However, US citizenship isn’t necessarily automatically granted if you’re born overseas to a parent with US citizenship. You have to meet certain criteria to claim it.

There are countries that practice both of these concepts, such as Jamaica. If you’re born to a Jamaican citizen anywhere in the world or born on Jamaican soil, you’re a Jamaican citizen.

This is when you have family that were citizens of a country prior to immigrating to a new one, but you were not necessarily born of parents holding that citizenship.

For example, if your family immigrated from Italy, but your parents are US citizens, you may be able to claim Italian citizenship through your ancestors. There’s typically a limit as to how far back you can claim, but this will vary by country.

More than 50 countries offer citizenship by descent, which include but are not limited to:

If you are a permanent resident or a resident of a country for a certain number of years, you can apply for citizenship.

If you marry a citizen of a country and live in that country, you can apply for citizenship after a set number of years.

Some nations offer the option to make investments, typically as a cash donation or by purchasing property, which will then allow you to apply for citizenship. This is typically hundreds of thousands or a million-plus dollars. You’ll need to be much more well-off to consider this route.

Countries that offer this path include:

Some of these methods seem relatively straightforward, but the difficulty of them is often underestimated. There are long timelines and complicated bureaucratic processes. You must provide a lot of paperwork, visit consulates, etc. It can be time-consuming and expensive.

There is also the misconception that if you marry a citizen, you automatically get their citizenship, which is not true. On average it takes multiple years to qualify, can vary if you have a child together, and then can have a multi-year waiting period. It’s also important to point out marrying someone doesn’t guarantee residency in their country either.

This might seem counter to the point, but if you have residency in a country, you might not need citizenship, or it could actually be against your interests.

If you want the passport for additional visa-free access, are these countries you would even go to? Is that worth your time and energy?

Would getting citizenship overcomplicate your tax situation? This could be particularly tricky for US citizens, especially if you own businesses. Needing multiple accountants could make things very expensive and messy.

Do you agree with the ideology of the country’s system? You can love the country you live in but not want to participate in its citizenship bureaucracy, as you might find it unjust, exclusionary, etc.

Having citizenship of a country with no intention of ever returning to the nation may make you want to renounce it. This can be a complicated or expensive process, particularly for holders of a US passport.

Getting rid of US citizenship is not easy. There’s a long waitlist, a non-refundable $2,350 fine (as of January 2026), and you can actually have this request denied. It’s important to note you cannot renounce your citizenship because of not wanting to pay taxes to the US government.

Some nations also do not let you renounce at all, such as Argentina. This might be tricky if you want to gain the citizenship of a country that doesn’t allow you to have more than one.

Technically, no. As long as none of your citizenships prevent holding multiple nationalities, you can have as many as you’re eligible for.

You can’t have conflicts between them. Countries such as China don’t allow dual citizenship, so if you were to gain it, you’d have to get rid of any others you have. The United States allows dual citizenship but doesn’t recognize it. This means if you have US citizenship, you must enter the US on your US passport, and it’s a crime if you don’t.

If you’re eligible for another passport, I highly recommend you get it! It doesn’t take anything away from your life, but a whole host of opportunities can open up for you. Imagine being able to move more freely, live in another country, and choose the life that’s best for you without being confined to one set of borders.