[Que enspastic]

Some passports are more useful than others.


I have Australian and UK passports which I believe is a better hand than, say, Afghanistan and Somalian passports.


UK gives me reciprocal working rights in 27 other EU countries and visa free access to 173 countries.


Australian passport gives me the right to work and live in Aust & NZ, another corner of the world with a high standard of living by international standards. Also has visa free access to 167 countries.


If I could choose any four I would keep my current two and take USA, which would give me the right to live and work permanently in the world's biggest economy, and Thailand, which would allow me to live permanently in a country that I find stunning and vibrant - also a hub of entrepreneuralism.


N.B. Might possibly have to drop USA passport after years of stacking cash there to avoid tax earned overseas.


N.B. Canadian passport looks good too for tax purposes / right to work and live in stable capitalist democracy.


What four passports would you choose?

[Brosemite]

I got a US Passport.

2) Brazilian Passport - (No visa needed to visit Russia) - I also love Brazil too so wouldn't mind living there year round.
3) EU or UK Passport - For reasons you mentioned....
4) China - Interesting economic opportunities there...

[Cheetah]

EU
Brazil
Russia or China
UAE

[rudebwoy]

Swiss
British/EU
Japan
Brazil
UAE would be nice but impossible to get like Saudi.

[Cheetah]

(06-09-2014 05:08 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

Swiss
British/EU
Japan
Brazil
UAE would be nice but impossible to get like Saudi.

A Liechtenstein passport will in terms of freedom of movement of people/workers more or less cover what both an EU and a Swiss passport will do for you, without relying on the EU-Swiss agreement which might come to an end or get more restricted. So, it's like two passports in one.

[Tommy Eyes]

I am an American citizen. If I ever become rich, or at least comfortable, I am going to take the necessary steps to internationalize (move abroad, obtain new citizenship, renounce US citizenship. The past few elections, plus the sentiment I see coming from the American public, along with congressional acts like FATCA, along with the whole NSA scandal and the IRS witch hunt, leads me to believe that during my golden years, the powers that be will try to nationalize retirement accounts or even assets. Even if this is just paranoia brought on too much Simon Black, i'd rather be crazy than sorry.

These would be the 4 passports I would choose (and to add, there would be nothing better than having 4 passports, especially if they were first world passports):

Canada-3 years residency, which you can get if you have the skills, marry, or invest $800,000 CAD (although there is a backlog due to rich Chinese looking for a safe haven), and you have citizenship. Visa free travel to as many countries as a US passport (plus Cuba!), plus, it's easy to come visit America (if I so choose )

St. Kitts and Nevis-$250,000 investment for a passport that has Schengen and UK visa free entry. Pretty sweet. Have to get a visa to visit my folks, but if worse came to worse I could probably figure out a way to get in

Malta-$1m investment for a first world passport (EU, plus visa waiver program for USA).

UK (Isle of Man)-Move to the Isle of Man, establish a business ($250,000), six years later, you're a Manx Citizen, which has the same visa free privileges as a UK citizen.

Of course I'm 50 steps away from this, but it's fun to play armchair millionaire

[turuk]

I have all the passports I want

[samsamsam]

Tommy Eyes,

If you happen to know which of the passports that you mentioned allow for working in Europe? I am guessing only Malta, maybe the Isle of Man one?

[germanico]

(06-09-2014 07:01 PM)Tommy Eyes Wrote:  

I am an American citizen.

St. Kitts and Nevis-$250,000 investment for a passport that has Schengen and UK visa free entry. Pretty sweet. Have to get a visa to visit my folks, but if worse came to worse I could probably figure out a way to get in

You do know that you get to keep your american passport, right?

[rudebwoy]

Why on earth would you pay all that money for a passport!

Will a Lichenstein passport allow me to work in Switzerland?

[JJ Roberts]

UK
Canada
Russia
Some middle eastern passport (whatever one allows you easiest travel around the region)

[cool guy]

Switzerland, Singapore, Norway & Panama not necessarily in that order but as a US/Mexican citizen those two (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requir..._citizens, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requir...s_citizens) aren't too bad to have. In case of a hijacking or terrorist attack having a US, UK or Israeli passport can be dangerous (Achille Lauro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achille_Lauro_hijacking, Taj Hotel in India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Mumbai_attacks, several hijacked flights) so having a neutral country's passport can literally save your life and of course working and traveling since one country may change your country's visa requirement at the last minute before a trip. I would recommend it for everyone to have more than one and get as many as possible because in the case of economic implosion your assets and you may be stuck in your country trying to get an exit visa, as a US citizen I wouldn't be surprised if our government implemented one during times of crisis. Also if you are brought up on subpoena, owe child support and coming soon from congress owe over 100,000 in debt you can have your passport suspended and confiscated by the feds. In the US they consider your passport a privilege not a right. Without the right to travel freely you are truly a slave to the government and its interest groups. http://www.goccp.com/ENG/secondcitizen.HTM

[Biologist]

Probably United States, British, Swiss, and Japanese (not necessarily in that order).

[Ardbeg]

Well for travel, according to a study the best passports to have are: Swedish, Finish, and British:

http://www.ibtimes.com/best-passports-ha...ld-1422038

But passports also confer citizenship, and that is another matter. Even though I'm a free-market, small-government guy, I wouldn't mind sucking off the government teat if available. The countries that provide the best benefits for its citizens are small oil-rich countries like Qatar, UAE and even Norway.

So I guess if I had to pick four, I'd choose two European and two Middle Eastern countries: Norway, Sweden, and Qatar and UAE. I'd get free health care, a house when I married, and hassle-free travel around the world.

[Cheetah]

(06-09-2014 08:12 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

Will a Lichenstein passport allow me to work in Switzerland?

Yes, as well as most EU passports. Although my guess is that the likelihood of that changing in the future might be less for Liechtenstein. A Liechtenstein passport is as good as an EU passport when working in the EU. A Swiss passport is not, as it relies on a bilateral agreement between the EU and Switzerland which might change in the future.

[Cheetah]

(06-10-2014 02:34 AM)Ardbeg Wrote:  

So I guess if I had to pick four, I'd choose two European and two Middle Eastern countries: Norway, Sweden, and Qatar and UAE. I'd get free health care, a house when I married, and hassle-free travel around the world.

Is it still blue pill to marry if you have a mini harem of 4 wives?

[nomadicdude]

Surprised no one has really mentioned how having a US passport (w/citizenship) means you have to pay taxes on worldwide income unlike almost any other rich country. If you are loaded that by itself makes having a US passport a bad thing. If I ever get to 1M net worth I'd seriously try to get a passport from a low tax country such as Singapore and renounce my US citizenship.

[rekruler]

I have the US passport and the EU passport. For my other two, I would choose from the following buckets:

The "wage arbitrage bucket," basically countries where even mediocre jobs pay at huge rates relative to the rest of the world. Norway and Australia come to mind. I'd probably choose the Australian passport, since APAC is my area of interest.

The "Fuck You!" bucket. The logic here is for damage control in a worst case scenario. If you're wanted by one of the corrupt, totalilarian Western regimes, you're basically wanted by all. That's when having a passport from countries like Iran or Belarus that don't have extradition treaties with the US and would refuse to hand you over even just to spite the "Great Satan" would be very useful. You hear stories all the time about the dude who does some huge racket in LA and then simply "Fuck You's!" his ass back to Iran where he's completely out of reach of the US and its lackeys. Basically, the type of passport that Edward Snowden would have found useful.

[Brian Boru]

US
Brazil
EU (either German or UK)
Swiss

Is it true that people with UK passports can travel to any of the commonwealth countries?

[Bushido]

I have a UK passport and the right to an Irish one. I imagine that Irish passport would be useful in the Middle East, whereas being a Brit seems like a dangerous liability (thank you Tony Blair).

I'd like the Japanese passport and the requirements are pretty lax, but unfortunately they require you to denounce all your other citizenships so it's a no-go for me. As a fourth one I guess I'd want something random like Russian.

[Sidney Crosby]

Canadian (mine)
Japanese - really hard to get
European Union county with the best perks, tax advantages
Probably American, just for the fact that I could never be denied entry to the states

[kazushu]

Australian (Born there)
U.S. - would like to be able to come and go.
UK - For easy travel throughout the EU.
China - Opportunities for later.

[TravellerJay]

Argentina, was born here and in the top countries who dont need visas to enter majority of countries, it is ranked 16/17 if you dont count the small countries like Monaco, etc we could go higher to maybe 12 or 13 in terms of importance of the country. Also Argentina has a lot of bilateral agreements with european countries that are older than the existence of European Community so we are allowed to stay longer had the agreement would have happened after the European Community.
UK for European Community and AUS/NZ
Spanish or maybe Italian for European Community
Russian to travel and taste russian and FSU pussies

[Hans Dix]

I already have a US and Germany, really I'll ever want or need.

The fact that any country in the EU's passport gives you access to the whole collective is so fucking practical for travel, especially as a student studying abroad. No bullshit with visas.

Plus all hail the almighty US passport

[artur jedi]

Western EU (be it UK). Visaless entry to many countries.
Brazil (my love, a place to live in the future)
Hong Kong (for banking and business purposes).
Fourth not really necessary.