Dual Citizenship — Living in two cultures together

By Ritu Raj

Introduction –

Dual citizenship, when a single person is legally recognized as a citizen in two or more countries at the same time. It’s nothing but having all rights of citizenship in two country at the same time.

Confusion –

Most of the people thought Dual Citizenship and residential status is same. Residential Status to decide tax liability of particular person. A Person can fulfill and satisfy criteria to become liable to pay tax. But Dual Citizenship does not depend on or doesn’t get affected on person’s residential status.

Approval of Countries -

Not many countries allow their citizens to hold Dual Citizenship. It Is most important to double check whether your country permits dual citizenship before seeking to acquire one.

Benefits of Dual Citizenship –

Cultural Exposer — People from one country when travel to another country they bring culture with them to the other country. This allows them to cherish two cultures i.e., Food, Dress, Language, etc. Because of this both countries naturally get an opportunity to build close cultural relation with each other.

Educational Benefit — Citizen of one country if travels to another country, can get better education comparison to their origin country. This allows them to understand history and language of two countries. This also helps to create an opportunity for the two allowing countries to build close relationship with each other.

Standard of Living — Citizen of one country may get better standard of living in other country because economic, social, and political standards are different.

Business Opportunity — New business opportunities open up to dual citizens. They can do business in origin country as well in the other country.

Optimum Tax Benefit — Dual Citizenship open new opportunity to maximize wealth. As an example, some countries only tax specific types of income as an example, Singapore doesn’t tax capital gain. Investor can take benefit of this and can generate capital gain income in other country. Dual Citizen can get benefit of DTAA if their host country and travelling country has a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

Visa Facility — Many Passport are quite restrictive in their Visa-free mobility, forcing citizen to obtain visas whenever they need to travel abroad. A second passport can offer individuals from these countries an increased global mobility. See our Passport Index for the visa-free score of every passport in the world.

Security — A second passport from a stable country can be life-saving in the event of any kind of political, economic or social unrest in one’s home country.

Disadvantages of Dual Citizenship –

Dual Obligations — As a dual citizen, you are bound by the law of both countries. Many countries have mandatory rule to do service in military. Due to this circumstances Citizen need to be careful while applying for dual citizenship otherwise they may lose their citizenship.

Double Taxation — Many countries does not have agreement with other country to avoid double taxation. In this case citizen need to pay taxes on income earned in both the country. It’s advisable for citizens to carefully read rules of both country that they have DTAA otherwise they have to pay taxes in both countries.

Employment — Dual citizenship may restrict you to do service and job in classified or important designation of government.

There are many ways to apply and get Dual Citizenship. Some of them are discussing below

Birth — Some countries allow non-resident individuals to obtain citizenship if their parents were born in that country. For example, Hungary allows people not living in the country to obtain Hungarian citizenship provided if they can show in the application that their parents are citizens.

Naturalization — Naturalization is the process by which a resident of a country can acquire citizenship, usually by residing in that country for a certain number of years as a permanent resident. For example, permanent residents of Canada must reside in Canada for four out of six years in order to be eligible to apply for citizenship. Persons with temporary status, such as students and foreign workers, must first gain permanent resident status in order to start counting their years as residents toward the citizenship requirement.

It is important to double check the requirements of your country of residence if you hope to acquire a second citizenship through naturalization.

Marriage — Some countries grant fast-track permanent resident status to individuals who have married a citizen of that country, thereby speeding up the time to citizenship. For example, Canada allows spousal sponsorship, which results in automatic permanent resident status for the foreign spouse.

Investment — More and more countries are offering citizenship by investment program or residency by investment program to high-net-worth investors. Citizenship by investment is the process of acquiring a second citizenship by investing in the economy of the host country. Residency by investment programs offer permanent residency after the investment, which again speeds up the time to citizenship.

Definition of citizenship in India –

As per article 5 of constitution of India at the commencement of this Constitution, every person who has his domicile in the territory of India and –

(a) who was born in the territory of India; or

(b) either of whose parents was born in the territory of India; or

( C) who has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years immediately preceding such commencement, shall be a citizen of India.

Citizenship requirements and related links for below countries for Indian Citizen –

· Singapore : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

· Portugal : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

· Estonia : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

· United State : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

· Italy : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

· Australia : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

· New Zealand : Requirements to get citizenship for Indian Citizenship.

India doesn’t allow dual citizenship in any case, even if there are high net worth individuals, except overseas Indians if their hosting countries allowing dual citizenship as per local laws.

Dual citizenship is a good way and opportunity to explore heritage, hospitality and cherish both cultures with an open heart, but every opportunity comes with responsibility and obligation, citizen should be wary of it. They are bringing the culture of host country to another country. Their behavior and response can affect both countries.

Information in this blog is intended to provide only a general outline of the subjects covered It should not be regarded as comprehensive or sufficient for making decisions, nor should it be used in place of professional advice.

Nitin Jogad & Associates | Chartered Accountants accept no responsibility for loss arising from any action taken or not taken by anyone using this blog.