Foreign Citizenship and Foreign Residency: Differences and Advantages

Foreign residencies and citizenships are the most important part of a risk diversification strategy commonly referred to in English as Flag Theory.

In an increasingly globalized world, obtaining foreign citizenship or foreign residency is an effective strategy for optimizing taxation, ensuring greater freedom of movement, and accessing new economic and personal opportunities. Foreign residencies and citizenships have become assets.

Since 1990, a real market for foreign residency and citizenship has existed, aimed at those who understand the value of freedom of movement and financial and personal privacy and who are able, over years, often decades, to anticipate geopolitical and financial issues that could negatively or positively impact their condition and quality of life.

We serve these individuals with high economic capacity and the ability to anticipate events by offering a broad range of residential, naturalization and legal services aimed at enhancing their quality of work and life.

 But what are the differences between second citizenship and second residency, and what are the best strategies for obtaining them? Obtaining foreign citizenship or a second citizenship, as well as foreign residency or second residency, is an increasingly popular strategy for those seeking tax advantages, greater freedom of movement, and new business opportunities. But what exactly do these concepts mean, and how can you obtain them?

Foreign Residence and Second Residence

As mentioned, foreign residencies and citizenships are the foundation upon which any other offshore structure and geopolitical immunity are built. Foreign residency is the right to live in a country other than one's country of origin, often obtained for tax, employment, or quality of life reasons. Various second foreign residency programs exist that allow foreigners to legally settle in a country, often in exchange for investments or minimum asset requirements.

A foreign residency or second residency allows you to live legally in another country, often with tax benefits and access to local services. Many countries offer foreign residency programs that allow you to obtain a residence permit in exchange for real estate investments, business creation, or capital transfers.

In some cases, obtaining foreign residency is the first step toward citizenship. For example, in Portugal, the Golden Visa allows you to obtain residency after five years and, subsequently, citizenship through naturalization. Or, even more simply, Panama, which offers immediate permanent residency and citizenship through naturalization after five years of permanent residency. Or Paraguay, which allows naturalization and a passport after three years of residency.

Types of Foreign Residence:

1. Tax Residency – Moving your residence to benefit from advantageous tax regimes.
2. Temporary Residence – Allows you to live in the country for a specified period, with the possibility of renewal.
3. Permanent Residency – After a certain number of years, it can lead to citizenship through naturalization.

Foreign Citizenship and Second Citizenship

A foreign citizenship grants the right to live, work, and enjoy the benefits of another country permanently. Unlike residency, a foreign passport offers greater travel freedom and international protection. A foreign citizenship or second citizenship allows you to become a citizen of another country, gaining rights such as voting, working, and living in that country. In many cases, this also includes a foreign passport, which can offer visa-free access to numerous countries.

How to Obtain Foreign Citizenship:

Naturalization – After a period of residency (often 5 to 10 years) and compliance with local regulations, citizenship can be applied for. Descent or Jus Sanguinis – Some countries grant citizenship if direct lineage is proven. Marriage – In some countries, marriage to a citizen can facilitate naturalization.

Investment Programs – Some countries offer a foreign passport in exchange for investment. Some countries, such as Saint Kitts and Nevis, offer citizenship in exchange for financial investment (for example, in real estate, donations to government funds, or job creation).

Business Opportunities : Some countries offer access to international markets and investor benefits.

Studio Panama Italia offers residencies and citizenships in much of Latin America. We've seen the difference between foreign residencies and citizenships. Residencies are temporary and then permanent residence permits that allow you to live with the same rights as a citizen of that country, except for the right to vote, hold a passport, and access that country's consular services.

The second, citizenship, offers the right to vote but also responsibilities (from taxes to military service, depending on the country). Both residency and citizenship are often, for many, true Plan Bs, used to avoid succumbing to the obligations of their governments when they transform into dictatorships disguised as democracies.

Plan B to get one foot out of NATO

Unfortunately, being in Italy or Europe means living in NATO countries, and therefore subject to the powers and narrow ways of thinking imposed by the United States. For many Italians, belonging to a NATO member country, and therefore not independent and sovereign in its political decisions, is considered an anti-democratic constraint and a reduction of personal, civil, and moral rights. They must seek another country, one that is truly sovereign, independent, and friendly to all, without belonging to a specific club.

Absurd tax obligations, laws that impede the circulation of money, limits on cash, justifications, reversed burdens of proof, mass media, state and private television, newspapers, print and online news outlets, completely in the hands of biased, biased, and polarized political power groups who use them to convey a single thought to the masses.

In the new pandemic, forced vaccinations, not always in line with the constitutional foundations of an honest country, are further examples of what and who Italians are fleeing. Foreign residency and second citizenship are the only real answer to these serious problems. Since the post-pandemic period, our numbers in terms of residency and citizenship requests have soared, almost tripling monthly.

If Italy and Europe are no longer capable of calling for migration of cultural and human excellence in line with the constitutional, ethical and cultural principles of those countries, then the European countries themselves will transform themselves into net exporters of migration of excellence towards countries that still know how to welcome and valorize migration of excellence according to the socio-cultural guidelines that those countries expect.

Panama, Paraguay, but also Mexico and the United States, continue to welcome and are making efforts to welcome an increasing number of golden visas and high-quality immigrants. Accessing one of their residency programs, and subsequently citizenship and passports, is therefore vital for young Europeans.

Unfortunately, for many, residency and citizenship should have been obtained years and years ago so they could be used immediately and not waste years of their lives in social contexts from which they would have to escape.

Today, there are no cash limits outside Italy and Europe, for example in Panama and Paraguay; we're talking about countries with no cash limits at all. In the US, we can still deposit $1 million in cash or withdraw it without justification, we can pay for an apartment in cash, etc.

Outside Italy and Europe, you don't need a pass to buy basic necessities or go to the gym. Certainly, certain steps needed to be taken much earlier to regain one's freedom, just to remedy the recent years of fundamental freedoms being eroded. But there's still the possibility for those with the courage and mental focus to create a Plan B with the right residency or citizenship through our targeted services, specifically created for this type of user.

Fast-track citizenships are citizenships obtained within 60 to 120 days, depending on the country. They are true naturalization processes, with the granting of citizenship and therefore the right to a passport of that country. This is not simply residency, but a true citizenship with rights and responsibilities; in fact, it is a naturalization with the right to an offshore passport or second passport.

Due diligence is very rigorous, and since these are affordable residences, meaning they require an investment, they are highly expensive and primarily aimed at individuals and their families with high purchasing power. But where can you obtain a second passport or second residence, and what's the difference between citizenship and residency?

Let's start by clarifying that a passport is a travel document obtained after obtaining citizenship, which is only obtained after having lived as a resident of a country, that is, having had a residence and lived there for a number of years. After a set number of years, the naturalization , which often involves exams and a few years of waiting, in addition to the obligation to live in the country in the years prior to applying for citizenship.

If you pass the exams and complete the naturalization process, you become a naturalized citizen. You receive a citizenship certificate and are therefore eligible to obtain a national identity card.

With this identity card, you, like all citizens, can go to the appropriate offices to request a regular passport, just like in Italy.

But let's see which are the best countries in the world to claim a second residency and citizenship. If you're looking for an affordable way to acquire a second citizenship and passport, the best idea is to initially obtain a second residency in an easy-to-access country.

Countries where it is easy to obtain residency and citizenship

Currently the easiest countries in the world to become a resident are: Mexico (it does not require any documents other than a passport), Paraguay ( it does not require the opening of a company), and Panama , which, despite requiring all personal and criminal documents and the opening of a company, still offers a quick and permanent residence immediately.

If we talk about freedom, which is why people move today, and the search for a truly resilient state, one that does not identify itself as Western and that is today more neutral than Switzerland itself when it comes to deciding who to be friends with on a geopolitical level, Mexico stands out as the freest country in Latin America, along with Paraguay.

The Covid pandemic as it has been portrayed and experienced in the rest of the world has never existed in Mexico. Lockdowns have never been implemented, masks have never been used, vaccination passes have never been issued, and people are not required to have a vaccination pass or certificate to enter any place.

Mexico also doesn't require any paperwork to become a resident, and it doesn't check whether you're living in the country after obtaining residency. Mexico doesn't cancel residencies if you don't live there, and it offers a high-level passport, the most powerful in Latin America after the Brazilian one.

It is the second youngest country in Latin America and the most economically powerful. It also has a constitution that copies that of the United States. It offers exceptional freedom. The most sought-after destinations are Playa del Carmen and Cancun, where 99% of foreigners eventually settle and establish residency.

Paraguay is the second easiest country to obtain residency and citizenship, with citizenship obtained after just three years of applying for residency. Paraguay also ranks first in the world for fast residency; within 48 to 72 hours, you'll be a permanent resident. Finally, Panama allows you to obtain naturalization and a second passport after five years of residency, the last two of which must be lived entirely in Panama, a historical/cultural/linguistic exam, and approximately three to seven years of waiting from the citizenship application stage.

Our law firm recommends Panama and Paraguay as options. If you have a specific agenda that includes Panama, and if you truly want to physically live there, you can obtain residency and citizenship in Panama in just five years. Contact us.

Remember that citizenship, unlike residency, also entails obligations toward the new country. These may include the obligation to vote or serve in the military, as well as filing tax returns. These are all obligations you can waive if you simply obtain residency in that country, which gives you the full right to live as a true citizen but without obligations on the ground. Furthermore, having more than one passport is often more problematic than it is helpful in many areas of daily life.

Online Tools for Choosing Where to Live

Rankings of the best countries to live and move to are often the result of an attempt to provide a logical answer to something that only apparently or partially makes 100% sense.

There are tools, including free ones like websites like Numbeo , that allow you to draw up a ranking based on common parameters such as the cost of living, crime rate, pollution, etc. For those of us who have been working for decades organizing the lives and business of entrepreneurs and digital nomads, families, and companies, we realize that such websites and this information are of very little use.

First-hand experience after an exploratory trip

Often, and almost always, people move to countries diametrically opposed to those ranked highly in various specialized magazines. The reasons are many and varied. Subjective experience, or the personal need to seek something, be it just the climate, or the food, or the need to live in a more human-scale social context, strongly push people away from their usual countries and toward other shores.

Unfortunately, statistics often don't reflect the real-life experience of an immigrant in a place whose indices and statistics aren't the best calling card for those studying them. This is because the data collected from these countries is inaccurate and calculated differently (for example, there's no uniformity in the parameters and methods used to create statistics for each individual country, as they rely on data taken from local statistics, which are calculated entirely differently from those in other countries). So where is the best place to move?

Where to move according to legal experience?

Which country is best to move to to improve your social, marital, family, economic, climate, and health conditions? For our part, simply working for decades with endless requests from all over Europe, the United States, Canada, and Oceania to relocate to Latin America leads us to carefully consider these countries as the final destination for your next life. So where should you move abroad? We recommend moving to Latin America . There are truly advantageous countries in almost every possible sense, highly economical and highly modern, yet maintaining intact social, family, and lifestyle roles that have been lost for two or three decades in any European country.

Ranking of the best countries to move to

Our list of the best countries to move abroad includes:

Panama and Paraguay are undisputedly high-profile destinations due to their renowned territorial tax residency, banking secrecy, corporate secrecy, Panama's banking platform, the US dollar as the currency in Panama, the exceptional and mild climate all year round, the absence of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes, the presence of logistics hubs such as the Panama Canal and the Airport Hub of the Americas, Panama's famous Tocumen Airport, the total absence of violence and crime and petty crime, and customs exchange markets among the largest in the Americas, as in Paraguay.

Geopolitical neutrality and the absence of belligerent armies and weapons. Other countries worth considering for their exceptional economy, advanced lifestyle, and advantageous location near the United States are Mexico, with its best offerings, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Mexico boasts geopolitical neutrality, is no enemy and a friend to all. While its tax system isn't as excellent as Panama or Paraguay, it still allows you to save significantly compared to Italy, Europe, and the United States. With some specific visas, it allows 100% tax exemption, as if you were living in a tax haven like Panama or Paraguay.

Finally, there are numerous destinations where you can move to live and work abroad, and our final advice is to contact us for a specialist consultation with one of our immigration lawyers specializing in foreigners in Latin America and carefully evaluate which might be the best country to move to. Among the emerging ones are Uruguay , Colombia , Costa Rica, and Chile , which, although they require permanent residence in the country to avoid losing residency, are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to the traditionally renowned destinations.

From these goals you can, even if paying a certain amount of taxes, optimize an online business with an offshore bank account and offshore companies such as a Panama corporation , or a Seychelles corporation or even a US LLC such as a Delaware LLC or New Mexico LLC with a US account and EIN .

Benefits of Citizenship and Foreign Residence

• Freedom of Movement : A foreign passport or second passport can provide visa-free access to key countries.
• Tax Benefits : Many jurisdictions offer favorable tax regimes for residents and citizens.
• Security and Diversification : Having a second residence or citizenship can protect you from political or economic instability in your home country.
• Business Opportunities : Some countries offer access to international markets and investor benefits.