How A Second Citizenship Benefits Entrepreneurs

Nothing better illustrates globalisation than supply chains. By connecting trade routes throughout the entire world, supply chains condense the globe into a fully integrated economic ecosystem. Combine this with investment migration programs throughout the world, supply chain professionals are provided with easily attainable global mobility solutions, such as golden visas or second passports.

How Investment Migration Benefits Entrepreneurs

Gaining a second passport or residency through investment comes with a multitude of benefits, chief among them are:

1. Visa-Free Travel
2. Business Opportunities
3. Market Access
4. Political Stability and Risk Mitigation
5. Diversification of Assets and Investments
6. Business Expansion
7. Tax Reductions

For supply chain professionals such as importers and exporters, gaining greater global access has become a need, rather than a luxury. If you’re in the supply chain profession, these are the best programs available for you:

What Are The Easiest Programs to Get Citizenship for Entrepreneurs?

Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Programs

The Caribbean Citizenship Programs are highly affordable, and do not require any residence or visas prior to applying. They are also lightning quick, as the process usually takes between 3-6 months from the date of application.

Caribbean passports are very powerful in terms of travel ability, granting visa-free access to around 150 destinations worldwide, including the United Kingdom, EU, Singapore, and many other essential trade hubs.

Dominica and Grenada both have visa-free waiver agreements with China, which is one of the world’s most important economic and political spheres with a notoriously tedious visa application process.

China is the world’s largest exporter of goods with a staggering export value of 3.59 trillion USD in 2022, and it is the world’s second-largest importer, bringing in 2.72 trillion USD worth of goods in the same year. Gaining direct access to the Chinese trade market is a crucial step for any global importer or exporter.

Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, and St Lucia were recently placed on Canada’s visa-free list, meaning that they now have access to Canada on the condition that a citizen of these countries has already issued a visa once in the past ten years.

Caribbean countries are considered tax-friendly destinations that do not levy global income, wealth, capital gains, or inheritance tax. Importers and exporters can leverage this tax framework as citizens to restructure their tax burden.

The five countries have outstanding offshore financial services sectors, allowing traders to set up bank accounts, offshore trusts, and LLCs that can help them restructure their financial value chain to maximize profit and elevate financial security.

EU Golden Visas

Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Malta, and Latvia all have their own version of a Golden Visa, while the one that garners the most attention from the media – the Portuguese Golden Visa – is still active, albeit with ongoing amendments.

While Portugal’s Golden Visa has a residence requirement of just seven days a year, Spain, Greece, Latvia, and Cyprus do not have any, but if someone wants to obtain citizenship, they must physically reside in the country for a specific amount of time.

Malta is a bit different since it has a permanent residency program, which is one of the most affordable in the world, starting at just €110,000, but it also has a direct citizenship by investment program starting at €690,000.

Malta’s passport is one of the best in the world, providing its holder visa-free entry into a staggering 187 destinations worldwide, Portugal’s passport is even more impressive with its 188 visa-free destinations.

But even a residency permit on its own can boost a person’s travel ability, as all the EU countries mentioned, except Cyprus, are part of the Schengen Zone, meaning a resident of these countries can access the rest of the Schengen Zone visa-free.

The Turkish Citizenship by Investment Program

The program has various investment categories, but the most prominent is undoubtedly the real estate option for $400,000. The Turkish Citizenship by Investment Program has naturalised over 19,000 people since its launch in 2017, and it remains very popular among investors.

The recent appointment of financial master Mehmet Şimşek as the Minister of Finance should also boost the country’s economy, as his previous reigns in the ministry have seen him curb inflation and cut the trade deficit, all good things for supply chain professionals to capitalise on.

Turkey’s passport focuses more on visa-free travel to Africa, Asia, and Latin America, meaning if a person obtains a Turkish passport alongside a Caribbean or EU one, they will unlock almost every country on the map.

The US EB5 Visa

The United States of America remains the largest importer in the world with an import value exceeding $3.27 trillion in 2022 and is also a major export hub having exported more than $2 trillion in the same year.

The overall trade value of the US makes it the world’s second largest trading nation only after China. And accessing the United States is quite simple through the EB5.

The EB5 visa recently underwent changes, and the minimum investment amount in a regional center is set at $800,000. After five years of residence, green card holders can apply for the US passport.

While entrepreneurs in various industries can leverage second citizenship to enhance their global business operations, medical enterpreneurs also stand to gain significant advantages from these programs. Just as traders and business owners use second citizenship to expand their market reach and optimize tax benefits, medical professionals can use it to elevate their careers and access a wealth of opportunities across borders.

The following section explores how second citizenship benefits medical entrepreneurs, offering them the freedom to engage in international medical practices, attend global conferences, and more.

Second Citizenship Benefits For Medical Entrepreneurs

One of the main allures of citizenship by investment is the ability to maximize visa-free travel through a new, strong passport. This is why Caribbean Citizenship by Investment Programs are so popular, as they provide visa-free access to approximately 150 destinations worldwide including the United Kingdom, EU, Singapore, China, and more, while some even have visa-free access to Canada.

This elevated travel freedom can benefit professionals in various ways, including:

• Access to international opportunities
• Professional Development
• Cultural Exchange and Diversity
• Attending Medical Conferences
• Networking and Collaboration
• Access to NGOs
• Better Opportunities for Children

Doctors

Doctors who want to stay on top of their game must always be aware of the latest medical trends, inventions, discoveries, and updates. They are in perpetual learning mode and therefore require direct access to information.

One of the primary routes to gathering such information is by attending medical conferences. Whether the conference is geared toward pharmaceuticals, technology, medical discoveries, or just plain symposiums aimed towards educating doctors in the field, they provide a great source of information.

Luckily, there are thousands of conferences held worldwide each year, and a significant amount of them are held in Europe. By gaining a second passport with visa-free access to the EU, doctors can easily attend any conference they feel will enhance their knowledge base and benefit them in their practice.

The EU has become a hub for medical professionals to network and share information, with some conferences in Europe even hosting over 30,000 attendees, ensuring that those who join in are part of the largest conglomeration of medical professionals in history.

Caribbean passports, which grant visa-free entry to the EU and the UK, are especially helpful here, as 17 out of the top 20 (85%) best healthcare systems in the world belong to countries on the visa-free travel list of Caribbean passports. This allows doctors who hold a passport of Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, or St Lucia to attend top conferences in the nations with the best-performing healthcare systems.

By gaining access to the EU, doctors have a front seat to one of the world’s leading medical areas. In 2022, revenue for medical R&D equipment in the US and EU grew by a staggering 26%, highlighting the kind of unhindered informational access doctors can achieve by getting direct entry to the countries pioneering medical innovation.

Caribbean passports also offer doctors a vital second home in case they ever need to leave their country of origin, but what is more interesting is the availability of work in these countries that may allow doctors to continue their practice if they ever decide to activate their backup plan.

St Lucia, for example, is in dire need of more doctors, as it only has 0.6 doctors for every 1000 residents, one of the worst ratios worldwide. Dominica is not far behind with a ratio of 1.1 for every 1000, ensuring that doctors can easily set up their practice in countries that need them.

Grenada is also an excellent option, as it is home to St George’s Hospital and Medical University, allowing doctors to either practice medicine or teach it to the next generation. This makes Grenada an excellent place for doctors who are looking to retire somewhere sunny and laid back yet keep themselves occupied by imparting their knowledge.

Nurses

Just like doctors, nurses are also required to maintain an updated level of knowledge regarding medical practices, techniques, and discoveries, a matter that a second passport can help them achieve.

There are thousands of nursing conferences and conventions held in Europe, many of which focus on particular care areas such as clinical, cancer, trauma, mental health, and various other nursing areas. Caribbean passports can allow nurses to attend these conferences easily without the need for exhaustive planning and numerous visa applications.

Visa-free travel can also help nurses enhance their careers by gaining invaluable access to new medical trends as they evolve. For example, the remote patient monitoring market is expected to continue growing at a Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.3% for the next seven years, and by attending relevant conferences and networking with the right people in innovative countries, nurses can stay ahead of the curve and enhance their careers by having elevated levels of information.

Visa-free travel, especially to countries with low healthcare systems rankings, can even help nurses pursue careers with NGOs, who on average require more nursing staff than doctors, and work on short project timelines, meaning visa-free access for 90 days to a certain country would be more than enough. Turkey’s passport is excellent in this regard as it grants visa-free access to major NGO target areas in Africa, the MENA, and Southeast Asia.

Pharmacists

In the medical world, innovations in medical drugs never stop, and pharmacists have the arduous task of having to keep up.

Luckily, pharmaceutical manufacturing is highly centered around Europe, as Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, France, and Belgium are responsible for more than 50% of global pharmaceutical exports alone. China produces about 5%, The UK about 3%, while Canada is responsible for 1.2%. These are all countries that are accessible visa-free with a Caribbean passport.

Pharmacists who invest in a second citizenship from the Caribbean will have direct entry to the world’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturing and distributing nations, allowing them to gain early access to information, connections, and products.

For pharmacists who deal in regional distribution, this visa-free access could be the key to getting better deals for existing products or exclusive ones for new drugs before it reaches their home markets.

The total global pharmaceutical industry revenues in 2022 exceeded 1.4 trillion USD, and the main production region is situated within the EU. Pharmacists who want to stay on top need unhindered access to that region.

Dentists

Dentistry is often looked at through microlens, limiting the practice of a dentist to their medical abilities. However, those who operate their own clinic will tell you that a significant part of their work is in supply chain management, not just dentistry.

Increased competition means that dentists have to carefully balance their medical proficiency and their pricing module, evolving both at the same time while maintaining profitability.

This is why gaining access to major dental equipment manufacturing countries is vital, as it allows them to obtain better pricing for their operations through economies of scale, and it gives them a head start when a new product comes out.

In terms of dental equipment exports, Germany is the world’s largest exporter (10.4%), followed by China (8.71%), while Poland is fourth (8.07%). A dentist can access all three of these countries with a Dominican or Grenadian passport.

Biomedical Engineers

Medical technology is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries. The medical devices industry is expected to reach 603 billion USD at the end of 2023, completing a CAGR of 6.1%. The industry is mainly dominated by the US and the EU, as the revenues of their companies in 2020 amounted to almost 480 billion USD.

By gaining visa-free access to key countries, biomedical engineers can expand their knowledge base, obtain new information or products, or find new employment or partnership opportunities.

As the medical technology market becomes more globalised, so does the need for biomedical engineers to access it, a matter a Caribbean passport can easily help with.

In Closing

To be able to evolve their business, entrepreneurs should be able to access the world with relative ease, something that can be done through obtaining a second passport or residency by investment.

The options are plentiful, the process is very simple, and the costs are highly affordable. To know more about the best investment migration programs for importers and exporters, contact us today to book a consultation with one of our experts.