I’ve sat across from families who’ve built extraordinary wealth — eight-figure, nine-figure or more portfolios, multiple businesses, real estate across different markets. By every conventional measure, they’ve won.

But when we start talking about the future — where their kids will live and grow up, what happens if tax policy or the social climate shifts, whether their grandchildren will have the same opportunities — I see something else: anxiety.

Because here’s what most “successful” families eventually realize: all that wealth, all those businesses, all those years of work — it’s completely dependent on one government, one tax system, one set of rules that can change overnight.

That’s the gap between being successful on paper and actually feeling secure as a family.

The families who sleep well at night? They’ve built something different. Not just wealth, but optionality — legal highways across continents for their family, wealth, and businesses revenue to flow through nimbly, and independently. Not just a Plan A, but a Plan B, C, and D that their children inherit automatically.

Let’s dig into one of the most important topics that treats everyone equally, regardless of wealth: gaining second passports and residencies. Only one of the pathways relate to investable capital.

There are only four broad ways to acquire citizenship in any country.

Once you understand how each path works — and how they’re independent of each other — you can combine them strategically. Aka, you can stack them and make your time count for multiple programs.

Let me walk you through all four —creating dual citizenships, triple citizenships even, global mobility, and multigenerational optionality.

1. Citizenship by Heritage (or Ancestry)

If you have family roots in Europe, Latin America, or certain other regions, citizenship by ancestry (or more broadly heritage), is often your most cost-effective starting point.

Many countries allow you to claim citizenship not just through direct bloodline, but sometimes through broader heritage ties — religion, historical connection, or special provisions in immigration law.

The bloodline path is the most common. Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Hungary all allow you to claim citizenship through parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents. An American or Canadian with an Irish grandparent can often apply for an Irish passport, giving them full rights to live, work, and study anywhere in the European Union.

But heritage goes beyond bloodline. Spain and Portugal have offered citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled during the Inquisition. Israel’s Law of Return extends citizenship to those with Jewish heritage. These programs recognize that identity isn’t always a straight line on a family tree.

The process takes years, not months — sometimes several years depending on documentation requirements and government processing backlogs. But it’s usually far more affordable than citizenship by investment programs, and once approved, it doesn’t just apply to you. It passes down automatically to your children and future generations.

2. Citizenship by Investment

For families who need speed and certainty, citizenship by investment offers a direct pathway to a second passport and fast-track global mobility.

Countries like St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda offer citizenship in exchange for an approved investment, typically in real estate or a government development fund. Some programs can still be measured in months, though timelines are becoming longer as due diligence becomes more rigorous.

These programs provide visa-free access to over 150 countries and are particularly valuable for families where time is more valuable than money. These programs serve as a quick step to gain a second passport that could be used as residency vehicles, establish tax residency in a low/no tax zone or a secondary travel document used for business purposes abroad. They’re reliable and efficient — and they can be completed while other citizenship paths are still processing.

I have a family in my circle who pursued multiple citizenship by investment programs at the same time — not just for the passports, but because the real estate markets aligned with their investment thesis and several programs were scheduled to increase their minimum investment thresholds.

Long story short, they completed these programs for around half of what the new programs cost, with better terms. This is on top of their ancestry applications and plans for giving births in different countries. More on this later.

This is family planning across continents and generations.

3. Citizenship by Naturalization

This is the classic route: residency first, citizenship later.

You move to a country you genuinely want to live in, maintain legal and likely tax residency, and after a set period — often three to five years, sometimes longer — you become eligible to apply for citizenship by naturalization.

This is one of the more uncertain routes but if you’re already enjoying the place you’re residing in, the lifestyle and affordability can sometimes be worth more than the uncertainty.

For example, until recently, Portugal was one of those attractive locations, great lifestyle combined with granting citizenship after five years of residency, sometimes without full-time residency. But as of 2025, that has officially changed — the residency requirement has doubled to ten years.

This highlights quite well the dangers of assuming things will stay the same. What was accessible yesterday becomes twice as difficult tomorrow.

Canada and the U.S. still typically require three to five years after obtaining permanent residency. Uruguay and Paraguay offer relatively simple entry programs, but naturalization on the ground doesn’t always work like it looks on paper.

For families, this route makes sense only if you are ready to live abroad, build community, and seriously integrate into a society.

Yes, you will acquire dual citizenship benefits, but never move somewhere solely for a passport. Choose a country that aligns with how you want to live, work, and raise your family. The citizenship should be icing on the cake, not the entire reason you’re there.

4. Citizenship by Birth

This is the most overlooked path — and one of the most powerful for families thinking generationally.

Certain countries, especially in the Americas, grant citizenship by birth (jus soli) to any child born on their soil, regardless of the parents’ nationality.

Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile all offer this, and it’s not just about the newborn. These programs often extend residency or permanent residency benefits to parents and siblings as well. One birth can reshape your entire family’s legal and mobility status for generations. Think about it, the newborn starts with at least 2 passports, and most parents would want to set up their child up for success without a doubt.

How Families Stack The Four Ways

I mentioned one example, so let’s broaden it out.

You can pursue all of them simultaneously. When you complete your paperwork and you’re just waiting and living life, you’ll be way less anxious what will happen to your country in 5-10 years. Just continue living life as is and if the winds change, you can be the first one out if it’s not in your favor.

This is true resilience — residency and passport stacking that gives your family the flexibility to live, invest, bank, move, do business and study without borders.

Picture this coordinated approach:

You start claiming Irish or Polish citizenship by heritage while documentation is being processed, you move to Canada, Portugal or Uruguay and start accruing time toward naturalization. You invest in a Caribbean citizenship program for immediate mobility. And your family gives birth in Brazil or Mexico, where citizenship is automatic for the child and creates benefits for parents and siblings.

With that one coordinated plan, a single family gains:
– Access to North America
– Freedom to live and work anywhere in the European Union
– Rights to live and trade within Mercosur (South America)
– Visa-free travel to most of the world
– Local tuition and education access across continents
– Tax and business structuring options in different jurisdictions
– A permanent Plan A, B, and C for the next generation — inherited from birth

That’s real family security — not betting everything on one system, but building legal bridges across continents.

Common Pitfalls When Pursuing Multiple Citizenships

Here’s what families new to dual citizenship strategies find out, oftentimes years into their strategy: weighing all four paths equally or that these programs will always be available.

There is nuance. Each has different pros, cons, timelines, and costs — and every one is subject to legislative change. So you’ll need to study your vision and devise what order of operations matters for you.

The biggest pitfall, dare I say, mistake, of all is assuming these programs will wait for your timeline. Case and point:

Turkey had a thriving citizenship by investment program, until they raised the minimum investment threshold overnight.

Portugal’s Golden Visa once dominated Europe; then they gutted the real-estate option entirely — and now, even naturalization requires double the time it once did.

Families who waited lost access forever. Families who moved too slowly are now looking at doubling their budget or time on the ground to complete their plan.

Where to Begin

If this sounds overwhelming, start with what’s already within reach:

– Research your lineage. Do you qualify for citizenship by descent or heritage programs?
– Identify one country you think you’ll genuinely enjoy living in and explore naturalization requirements. Go visit there first.
– Consider an investment citizenship if time and global access matter more than paperwork.
– If you’re growing your family, explore birthright citizenship through resources like MyBirthAbroad.com — it can create advantages for your entire family tree.

The earlier you start, the more you can layer (and double dip on time) — and the more permanent your family’s freedom becomes.

Citizenship isn’t just paperwork. It’s supreme insurance. It’s optionality. It’s the foundation that lets your family navigate whatever the next twenty years bring — without being trapped by one government or one passport.

And unlike portfolios or real estate, the right citizenships don’t just protect your wealth. They do that AND multiply your family’s choices across generations.