The growing importance of Dual Citizenship
In recent years, Dual citizenship has become an increasingly popular option as it provides access to opportunities and security. Indeed, there has been a significant increase in the number of citizens with second citizenship as a result of the rise in private wealth citizenship. Moreover, with the emergence of the concept of economic migration, the general and political attitude towards dual citizenship has become more positive since it brought about a significant increase in international trade, globalisation and improvements in transportation, communications and technology.
Since the issue of citizenship is within the sovereignty of the country, different countries’ position on citizenship can be separated into three main fields: allowing , restricting and prohibiting dual citizenship. Nationals from countries forming part of the European Union will also benefit from EU citizenship which comes with a vast array of benefits. EU citizenship confers the right to an EU citizen to move, reside, study, work and do business within another EU Member State, a factor which has attracted several non-EU nationals to seek a second citizenship of an EU member state, particularly through Citizenship by Investment programmes. As a response to this, CCLEX's Research and Development team carried out a comprehensive analysis, The Dual Citizenship Report, of laws regulating dual citizenship in European jurisdictions and their stance with respect to dual citizenship.
In order to do so, CCLEX's researchers carried out a data gathering exercise wherein they collaborated with a number of specialist European immigration law firms that provided information and commentary on the citizenship laws in their respective countries. Besides providing vetted information from trusted legal sources in each jurisdiction, CCLEX's researchers further supplemented this primary data with extensive research on the laws of the country, official information provided on government and consulate websites, and other information from reputable sources.
The findings of the report highlight the main circumstances in which a person may wish to obtain dual citizenship, including: birth in a country that grants citizenship by birth; citizenship by descent; through marriage; through adoption by parents who are citizens of another country; citizenship by neutralisation; and through the application of one of the Citizen by Investment (CBI) Programmes offered by various European jurisdictions, namely Malta, Austria and Cyprus.