Dual Citizenship and Second Citizenship: What’s the Difference?

What is dual citizenship and how is it different from second citizenship? Is it legal to have dual citizenship? If it is, how can you obtain it? What benefits does dual citizenship bring? What about the benefits of second citizenship? We answer these and other related questions in the text below.  

The difference between dual citizenship and second citizenship

The obvious common thing that these concepts have is as follows: if you have dual citizenship, you are a citizen of two countries at a time. If you have second citizenship, you are, again, a citizen of two countries at a time. However, there are some differences between the two concepts anyway.

Definition of dual citizenship

Dual citizenship is a legal concept that allows a person to be a bipatride, a citizen of two countries simultaneously. It is possible if the two countries have made a bilateral agreement on dual citizenship. A holder of dual citizenship has rights and obligations that citizens of both countries in question have.

The parties to the agreement exchange information about the bipatrides and regulate distribution of their rights and obligations. In other words, the civil status of a bipatride is regulated jointly by two countries.

Definition of second citizenship

Second citizenship is an opportunity to have two national passports at a time too. However, if the two countries have not signed an agreement on dual citizenship, then the holder of two passports is said to have second citizenship rather than dual citizenship. In this case, each of the countries considers the person its citizen and disregards his/ her citizenship of the other country.

If you obtain second citizenship of a foreign country, the authorities of your home country may well remain ignorant about the fact. At the same time, informing the authorities about acquiring second citizenship is mandatory in some national states.

So what’s the difference?

The differences are not great and they can be rendered down to the following two characteristics:      

• Existence or non-existence of a bilateral agreement on dual citizenship;
• The treatment of holders of two passports: when you have second citizenship, each country considers you its citizen; if you have dual citizenship, each country will recognize the public duties that you have in the other country. 

Advantages and disadvantages of dual and second citizenship  

How can you acquire dual or second citizenship?

It is much simpler to obtain second citizenship rather than dual citizenship so we will start with this opportunity.

Ways of obtaining second citizenship

• By descent (right of blood). If one of your parents is a foreign citizen, you will normally be entitled for citizenship of the foreign country. Some countries (but not too many of them) will grant you citizenship if you can prove that a more remote relative of yours (your grandparent or your great grandparent) was their citizen.
• By birth (right of soil). Some countries grant their citizenship to anyone born on their territories even if the child is born to foreigners. Thus, you can have one passport ‘by blood’ and one more passport ‘by soil’. Some countries where the right of soil is applied:
  • United States of America;
  • Argentina;
  • Brazil.
• By naturalization. You can acquire second citizenship by naturalization if you live in a foreign country for a long time (from 2 to 20 years depending on the country). As a rule, you have to pass a language and a history test to become a naturalized citizen of the foreign country. The process can be accelerated if you do one of the following:
  • Attend a university in the foreign country;
  • Join the army of the foreign country;
  • Marry a citizen of the foreign country.
• By investment. You can also obtain second citizenship if you make a substantial monetary contribution to the economy of a foreign country. For instance, you can acquire foreign citizenship by investment in real estate, securities, business, a venture fund, etc. In some countries, you can qualify for citizenship if you make a non-returnable donation to the state fund or make a large bank deposit or create a few new jobs in the country. When you invest in some property to qualify for citizenship of a foreign country, you have to keep the property in your possession for several years if you are to keep your second passport. The timeframes of acquiring second citizenship by investment can be between 2 months and 3 years, depending on the particular country. Sometimes, foreign citizenship can be applied for remotely.
• By providing outstanding services to a foreign country. Many national governments are prepared to grant citizenship to outstanding foreign individuals. Scientists, artists, and sportsmen of exceptional talents can sometimes acquire foreign citizenship in an instant.

Ways of obtaining dual citizenship                 

In addition to naturalization, there are a few alternative routes to dual citizenship. These include the following ones:

• If a child is born to a dual citizenship holder, the child will normally qualify for dual citizenship too. Sometimes, he or she has to renounce citizenship of one of the countries when coming of age.
• If a child is born in an international marriage, he or she will also normally qualify for dual citizenship.
• If a child is adopted by a foreign family, he or she can also become a dual citizenship holder.

Concealing information about second citizenship acquisition

The authorities of some countries don’t care how many passports you have. If you are a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis, for example, you can obtain citizenship of as many other countries as you wish and nobody’s ever going to ask you about it.

The authorities of some other countries, however, will want you to inform them about your acquiring foreign citizenship. If you fail to do it and you pretend that you ‘forgot’ when they find you out, you may be fined or just frowned upon. If you keep insisting that you don’t have second citizenship while you do, in fact, you are asking for trouble. The amount of trouble will depend on the particular country.

Besides, some countries disallow dual citizenship. If you live in one of these countries and you secretly acquire foreign citizenship, you will face a simple choice when you are found out. Namely, you will have to renounce your foreign citizenship or lose your home country’s passport.

Sometimes, however, the situation may not be so simple. Dual citizenship is prohibited in China but the Chinese are actively ‘buying’ citizenship of some Caribbean states such as Grenada, for example. How is this possible? We could not speak for the Chinese authorities but we assume that they don’t mind if some Chinese move somewhere else as the country is packed as it is.

Regulations on dual citizenship in different countries

Each national state will have its own attitude towards dual citizenship. Some countries allow it, some others disallow it, and still some others allow dual citizenship under certain conditions or with certain limitations. The table below describes where the things stand as far as dual citizenship regulations in different countries are concerned.

Regulations on dual citizenship in different countries

Open sources have been used to compile the list. Please note that some countries are missing. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you find that some information is outdated.