Why a second citizenship no longer is a luxury, but a necessity for many nationalities

By Kenny Chukwuma

Some nationalities, especially Nigerians experience huge challenges in travelling around the world. The challenges faced by Nigerian travelers stems from that the Nigerian passport only allows the holder visa free travel to 20 countries and visa on arrival at ports of 24 countries, according to the Passport Index 2021.^[1] This means Nigerians who intend to travel to different parts of the world like Europe, America and Asia for holidays, education, medical treatment, business or to pursue investment opportunities will have to resort to applying for visas and entry clearances.

Executive orders, bans and immigration rules for Nigerian travelers

In recent times, many countries have come up with Executive Orders and changes to immigration Rules to manage the number of foreign nationals coming into their countries. As reported in the media, some of these Orders and Rules were put in place in order to help secure their borders against criminals, manage net migration rate and also in times of serious health challenges or a pandemic like the COVID-19 lockdown.

In 2020^[2], the former President of United States of America President Donald Trump imposed a travel ban on Nigeria, according to Department of Homeland Security the decision was taken as Nigeria did not meet the minimum security and information sharing requirements with the USA. This move made it more challenging for Nigerians with genuine reasons of travelling to the USA to obtain a visa at the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

The European Union^[3] in 2020 threatened to tighten the procedures for obtaining Schengen Visa for Nigerian nationals as they claimed that the Nigerian government failed to pay its part in the return and readmission of Nigerians staying illegally in Europe.

Statistics obtained from Schengenvisainfo.com^[4] showed that in the year 2018, Schengen Embassies and Consulates in Nigeria processed a total of 88,587 visa applications, 44,076 of which were rejected thus marking the highest rejection rate of almost 50% rate of rejection among all third-countries in need of Schengen visas.

In the year 2019, Schengen Embassies and Consulates in Nigeria processed a total of 102,322 visa applications, 50,747 of which were issued and 49,625 were denied^[5].

The above statistics are alarming and clearly show that many genuine Nigerian travelers to the Schengen states are among the ones denied this opportunity of traveling.

According to an All-Party UK Parliamentary Report^[6] published on 16th July 2019, Home Office data on visa refusals shows that African applicants are over twice as likely to be refused a UK visa than applicants from any other continent of the world. Refusals for applicants from Africa in 2018^[7] were running at more than double the global average.

Second citizenship as plan B for Nigerians

As the world has become a global market and there are emerging markets in different continents with amazing investment opportunities, there is an urgent need for Nigerian investors and business owners to maintain global competitiveness by finding efficient and more effective ways of traveling around the world with limited restrictions.

It is therefore expedient for high-net-worth Nigerians to seek second citizenship of some countries which will in turn avail them the freedom to travel around the world visa free. In the past, acquiring a second citizenship was perceived as luxury for high net worth Nigerians rather than a necessity. These Nigerians are mostly known for acquiring holiday homes and seeking tax havens in the Caribbean Islands.

According to The Africa Report^[8], dual citizenship by investment greatly expands travel options and is key to African economic development.

Citizenship programs around the world show that Grenada citizenship offers a great option for Nigerians and other nationalities. This is because the Grenada passport avails the holder the privilege and access to over 140 countries visa free including the United Kingdom, the Schengen states, China, Russia and many other countries.

Secondly, Grenada citizens interested in living and working in the USA can apply for the E-2 Visa in the U.S. as investors by establishing a new business or setting up a branch of their existing business in any part of the US. The spouse of the main applicant is allowed to work legally in any sector while their children are considered as home students for the case of school tuition payment.

Grenada is the only country in the Caribbean islands that the citizens can apply for E-2 Visas and that is as a result of the Treaty Agreement between USA and Grenada.

This option makes Grenada citizenship a unique citizenship when compared with citizenships of other Caribbean countries.

Grenada citizenship can be acquired through investment in government approved real estate projects or through a non-refundable donation to the National Transformation Fund of the Grenada government. The minimum cost for the Real Estate investment is $220,000 American dollars (plus government fees, due diligence fees, processing fees, legal fees, passport fees). The non-refundable donation is $150,000 (plus government fees, due diligence fees, processing fees, legal fees, passport fees).

The application process takes around three months for approval and grant of citizenship and there is no requirement for the applicant to travel to Grenada or to be interviewed before citizenship is approved. Another major advantage of seeking Grenada citizenship is that the applicant and/or their spouse can include their dependent parents or grandparents and their unmarried siblings in one single application for citizenship.

Legal aspects and constitution

Nigerian Constitution allows for Dual Citizenship^[9],  this therefore means that Nigerians can acquire another citizenship and still maintain their Nigerian citizenship. There is no requirement for renunciation of citizenship before grant of new citizenship by the Grenada government. Dual citizens still maintain all their rights and privileges in Nigeria like voting or to be voted for in an election provided they are Nigerian citizens by birth^[10].

Many Nigerian families are currently seeking opportunities to acquire second citizenship in order to ease the burden of applying for travel visas, better education opportunities and as a plan B in the event of political, economic and social unrest in the country.

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