{"id":683341,"date":"2023-04-30T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T09:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=683341"},"modified":"2023-04-28T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T14:16:44","slug":"3-ways-south-africans-can-acquire-citizenship-in-another-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/683341\/3-ways-south-africans-can-acquire-citizenship-in-another-country\/","title":{"rendered":"3 ways South Africans can acquire citizenship in another country"},"content":{"rendered":"

A growing number of South Africans are looking at ways to get a second residency or citizenship \u2013 either as a \u2018plan B\u2019, or to take advantage of a range of lifestyle, business, investment and tax benefits. But if you don\u2019t have the money for a Golden Visa, and don\u2019t want to start a business, there are still alternative options to consider.<\/p>\n

While Residency by Investment (RBI) programmes and Golden Visas are notable ways in which a person can gain secondary citizenship, they require millions of rands, which the majority of South Africans do not have.<\/p>\n

According to Global Residence Index, golden visas and citizenship by investment are not the same.<\/p>\n

Citizenship by investment programs gives full citizenship to the applications, providing the same benefits as a natural-born citizen of that country will receive. Whereas golden visas only offer residency in another country and are only offered for a certain period.<\/p>\n

Henley and Partners<\/a> noted that citizenship through investment is a popular route for wealthy individuals, and there are several countries that offer such a strategy for a premium amount of investment.<\/p>\n

These countries include T\u00fcrkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Austria, Malta and others in the Caribbean \u2013 all of which require investments of between R1.8 million and R15 million.<\/p>\n

Africa also has its own residency by investment programs in\u00a0Namibia and Mauritius for those with R5.5 million and R6.8 million, respectively.<\/p>\n

The good news is that you don\u2019t need to be wealthy to live and work abroad, said Dani van Vuuren, a business consultant at Sovereign Trust. There are other options available, and the continually changing residency and citizenship landscape means there\u2019s something for everyone.<\/p>\n

Three ways to acquire citizenship are listed below, as outlined by Van Vuuren.<\/p>\n

\n

Ancestry<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have parents, grandparents (and in some instances even great-grandparents) born in a different country, you may already be eligible for a second citizenship by descent.<\/p>\n

However, you will have to clearly prove your ancestral links and documentation, and you will generally have to live in the country you want citizenship from for the full naturalisation period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the UK is a popular destination for South Africans using an ancestral visa, many countries around the world offer this route to citizenship. It\u2019s worth discussing your options with an adviser,\u201d said Van Vuuren.<\/p>\n

\n

Naturalisation<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you live and work in a country for a certain period, you can often qualify to apply for permanent residency, and, ultimately, citizenship of that country.<\/p>\n

The rules of naturalisation vary from country to country. Typically, they include a promise to obey and uphold that country’s laws and may include additional requirements such as demonstrating an adequate knowledge of a country\u2019s language and culture.<\/p>\n

\n

Direct Citizenship Programmes<\/strong><\/p>\n

These programmes offer citizenship within three to six months in exchange for an investment or government donation, generally with no physical presence requirements.<\/p>\n

They also provide residency rights within a range of other countries with which the issuing country holds freedom of movement treaties.<\/p>\n

Here, popular destinations for South Africans include Malta and several Caribbean countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many points to consider before making a decision on where to seek an alternative residency or citizenship,\u201d said Van Vuuren.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Every individual\u2019s choices will differ based on their needs, and it\u2019s critical to get expert advice before making a move to ensure you remain tax-compliant and to navigate the nuances of each programme and country. It\u2019s best to plan well in advance before you uproot your life in South Africa and seek new beginnings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read: <\/strong>How much it costs to get a \u2018golden visa\u2019 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK and the USA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are multiple ways for South Africans to gain secondary citizenship. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":683395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26,13235],"class_list":["post-683341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-headline","tag-sovereign-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683341"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":683931,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683341\/revisions\/683931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}