One year on from the Brexit announcement, an uncertain political environment following last week’s results at the UK General Election brings the topic of second citizenship back to the fore.
A recent study conducted by CS Global Partners reveals UK citizens were drawn to the prospect of dual-citizenship following the Brexit decision, with a staggering 81% willing to invest their income in exchange for the privilege. But will the current uncertainty rising from the Conservative’s challenge to form Government factor in a citizen’s decision to look at alternative citizenship options?
Interestingly, 89% of UK citizens who completed the recent survey would like to have a second citizenship, with 58.46% of those participants admitting Brexit or another specific event had been a motivating factor for their research. Of the findings, CS Global CEO Micha-Rose Emmett believes “the results indicate that people are looking now more than ever for certainty and security amid a landscape of economic and political change.”
Surprisingly, 15% of survey participants said they would be willing to invest half their annual salary to become a citizen of a second country, and over 80% would be comfortable donating 5% of their annual income. The survey showed that three in four participants believed that a second passport meant freedom: the ability to travel and explore the world.
Second citizenship: an insurance policy against political change
Emmett believes the arguable instability and uncertainty sparked from a minority government could reinvigorate the conversation for second citizenship:
“Brexit has clearly had an influence on the UK’s views on citizenship and I believe the current political context stimulates similar discussion. It has always been our advice however to act preventively in the face of potential uncertainty: a second citizenship is an insurance policy against socio-political change.”
The results revealed Australia to be the number one nation of choice for dual-citizenship, followed closely by USA, then Canada and Germany. Lifestyle was an overriding motivation to belong to these countries.