By Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald, Esq.
Having two different paths to an important destination is an example of beneficial redundancy
This article is part of our series on mobility concept & strategy explainers.
Visa-free redundancy is having visa free access to a given country through two or more mobility assets (citizenship, residency, or visa).
For example: A person is a dual Canadian - American citizen.
That person has visa-free access to the Dominican Republic through both the United States and Canada. If he loses visa-free access to the Dominican Republic through one of his citizenships, he can still use the other citizenship to access the Dominican Republic visa-free.
His visa-free redundancy strengthens the chances he'll be able to access the Dominican Republic visa-free over the course of his life.
Everyone has a few countries near to their heart that they want access to, no mater what
The two biggest ways a person would lose visa-free country through a citizenship is if:
He loses the citizenship, either by renunciation, an expatriating act or involuntary loss; or
His country loses visa-free access to the destination country.
Visa-free redundancy can be a factor for people pursuing multiple citizenship who have a strong need to be able to visit a country, whether to visit family, make business trips, for leisure or otherwise.
In my experience, some American citizens pursuing second and third citizenship, do so with an eye towards gaining visa-free redundancy to their most important countries, because they are entertaining the possibility of renouncing U.S. citizenship in the future.
If they do so, they’ll lose visa-free access they enjoyed through their American citizenship.
However, aiming for visa-free redundancy to a country is a strategy that can be employed by anyone pursuing multiple citizenship who greatly values ease of access to a given country or set of countries.