By Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald, Esq.
This article is part of our series on mobility concept & strategy explainers.
A mobility asset is a formalized government permission to enter, reside, or work in a given country. This includes citizenship, a semi-citizenship, residency, or possibly even a visa.
Mobility assets won’t put dollars in your bank account or sats in your wallet but they are the tools of human freedom of movement across borders.
Although the physical documents representing these legal permissions (i.e. a passport for citizenship or a green card for permanent residence) are sometimes colloquially referred to as the permissions themselves, the two are not the same.
In other words, a passport is not a citizenship. A passport is a travel document usually afforded only to a country’s citizens. Similarly, a green card is not a permanent residency. It is physical proof of a person’s permanent residency.
Just the same way one would not consider a paper bank statement showing their bank account balance to be the money itself, a passport is not a person’s citizenship itself.
Sample Mobility Asset Portfolio #1
A mobility asset portfolio is a given person’s collection of these mobility assets. Clients seeking maximum freedom of movement work to build a mobility asset portfolio that best suits their lifestyle, future goals, and budget.
For example, a person’s mobility asset portfolio might include:
Canadian citizenship
Slovak citizenship
Dominican permanent residency
This mobility asset portfolio includes two citizenships and one residency. The combination of these mobility assets allows the person the indefinite right to live, and work in all of Canada, Slovakia, and the Dominican Republic. He may also live and work anywhere else in the European Union via residence springboarding.
The citizenships in Canada and Slovakia also provide this person the strongest right of entry in those two countries, respectively.
Bratislava, Slovakia
Sample Mobility Asset Portfolio #2
A mobility asset portfolio might include one citizenship, one semi-citizenship and one temporary residency, such as:
American citizenship
A “Pole card” (karta polaka)
Mexican temporary residency
Here, the American citizenship provides indefinite right of work and residency in the United States. The Karta Polaka is a latent mobility asset that provides a right to apply for immediate permanent residence in Poland, and a dramatically shortened one year path to Polish (and therefore European Union) citizenship. The Mexican temporary residence provides the right to live and work in Mexico for the duration of the temporary residence period.
La Catedral in Guadalajara, Mexico
If this person is living in the United States and decides to move towards a life in the European Union, she may obtain Polish residency relatively easily, move there, and possibly be a naturalized Polish citizen within two years or so.
The Law Office of Parviz Malakouti does not guarantee the accuracy of information presented nor assume responsibility for actions taken in reliance of this information. The information in this page could become outdated. Each immigration and citizenship case is particular and you should consult with a qualified, licensed immigration lawyer about your case before taking any steps. Attorney marketing.