Simply put: because you should never put your trust in one government. If you have just one passport, you are effectively the property and plaything of one government.

You never know how or when disaster could strike. It could be something personal like an unjustified lawsuit or even criminal charges. It could be a natural disaster or terrorist attack which leads to the breakdown of civil society where you are living at the moment. Who knows? Just remember the boy scouts’ motto: "Be Prepared."

Here are a few of the most popular reasons why our clients are obtaining second passports these days…

• There is a risk that your passport be withheld or cancelled by Big Brother or his agents on "suspicion of a crime" or for political reasons. The USA, for example, has a long tradition of pulling the passports of its citizens who have travelled (or might travel) abroad to espouse views unpopular with the current administration. Under the USA Patriot Act, with a new hysteria having taken hold, not only can passports be revoked; even the citizenship of native born Americans can be cancelled, consigning "suspected" Americans to a legal no-man’s-land.
  
  
• In most despotisms or dictatorships, there is no absolute right to travel. The issuance of a passport is completely within the discretion of bureaucrats. This is the sort of passport one can not depend upon. Freedom to travel is too important a right to be left in the hands of any government!
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport limit your investment possibilities and entrepreneurial activities? Many countries boycott other countries and impose criminal penalties on "trading with the enemy." Of course, your enemy and the government’s enemy may well not coincide. If you are trading with somebody, they are not likely to be your enemy – and besides, free trade is the best way we know to keep things peaceful. Huge private investments can be wiped out on the whim of politicians and bureaucrats. Innocent Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi investors, some resident in Europe and the USA, had billions of dollars confiscated by western governments. This served as an excuse simply to steal some extra revenue from private, non-political business people.
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport expose you to retribution and other dangers? Americans and Brits were chained to missile targets in Saddam’s Iraq while Swiss and Mexicans were being evacuated. Using a second neutral passport for travel can camouflage your true nationality and save your ass and your assets.
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport expose you to income taxes on your worldwide income? Many governments impose no personal income taxes at all, resident or not. Only one nation, the USA, expects even their non-resident passport holders to pay "Uncle Sam" a third or more of their income in taxes. This anomaly means that international tax consultants refer to the USA passport as "The Most Expensive Passport in the World." Can you afford it?
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport make you a target for suicide bombers, kidnappers or terrorists? Israelis, Americans, Germans and wealthy Chinese are often selected as targets over other nationalities. Why travel with a high-profile document when a second passport is the cheapest insurance you can get?
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport show that you are a citizen of a hated, very unpopular or "pariah" state? When this happens, it becomes difficult or impossible to get a visa to go anywhere. South Africa used to be the example in the 1980s. Today it may be North Korea or Iran. Some passports, like Thai for instance, may be not very good for visa-free travel but they offer a very decent alternative for offshore banking.
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport force you or your family into unwanted military service?
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport limit your freedom of movement? Poor, population exporting countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines have lousy passports. Russians and other CIS nationals also have big problems arranging ordinary visas required for business trips. These so-called travel documents are basically no good for travel! If you have one, you should upgrade it.
  
  
• Does your existing/present passport penalize you for changing your legal permanent residence to a tax haven? This is another way that Big Brother restricts free movement. As explained elsewhere, a second passport may be a necessary intermediate step. Example: A Frenchman can’t escape French income taxes by moving to the tax haven of Monaco. But he might be able to finesse a tax free status in Monaco if he becomes a citizen of somewhere else (say St. Kitts and Nevis) first.