Travelling the world without visas and boundaries

My wife and I have lived together for 16 years, travelled half the world and dreamt of moving to somewhere warm by the sea. Five years ago, our son Stephan was born. We thought about obtaining second citizenship. However, two years ago, my wife Emma passed away; we were left alone with our son. Emma's mother, Irene, took care of Stephan. The question of second citizenship receded into the background. In 2022, I realised that it was time to consider getting second passports again. On a friend's advice, I turned to Immigrant Invest. The company's specialists helped me and my family to obtain Grenada citizenship.

We love Europe: we travel there three or four times a year. A few years ago, we bought an apartment in the Czech Republic to have a place to stay. However, we changed our mind and decided to get a residence permit in a country near a warm sea. We chose Greece, where we had been on vacation many times. We applied to Immigrant Invest in November 2021 and received our Greece residence permit cards six months later.

We love our job. And the best part of it is our freedom. Today we can go to Spain, next week to France or Italy. But since Brexit, our freedom has been shattered. We feel under pressure when we think about days to be spent in a country and when to go back home. It’s not freedom. We want to travel with no visa regime.

Last time my daughter got a Schengen visa for two weeks, we had to delay our summer trip to Europe. We were going to spend three months with the whole family in Europe. But our plans were ruined. When she finally got a visa for one year, we couldn't fly anywhere because of the pandemic.

I was in the process of fulfilling a major contract when I realised I needed a second passport. The need to obtain visas to China always slowed down the process, but that was particularly noticeable in that case. I turned to Immigrant Invest, and they understood I was swamped with work and made all the preparations with minimal participation from my side.

With Maltese permanent residence, I see a bundle of new opportunities for both participating in outstanding scientific research and increasing my income. It's inspiring. In Europe, we are not strangers anymore. We can easily cross the border without having to answer various questions. I feel particularly great about it.

It is not that easy for a Bulgarian citizen to get a US visa. We cannot stand the ocean between us any longer. The ocean of bureaucracy, long-waiting visa procedures, and the inability to be with our children anytime we want.

It was difficult for me to keep my feet on the ground in my country, but I was lucky. And now I look at my children and see how they grow up quickly, what kind of big dreams and how much potential they have. I want to give my children everything they need to make their life paths happy as a parent.

I’m tired of constantly adapting to the "90 out of 180" rule of staying in Europe and planning all my trips. Okay, I can plan my vacation, but my business involves spontaneous travel to Europe. What should I tell my business partners and clients who need me now? Please, wait three months until my Schengen visa-free entry is reset?

My wife and I are fighting for a better country and planet. Our activity involves travelling all over the world. But we are tired of wasting our time and energy obtaining visas and bureaucratic procedures. This energy we could use to create something better. Freedom of movement would help us to be more productive and valuable. We need it.

We are IT people: mobile, flexible, diverse. When the pandemic started, we managed to run the business online so that our clients got everything we promised them. Yet, the travelling restrictions deprived us of meeting new partners and expanding our business. We felt we could just maintain what we already had but found it very difficult to develop our companies. That’s why we have obtained Maltese residency. We hope it will give us much more freedom of movement.

During the pandemic, I’ve realised that I no longer want to depend on visa regimes. The necessity to obtain visas for my often business trips is a waste of time. Moreover, in the future I expect my children to study abroad, so I want to have an opportunity to visit them anytime like no borders exist.

As soon as I retired, I decided it was time to live for myself and see the world. Travel is something I enjoy, I want to see people's lives in other countries, and I'd like to taste the cuisine of other countries as well. My grandchildren are studying at British universities. So I would like to see my family whenever I like, without having to wait for a British visa to do so.

Our family is constantly traveling. We want to transfer our daughters to an international school. So that we do not have to make long flights in order to take annual exams in Armenia.

With our business's development, it started to demand more and more trips to Britain. The visa acquisition process was tiresome and time-consuming, so we thought about second citizenship to travel visa-free. The problem was that our money was held in South African bank accounts. In our country, the transfer of funds abroad had been restricted for many years, so we could not pay for participation in investment programs. Immigrant Invest lawyers advised us on the Vanuatu citizenship program, which had a unique sponsorship opportunity.

Coronavirus turned our lives upside down: my wife and I could not travel anywhere because of the closed borders for two years. And for me sailing is everything. I even met my wife at the regatta. All our friends from Europe are present at the opening of the yachting season in spring. I can’t stand another summer without a regatta.

Things were going well: I regularly opened new pharmacies and started to have more business meetings abroad. But the necessity to apply for visas was a bottleneck. My business and income depended on whether I received a visa on time. It bothered me, and I decided to change it.

My girlfriend and I were promised we would get second passports by investment. But I was confused that the company offered to bypass one of the citizenship program conditions. They said if I paid an additional $5,000, we could get citizenship without being married. I decided to contact Immigrant Invest to check the contract terms and was shocked. I could have lost thousands of dollars.

We hadn’t travelled much before, as each vacation required a thorough document preparation and unnerved us. We feared our visa application would be rejected and our plans ruined. With the St Lucia passport, we feel confident. Now we don’t get tired of preparing for travel and can afford spontaneous weekend trips to Europe. It's enjoyable.

I didn’t work hard for that — to waste my time and nerves to obtain visas, no. I want to travel freely. You buy a plane ticket and go to a country. And that’s all.

Second citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis provided us with a whole bunch of new opportunities. Now Elinar and I can travel around the world almost without borders and our children have access to the best education.

We like to travel the world. But visas are such a pain in the ass. So we thought to solve the problem once and for all by getting a second passport.

I was afraid that seven years of work as a judge would play a cruel joke on me when applying for a second citizenship. I could have got a refusal because of that.

Over the past six years I have performed and worked a lot in Europe. I earn most of my income there. As it was practically not possible to obtain a visa during the pandemic, I had to turn down performances in Europe. I lost a lot of money and decided to solve my visa problem once and for all.

Without entry to the US, I cannot develop professionally. In the States, I improve my skills, communicate with colleagues from all over the world, and speak at scientific conferences. Being only in Turkey, I miss the opportunities.

With Malta residence permit we feel like real citizens of the world. Moreover, visiting our children in Europe isn’t a problem anymore — now we can do it in anytime!

Can a civil servant obtain a residence permit in a European country considering the law bars him from being a resident of another state? The story of one of our clients proves once again that it is always possible to find a positive solution, provided that you are aware of all the best options.

In April 2022, my wife and I decided to obtain a second citizenship. A colleague advised me to consider the Caribbean passport. So we found the Immigrant Invest website and booked a personal meeting. After consultation with Immigrant Invest lawyers, we decided to obtain a Caribbean passport in Grenada, which conducts strict bank checks. The lawyers helped us collect all the documents and get second citizenship in seven months.

I want to sail on a yacht freely and take part in regattas. And, to be honest, the need to get a Schengen visa tired me out. Especially now, when they require vaccination certificates, PCR tests and other papers in addition to visas.

Initially, I just wanted to buy a house in Montenegro. But my friends have told me that if I buy real estate under the Montenegrin citizenship by investment program, I can get more benefits. A European passport with visa-free Schengen is a valuable bonus for my family and me.

My wife and I can not sit in one place. One day we might choose to dine at home in Beijing, and the next day row a boat on Lake Como. Furthermore, our son is growing up and he would like to study in Europe. But the red tape with visas got the best of us. So we thought; why not get permanent residence in the European Union? And the Maltese residence suited us perfectly.