Two sons. Two plans for the future. And suddenly every day counts.

Why: a mother wanted to secure her sons' future

It started with a news item about a permit requirement.

When the mother called, there was one thing above all she wanted to know:

How long does it take to get a second citizenship?

She was facing a risk that, only a few weeks earlier, had not even been on her radar.

What if one day her sons no longer had the same freedom to travel they have today?

The real pressure came from the timing: the legal rules might start to matter soon.

For this family in particular, getting the order of the steps right was therefore decisive.

Who: four people. One shared decision.

A German family.

Both parents in their mid-fifties.

Two sons, aged 19 and 22.

Both at university, both still living at home.

The family wanted to keep the life they had while creating additional international options.

Above all, it mattered that both adult sons could be included.

Because that is exactly where many ordinary family applications fail.

When: the first safeguard within a few weeks

The first additional travel document was in hand within a few weeks.

The second citizenship, the long-term solution, followed a little over a year later.

Most of the time went into obtaining and legalising the required certificates.

With four family members, every document had to be organised four times over.

The family could put a fast solution in place first and then complete the more comprehensive structure.

Where: the family stayed at home

Nobody wanted to emigrate.

The parents wanted to keep their everyday life. The sons were to carry on with their studies.

The point was to have additional options in case leaving the country ever became necessary, or simply desirable.

The family wanted to be able to leave without having to leave today.

That was exactly the goal.

What was built: two citizenships and a second European anchor

• Vanuatu as the first step. The particularly fast procedure was chosen for all four family members, to secure additional travel documents as early as possible.
• Sierra Leone as the long-term second citizenship. All four were included in one joint application, the two adult sons among them.
• Serbia as an additional place of residence. A company formation created a residence permit. The country is only about two hours away by plane.
• Legal advice on the Passport Act. The family received an assessment of their existing legal obligations and of the sensible order of the steps.

The result was a combination of fast citizenship, long-term security and a European base within easy reach.

How much: the investment in four additional citizenships

The costs depend on the programme chosen, the number of applicants and the fees that apply in each case.

You will find the details of citizenship costs on the Vanuatu and Sierra Leone programme pages.

Why this exact combination: every step had its own job

• Vanuatu brought speed. The fast procedure made it possible to acquire the first additional citizenship early. For a family under time pressure, that was especially valuable.
• Sierra Leone made the joint application possible. Where many programmes mainly cover spouses and minor children, here both adult sons could be included in the same application.
• Serbia created a base within reach. The family wanted an alternative that would fit in practical terms with the life they already had. A European place of residence two hours away by plane was ideal for that.

The strength of this solution lay in how the three elements worked together.

Each one served a specific purpose.

What was ruled out: three decisions that would have hurt the family

Vanuatu as the only additional citizenship

The procedure was attractive given the time pressure.

For building international banking relationships over the long term, however, it was less suitable.

In reality, a bank account on the strength of this passport alone is almost impossible to get.

So the family wanted a more far-reaching structure.

Four separate applications to a Caribbean programme

With many Caribbean programmes, the adult sons would have needed applications of their own.

Instead of one joint application, four individual applications would have been required.

That would have multiplied the costs.

The sons giving up their German citizenship

This option was raised too.

We advised firmly against it.

Since the 2024 reform, Germans can in principle hold more than one citizenship.

The sons could keep their German citizenship and acquire others.

Renouncing it would have meant giving up a fundamental legal position without automatically removing their existing legal obligations.

What the plan was made of: three countries, three tangible advantages