Buying a passport legally: how to recognise programmes grounded in law

A passport is a right, not a permission. A visa can be refused or withdrawn; a citizenship you have acquired lawfully belongs to you. That is exactly why the route matters with a second passport: only a passport backed by a law and a decision of the state will carry you when it really counts. How all the routes to a second passport fit together is set out in the complete guide to a second passport.

Can you buy a passport legally?

The short answer: not the passport itself, but the citizenship, yes. That may sound like hair-splitting, but it is the heart of the whole question.

A passport is an official document. It confirms that you are a citizen of a state, and only that state may issue it. So anyone who sells you a passport without your having become a citizen first is, in all likelihood, selling you a forgery. In Germany that is no small matter: under section 276 of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB), anyone who imports, exports or procures a counterfeit or falsified official identity document in order to deceive in legal dealings commits a criminal offence. The penalty is up to two years in prison or a fine, and three months to five years where it is done commercially or as part of a gang.

The legal route reverses the order. You first acquire citizenship, through a programme the state has created by law. The technical term is citizenship by investment: you make a contribution to a state fund or invest, for example in an approved property, pass a background check, and an authority naturalises you. Only then do you apply for the passport, at the ordinary passport office, like any other citizen of that country. When people talk about “buying a passport”, this is the route they really mean: citizenship by investment.

And the German passport?

It is not available for money. Section 3 of the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) sets out how you become German: by birth, by declaration, by adoption, by a certificate under the Federal Expellees Act (Bundesvertriebenengesetz) or by naturalisation. Investment does not appear anywhere. An offer of a “German passport for sale” is therefore always an offer of a forgery, and one to stay well away from.

Six hallmarks of a programme grounded in law

You do not recognise a genuine programme by its advertising but by how it is built. Using St Kitts and Nevis as the example, you can trace every hallmark back to the original text.

1. A law you can read

Every legal programme rests on a law or regulation published in the state's official gazette. In St Kitts and Nevis, these are the Citizenship by Substantial Investment Regulations, S.R.O. No. 20 of 2024. The minister made them under section 15 of the Citizenship Act, and they were published on 8 July 2024 in Extra-Ordinary Gazette No. 37 of 2024. Anyone can download the PDF from the authority's website and read it section by section.

If a provider cannot tell you which law your naturalisation is based on, that is not a detail; it is the end of the conversation.

2. A government body that decides

Your application is never decided by a company, always by an authority. In the Caribbean it is usually called the Citizenship by Investment Unit, in Grenada the Investment Migration Agency, in Vanuatu the Citizenship Office and Commission. These bodies have their own official websites, publish their laws and fees, and are the only place where your citizenship is decided.

3. Licensed agents on a public list

In St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda, you do not file with the authority yourself. The St Kitts and Nevis regulations require applications to be submitted only through an Authorised Agent. Dominica states expressly in its FAQs that every application must go through an Authorised Agent licensed by the Cabinet. In Grenada, all contact with the authority runs through an authorised local agent, and in Antigua and Barbuda a licensed agent in the country submits the application in person together with the payments due.

What matters for you: these agents appear on public lists kept by the authorities. St Kitts and Nevis publishes a list of Authorised Agents and, alongside it, a list of blacklisted providers who are expressly not permitted to submit applications. Checking these lists takes you two minutes and protects you from the single biggest risk of all.

4. Fixed amounts and fees, in black and white

In a programme set up by law, you do not haggle over the price of citizenship. The minimum amounts and government fees are written into the regulations. In St Kitts and Nevis, that is 250,000 USD as the Sustainable Island State Contribution for the main applicant or a family of up to four, plus a due diligence fee of 10,000 USD for the main applicant. In São Tomé and Príncipe, the authority publishes 90,000 USD for a single applicant and a 5,000 USD filing fee. You will find every programme with its amounts under Costs.

5. The money goes to the state or into escrow

With a genuine programme, you always know where your money is. In St Kitts and Nevis, you pay the contribution only after the authority has granted approval in principle, within 90 days and by cheque to the Accountant General. The authority checks that the money has reached the Federal Consolidated Fund before it naturalises you. In São Tomé and Príncipe, the donation to the National Transformation Fund likewise falls due only after approval in principle. In Grenada, investment payments go into the escrow account of the authorised local agent before they are passed on to the authority.

In Sierra Leone, too, the programme fee sits in an escrow account until naturalisation. If naturalisation cannot be completed, 100% of it comes back, except for the filing and processing costs.

6. Vetting, certificate and passport from the state

No legal programme grants citizenship without vetting. The authorities check identity, background and the source of funds. In St Kitts and Nevis and in Dominica this includes a mandatory interview for every applicant aged 16 or over. At the end comes a state certificate: in St Kitts and Nevis the Certificate of Registration, in Dominica the Certificate of Naturalisation, in Sierra Leone a citizenship certificate signed by the President. Only with it do you apply for your passport. What the vetting covers in detail and how to pass it calmly is explained under due diligence for your passport application.

Which countries grant citizenship by law? The legal bases at a glance

The established programmes are open. Each rests on its own legal basis, and each has a body that decides on your application.

The table shows only the legal basis. Which programme fits your budget, your family and your travel plans comes down to amounts, family rules and visa-free access, which the comparison sets side by side.

Sierra Leone stands out here: the programme runs entirely remotely, with no trip to the country and no embassy appointment, and it accepts multiple citizenships without restriction. You will find routes, fees and family rules under Sierra Leone.

For a wider view of every route to a second citizenship, including descent, marriage and naturalisation after residence, see the overview acquiring a second citizenship (in German).

Warning signs: when an offer is not a programme

Each of the six hallmarks has its opposite. If one is missing, that is a warning sign, and some offers give themselves away in the very first sentence.

• A passport without citizenship. You are promised a ready-made passport, with no mention of naturalisation, a certificate or an authority.
• No law, no authority. When you ask, nobody can name the regulation, the official gazette or the competent body with its official website.
• No name on the list. The provider claims to file applications but does not appear on the authority's list of agents.
• A price below the law. The amount is below the minimum set by the regulations. A discount on a law is not a bargain; it is a contradiction.
• Cash or an individual's account. The money is to be paid in cash, to a single person or into an account that belongs neither to the state nor to an escrow agent.
• No questions for you. Nobody wants to see your documents, your CV or the source of your funds. A state that naturalises you wants to know who you are.
• A timeline faster than any official deadline. The passport is supposed to arrive within days, while the authorities themselves speak of weeks or months.

What happens when states take passports back is covered in the overview of revoked citizenships.

Can citizenship acquired legally be taken away again?

Citizenship that a state grants you under its own law is a right. But that also means it depends on the conditions having been met. The St Kitts and Nevis regulations say so expressly. Anyone who makes false statements on the application or leaves out information that was requested risks refusal. If this only comes to light later, citizenship can be withdrawn under section 8(a) of the Citizenship Act, and proceedings under the Perjury Act may follow. Anyone who sells a property bought under the programme in breach of the rules also risks revocation under the same regulations.

For you, this is good news. The rules are clear and written into law. If you apply honestly, pass the vetting and hold an investment for the required period, you have a citizenship you can rely on. The strict vetting at the start is precisely why the result holds up later.

Can you legally acquire a second passport as a German?

Yes, and without losing your German passport. The Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) confirms that since 27 June 2024, acquiring a foreign citizenship on application no longer leads to the loss of German citizenship. The former loss rule in section 25 of the Nationality Act has been repealed. Section 17(1) now names only three grounds for loss: renunciation, joining foreign armed forces or actively taking part in combat operations of a terrorist militia abroad, and the withdrawal of an unlawful administrative act.

A second passport acquired legally therefore stands on an equal footing with your German one. What that means in everyday life, for travel, authorities and family, is described in the article CBI passport and German passport. Austrians are subject to their own rules, explained in the article second citizenship in Austria.

How to check a programme in five steps

You do not need a lawyer to put an offer through its paces. Five steps are enough.

1. Find the law

Ask for the exact name of the law and the regulations, and download the document from the authority's website. Look for the number, the year and the reference to the official gazette.

2. Check the authority

Go to the competent body's website yourself, not through a link in an ad or a message. Compare the amounts listed there with the offer you received.

3. Look up the agent on the list

Search for the name of your contact, or of their local partner, on the authority's list of agents. Check the list of blacklisted agents too, wherever an authority publishes one.

4. Pin down the payment route

Get it in writing when each amount goes to whom: fees to the authority, the contribution to the state fund, the investment into an escrow account. Cash and accounts held by individuals have no place in this plan.

5. Know the process and the certificate

A genuine process ends with approval, a certificate and a passport application. The process page shows how the stages follow one another.

If you check this way, you end up not just with a passport, but with one that stands up to inspection at any border and to any question from a bank. And if you think long term, you combine the fast route with the free one: why investment and naturalisation through residence complement each other is explained under CBI and naturalisation. An overview of routes, costs and countries from the emigration angle is also available in German at second passport and second citizenship.

Frequently asked questions