An unconventional way of obtaining residency

An unconventional way of obtaining residency

written by Dennis Pike on October 20, 2022

Before I reveal to you an alternative way of acquiring residencies in many countries, I need to inform you about some news I just received a few days ago.

Sad Update on Paraguay

In our last newsletter we told you about the brilliant advantages of a permanent residence permit in Paraguay. Just a few days later - as if the legislators had been reading along - a new migration law has now been enacted in an expedited procedure and all applications have been temporarily suspended.

Currently, everything is, of course, still a bit chaotic and the bureaucrats in Paraguay now have to check how to implement the new law. We are continuing to monitor the developments.

Probably it will now be the case that you first need to get a temporary residence permit and then after 2 years you can apply for permanent residency. Which specific new conditions will be added, and which will be dropped might become clearer in the coming months.

In itself, Paraguay surely remains attractive, even if it has now become a little more difficult. However, this is particularly annoying for thousands of Europeans who are currently on their way to Paraguay or have prepared to do so in the coming weeks.

I personally suspect incentives from Europe - especially Germany - that has driven Paraguay to this hasty action. Let's hope that we will not need the backup option Paraguay yet in the next years and that in the future still as many people as possible will get the chance to be guaranteed a permanent stay in Paraguay.

Official source of the new law: http://www.gacetaoficial.gov.py/index/getDocumento/78999

Residence by anchor baby

By the way, for all pregnant women among you there is an easy way to get residence permits throughout Latin America: The term "anchor baby" is already very common in the U.S., because many Latin American immigrants have used exactly this strategy to obtain a right to stay in the Estados Unidos.

This is because in countries with a so-called ius soli, that means citizenship by birth in the territory of a state, it is relatively easy to do so. And most countries in North and South America have such an ius soli. One simply enters as a tourist and gives birth to the offspring in the territory of the destination state where one wants to enjoy the right of residence. Details have to be clarified in advance, of course, but I would like to illustrate it with a common example from practice:

For some time, there have been many pregnant Russian women giving birth in Brazil. I even know a law firm that acts as birth tourism agency, so to speak. They provide package deals for Russian ladies with guidance and legal help throughout the entire process. Brazil is predestined for this strategy, since many nations receive a very long tourist visa there. Admittedly, one does not want to experience a strenuous flight to a foreign country in the 9th month. Thus, moms prefer to take an extended vacation and then give birth to the new Brazilian citizen in a previously selected hospital with a carefully thought-out plan. As soon as the birth certificate has been handed over, the parents can acquire the right of residence. Paraguay, too, will probably make family reunification easier with the new law mentioned above, even for previous holders of a residence permit! Family values are still held relatively high in South America, while in the woke West, at best, people think about whether the pregnant tourists could also be a man.

I remember a curious dream I once had. In this dream, I (a normally male-read person) actually became pregnant, but the health insurance wouldn't want to pay. So don't forget: A travel health insurance that covers births should be purchased, of course, but in itself births are often no more expensive than regular residency programs. I have heard of costs for a normal birth in Paraguay of under $1000 USD. That should still be affordable for the benefits one acquires.

I would even go so far as to say that it is definitely worth it, even if you do not plan to stay in the country. Allowing your offspring a second citizenship by birth is a gift that could become very, very valuable in the 80-year long future of the new inhabitant of the earth.

Countries with a relatively unrestricted ius soli

The following countries make it especially easy to obtain citizenship by birth:

In South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

In Oceania and Asia: Tuvalu and Pakistan.

In Africa: Chad, Lesotho and Tanzania.

In North and Central America: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and of course the United States of America.