Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald

Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald's avatar
Parviz Malakouti-Fitzgerald
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Insights on dual citizenship, passports, freedom, and sovereignty. Lawyer at Malakouti Law.
For FIFA, nationality is the relevant criteria and rules state the nationality must be proven by a “permanent international passport” But, a huge hole in these rules is that they don’t state that the passport must state the player is a national of the country issuing the passport! ‼️ I would bet dollars to donuts this was a mistake in the drafting. I wonder if this loophole has been or is currently being exploited. 🤔 image
You have a nagging low level feeling of unfreeness because you know in your bones that you need government permission to go anywhere. And they can deny you, purposely or through incompetence. TSA, legal ID, passports. You're entirely reliant on one government, like a newborn baby waiting on mommy for mealtime. You know this even if you don't read mobility law. Unless you have dual citizenship. Then, you're still not really free. But you can go to either of two governments for your permission slip. And you can run away from one to the other if things get bad enough. You're are a little freer.
SOME TOOLS BECOME COLLECTIBLES ⌚️🚓🔫🛂 Watches initially were just a tool to tell time. A tool whose value was driven by utility --> Now many people have diverse, eclectic and/or themed watch collections for affinity. A $40 quartz timex can keep better time than a $12k Rolex, yet the Rolexes sell. Cars were initially just motor-drawn buggies to get people from point A to point B. --> Now many people have diverse, eclectic and/or themed car collections for affinity. Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls Royce. Firearms initially were just tools for hunting and defense (or offense). --> Now many people have diverse, eclectic and/or themed gun collections for affinity. The list of examples goes on... Some watches, cars and firearms are simultaneously very expensive and unuseful for practical application. They are affinity collection pieces. These were pure tools that with time evolved to adopt a collectability use case as well. We're seeing the nub of a similar development in the world of mobility. Residencies & citizenships were initially one-off legal statuses for a person to live (where they are) or move to another place. For many people, they will remain as such. --> But, now some people will move into having diverse, eclectic and/or themed mobility asset portfolios. Practical utility and collectibility. Mobility assets are: Citizenships, semi-citizenships, residencies (PR or TR), passports (including citizenship-less passports), and legal IDs. Ex: Ukrainian & U.S. citizenships & TR in Paraguay; Ex: U.S. & Iranian citizenships, & TR in Mexico; Ex: Argentine & Polish citizenships, PR in the U.S., & Palau digital residency ID; Ex: U.S. & Vanuatu citizenships, Indian OCI, Dominican PR. Endless examples of combinations. People can have or build unique "collections" based on immutable characteristics (e.g. place of birth) as well as their own actions. What started as pure utility for today will morph into a mix of utility & affinity collecting. With an eye towards the "inheritance" for one's children. Just like what happened with watches, cars and firearms. image
In 10 years, Americans will be telling their kids about something called "true visa-free." "Yea, it was insane. You'd just buy a plane ticket, grab your passport and get on the flight. No forms before you fly, no online applications, no questions about criminal record or previous travel. Passport & flight and then just GO. We didn't really know how amazing that was."
The most important and robust benefit of a citizenship in the long term is immediate highest right of entry and settlement in that country. Most other mobility benefits (visa-free access, satellite residency rights, visa-treaties, etc.) rely on consent and functional cooperation with another country. These are springboard mobility benefits. They are subject to degradation or complete loss, as the political and diplomatic winds blow.
Passport bros “escaping” western countries aren’t going from one place to a better place. 99% of them are utterly confused about the cause of their newfound freedom No, it’s not LATAM or Asia or wherever that’s better. It’s being a citizen of a western country springboarding around LATAM or Asia or wherever that’s better. The being X between Y, Z and W is what’s better They’re going from one place to multiple places, including their home country They’re riding the “in between” of nation-states. The in between is the only place where freedom exists now. High-heel to snowshoe.