‘Grab what you can:’ The global rush for second passports

By Julia Buckley, CNN

Photo: Dmytro Chernykov/iStockphoto/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

Travelling from country to country without restrictions. Shorter lines at the border. The right to live and work in your dream destination, or to reconnect with family roots.

All that, and more, is the dream of those who seek dual citizenship. And that includes monsieur George Clooney, who celebrated the end of 2025 by acquiring French citizenship for himself and his family.

Dual citizenship - the ability to be a citizen of two (or more) countries - has long been popular with travellers, expats and dreamers. In a world of increasing red tape, who wouldn't want to skip the long lines at passport control and breeze through with the locals?

For those who, like Clooney, dream of living and working in another country, but don't have an employer to sponsor them, acquiring another citizenship might be the key that unlocks that door. Even for those with no plans to move, it can be transformative.

But in 21st-century politics, the tide may be turning against dual citizenship. In 2025, several European countries tightened requirements for citizenship by descent and so-called "golden passport" programmes, which grant citizenship to big spenders. And in the US, Ohio's Republican senator Bernie Moreno has mooted an "Exclusive Citizenship Act" that would ban Americans from holding any other citizenships.

Here's everything you need to know:

How common is dual citizenship?

There's no way to know the precise numbers, says Peter Spiro, professor of law at Temple University. That's because most countries don't require citizens to declare whether they hold multiple nationalities.

One thing seems clear, however: dual citizenship is becoming increasingly popular. In the 2021 census of the UK's population, 2.1 percent of England and Wales residents held multiple passports - around double the result of the 2011 census, in which 1.1 percent of the population self-declared as dual citizens. And in a recent YouGov poll of Americans, 6 percent self-declared as dual citizens.

What kind of people hold multiple citizenships?

For as long as migration has existed, many immigrants who naturalise in a new country have wanted to retain their citizenship of origin. In recent decades, the wealthy have also embraced dual citizenship as a way to expand global mobility.

Now, as the world gets increasingly volatile, interest is broadening. A November Gallup poll found that one in five Americans would like to emigrate, including 40 percent of women aged 15-44 - a 400 percent increase on a similar poll taken in 2014.

Photo: 123RF

That appetite for a new start abroad is reflected in an increasing number of applicants for second passports, says Dominic Volek, group head of private clients for Henley & Partners, which assists high-net-worth individuals in attaining dua