Here’s a question that sounds simple until you try answering it: What’s the world’s best citizenship?
You could point to Singapore, which has a passport that gives visa-free access to 193 destinations. Or Japan at 190. Maybe one of the seven European nations tied at 188.
But here’s the thing: asking which citizenship is “best” misses how the game actually works. It’s like asking which chess piece is strongest. Sure, most will say the queen, but arguments can be made for the knight or the king. The same goes for citizenship; there is no definitive answer.
There’s no definitive answer, though Ireland comes closest for a single citizenship. Many argue it’s the world’s strongest, with its rare trifecta of EU membership, UK Common Travel Area rights, and US E-2 treaty access. That’s impressive. It’s also just the beginning.
The real question isn’t which single citizenship offers the most. It’s which combination that creates something greater than the sum of its parts.
Debunking the Rankings
Ask someone to name the world’s best citizenships, and you’ll hear the same answers: Singapore, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. Their passports dominate traditional rankings. They sound prestigious. They offer strong mobility.
They also come with disqualifying structural flaws that conventional rankings ignore entirely.
The United States ranks high on every mobility index. It also practices citizenship-based taxation; one of only two countries on Earth that does.
Americans owe the IRS filing obligations and potential tax on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Renunciation costs thousands, requires years of compliance, and triggers exit taxes. For strategic flexibility, US citizenship functions more like a liability than an asset.
Singapore consistently tops mobility rankings. It also prohibits dual citizenship entirely. To accept Singaporean citizenship, you must renounce all others. Acquire another citizenship later, and Singapore revokes yours. The portfolio approach becomes impossible. You get locked into a single jurisdiction forever, no matter how the world changes.
The UK held elite status for decades. Then Brexit eliminated EU settlement rights – the biggest first-world passport downgrade in modern history. British citizens can no longer live, work, or retire freely across 27 European countries. The passport that once offered comprehensive European access now offers only Common Travel Area rights within the British Isles.
Germany, France, and other high-tax EU states provide excellent mobility but trap residents in 40-50% tax brackets with complex social charges and wealth taxes. Exit taxes penalize departure. “Temporary” stays trigger permanent tax obligations through vague “center of vital interests” rules.
Argentina presents a different problem entirely: citizenship may be irrevocable. The Supreme Court has ruled that nationality cannot be renounced, leaving citizens perpetually subject to whatever capital controls, currency restrictions, or emergency decrees Buenos Aires implements.
These aren’t edge cases. They are fundamental design flaws in passports that everyone assumes are optimal. High rankings measure the wrong variables. Which brings us to what actually matters.
The Seven Pillars
To understand why certain combinations outperform others, evaluate citizenship across seven criteria rather than just counting visa-free destinations:
- Bloc Access and Settlement Rights:
Can you live and work throughout entire regional unions like the EU, MERCOSUR, or GCC? Tourist access doesn’t count. - Visa-Free Mobility:
Where can you travel without prior arrangements? This matters, but less than settlement rights. - Sovereignty and Optionality:
Does the country allow dual citizenship? Will it chase you with extraterritorial taxation? - Government Quality and Civil Liberties:
Rule of law, property rights, political freedoms. - Tax and Financial Freedom:
Citizenship-based taxation versus residence-based. Territorial systems versus worldwide income. - Political Stability and Predictability:
Can you trust the rules won’t change radically? Brexit proved that assumed rights can vanish. - Plan B Survivability:
Resources, geography, food security, energy independence.
Most passports fail at least two pillars. Only a handful pass six or more.
There Can Only Be Two: Ireland and Chile
Ireland passes six of the seven pillars cleanly. EU citizenship grants settlement rights across 27 member states. The Common Travel Area provides the same throughout the UK; a unique bilateral arrangement that survived Brexit intact. US E-2 treaty access opens American business operations.
The tax regime offers decent efficiency, particularly for those living abroad. Ireland doesn’t chase non-resident citizens with global tax obligations. Corporate structures remain competitive. Visa-free mobility scores elite tier at 176 countries.
Only Ireland combines EU membership, UK settlement rights, and US treaty access in one document. Irish citizenship gives you settlement access to 34 developed countries with a combined population of 530 million and about 20% of the global economy.
But Ireland has limits. No MERCOSUR settlement. No GCC access. No APEC Business Travel Card eligibility. No visa-free entry to Russia or China.
Chile fills every gap Ireland leaves open. A Chilean passport provides visa-free access to roughly 175 countries. Chile is the only Latin American country in the US Visa Waiver Program. Chileans enter via ESTA without needing to apply for a visa.
Chile is a signatory to the MERCOSUR Residency Agreement, providing a simple path to permanent residency (and eventual citizenship) across nearly all of South America.
Chilean citizens can qualify for the APEC Business Travel Card, granting visa-free travel to Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and Brunei, plus expedited lanes in the US, Canada, and China.
Chile operates a residence-based tax system without extraterritorial reach. New residents can access a regime that exempts foreign-sourced income from taxation for three years, renewable up to six years. Dual citizenship faces no restrictions.
Together, they layer complementary strengths across nearly every pillar:
- Settlement Networks:
Ireland grants EU and UK access. Chile provides MERCOSUR mobility. No overlap. - Mobility Beyond Settlement:
Chile’s ESTA means direct US entry. Chile’s ABTC provides an Asia-Pacific fast-track. Ireland’s E-2 enables US business establishment. Combined visa-free access approaches 180 countries. - Sovereignty:
Both allow unrestricted dual citizenship. Neither imposes citizenship-based taxation. Ireland doesn’t pursue non-resident citizens. Chile’s new resident tax regime exempts foreign-sourced income for up to six years. - Tax Efficiency:
Ireland offers decent corporate structures and reasonable personal taxation for those abroad. Chile provides residence-based taxation with favorable treatment for new residents through its foreign income exemption regime. Clean planning without aggressive schemes. - Governance:
Ireland provides European institutional stability. Chile delivers Latin America’s strongest institutional framework. Both rank high on civil liberties and property rights. - Stability:
Ireland sits within the EU collective security. Chile maintains regional stability and food security. - Geographic Diversification:
Northern and Southern hemispheres. Western Europe and South America. Atlantic and Pacific positioning.
For a realistic, achievable dual-citizenship portfolio, no other combination delivers this breadth across settlement networks, mobility, sovereignty, tax efficiency, governance quality, and geographic diversification.
Beyond Two: Theoretical Maximalist Portfolios
Ireland and Chile represent the best two-citizenshipcombination you can realistically obtain. But if we’re engaging in pure thought exercises – ignoring acquisition difficulty and focusing solely on what citizenships unlock – other combinations push coverage even further.
UAE, Switzerland, and Saint Kitts and Nevis
This combo addresses tax efficiency and financial sovereignty. UAE provides zero income tax and GCC regional access. Switzerland delivers European-adjacent positioning, institutional quality, and financial infrastructure. Saint Kitts offers Caribbean Community settlement and another zero-tax jurisdiction. Three continents, three tax profiles, maximum capital mobility.
New Zealand and Argentina
This option creates hemispheric insurance. New Zealand offers geographic isolation, food security, and political stability ranking among the world’s highest. Argentina provides enormous natural resources across a massive territory. The survivalist combination; less about daily mobility, more about long-term resilience.
Ireland, UAE, Brazil, and Saint Kitts and Nevis
This portfolio builds the complete multipolar architecture covering the EU, Schengen, CTA, GCC, MERCOSUR, BRICS, and CARICOM. Western institutions, Middle Eastern financial hubs, Latin American regional power, emerging southern hemisphere economies, and Caribbean access.
The Taxation Wildcard
Tax structure separates viable citizenship combinations from theoretical exercises. Americans and Eritreans face citizenship-based taxation regardless of residence or additional citizenships. The IRS follows US citizens everywhere. Renunciation offers the only exit, triggering exit taxes while permanently closing return options.
For everyone else, the calculation changes. Most countries tax based on residence, not citizenship. You can accumulate passports without inheriting extraterritorial tax obligations as long as you manage where you actually live.
Territorial tax systems like Paraguay’s and several Caribbean nations’ only tax domestically-sourced income. Combined with strategic residence, this creates legitimate tax efficiency. UAE imposes zero personal income tax. Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, and most Caribbean citizenship programs operate tax-free for foreign income.
Tax optimization through citizenship portfolios works, but only with proper substance. You need genuine business operations in declared jurisdictions. Residence claims must withstand scrutiny.
The Common Reporting Standard exchanges financial data among participating countries, and FATCA catches US-connected accounts globally.
The point isn’t escaping taxation through citizenship tricks. It’s structuring operations across jurisdictions where tax treatment aligns with business reality.
Why Three or Four Beats Five or Six
Administrative complexity compounds with each additional citizenship. Passport renewals cycle every five to 10 years. Tax filings multiply. Banking compliance questions intensify.
Ireland plus Chile handles most requirements: European settlement, UK access, US entry, South American mobility, Asia-Pacific positioning. Adding UAE addresses, GCC access, and tax optimization. Brazil brings BRICS positioning.
That’s four citizenships covering Europe, the UK, North America, South America, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and emerging southern powers.
A fifth citizenship rarely adds capabilities that those four don’t provide. Marginal value decreases while management burden increases.
The Geographic Logic
Smart combinations layer non-overlapping regional settlement networks. Ireland plus Portugal redundantly covers Europe. Brazil plus Argentina both provide MERCOSUR access. Strategic architecture minimizes overlap while maximizing coverage.
For a comprehensive overview of how regional settlement agreements work, check out IMI’s guide to supranational settlement blocs here.
What This Actually Means
The Ireland-Chile combination stands out because it’s achievable for substantial populations while delivering disproportionate coverage.
Ireland permits citizenship through grandparent descent. Roughly 70 million people worldwide may qualify. Processing takes time but costs hundreds rather than hundreds of thousands. Chile naturalizes permanent residents after five years.
Compare that to alternatives where the highest-ranked passports often prove hardest to acquire or restrict dual citizenship entirely. Ireland-Chile provides elite global coverage while remaining genuinely accessible to millions.
The more expansive combinations – adding UAE for GCC access, Brazil for BRICS positioning, Saint Kitts for CARICOM – create even broader theoretical coverage. But they venture into territory where acquisition becomes exponentially more difficult.
But for a realistic two-citizenship combination, Ireland plus Chile objectively provides the broadest coverage, cleanest sovereignty, and most strategic flexibility. Europe, the UK, the United States, Asia-Pacific, and South America through two documents.
The analysis isn’t about rankings or prestige. It’s about which combinations grant the most actual freedom of movement, settlement, and operation across the most regions with the least sovereignty compromise.
A single “best citizenship” doesn’t exist. But the best combo does, and it’s made up of two countries separated by 11,000 kilometers with no direct flights connecting them. If that sounds inconvenient, you’ve missed the point entirely.
Disclaimer: This article presents a theoretical analysis of citizenship combinations based on publicly available information about citizenship laws, tax structures, and mobility rights as of December 2025. It is not legal advice, tax advice, immigration advice, or a recommendation to pursue any specific citizenship. Citizenship laws, tax treaties, and visa agreements change frequently. Consult qualified legal, tax, and immigration professionals in relevant jurisdictions before making any decisions regarding citizenship acquisition or renunciation. The author assumes no liability for actions taken based on this analysis.
