Question about Dual U.S./Russian Citizenship

[ggg12 0]

Say I have $20 million in my bank account and wanted dual Russian/U.S. citizenship for the purpose of opening a business in Russia. Would the fact that I wouldn't need a job there due to the amount of money I have in the bank and my intentions of creating jobs in Russia speed my dual citizenship process up? Thank you.

[Sergi9 110]

Say I have $20 million in my bank account and wanted dual Russian/U.S. citizenship for the purpose of opening a business in Russia. Would the fact that I wouldn't need a job there due to the amount of money I have in the bank and my intentions of creating jobs in Russia speed my dual citizenship process up? Thank you.

I think if you had $20 million in your bank account and this was not a hypothetical question, you would already have hired a business/immigration attorney to get the ball rolling for you. IMHO

[eekee 182]

I would look into whether having Russian citizenship is actually beneficial for this purpose. I don't know any foreigner with a business in Russia who decided to get dual citizenship.

[ggg12 0]

I think if you had $20 million in your bank account and this was not a hypothetical question, you would already have hired a business/immigration attorney to get the ball rolling for you. IMHO

Right now, I don't have the money. But I am inheriting money from my aunt through mutual funds that I haven't yet recieved and am interested in starting a business. I'm not trying to jump the gun here, just wondering how the whole system works. I've heard they won't grant citizenship to someone who doesn't even have a job. If I don't have a job but am creating jobs there, would they look upon the favorably and speed my process up?

[ggg12 0]

I would look into whether having Russian citizenship is actually beneficial for this purpose. I don't know any foreigner with a business in Russia who decided to get dual citizenship.

It's not all to benefit my business but also me personally. I'm of Russian/Irish descent and since I'm not as confident in Ireland's economy as Russia's right now, I'd like to go for the opportunity in Russia. I think it would be cool to have citizenship to a country my ancestors are from but also to have citizenship where I was born and raised. I could go back and forth between both with less hassle each time.

Edited December 29, 2010 by ggg12

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

It's not all to benefit my business but also me personally. I'm of Russian/Irish descent and since I'm not as confident in Ireland's economy as Russia's right now, I'd like to go for the opportunity in Russia. I think it would be cool to have citizenship to a country my ancestors are from but also to have citizenship where I was born and raised. I could go back and forth between both with less hassle each time.

A foreigner doing business in Russia is like playing with dynamite IMO. Bribery/government corruption runs rampant there. You would be better off putting that money in the bank (CD's) and living off the interest IMO.

[Neonred 3,562]

A foreigner doing business in Russia is like playing with dynamite IMO. Bribery/government corruption runs rampant there. You would be better off putting that money in the bank (CD's) and living off the interest IMO.

Wondering how much time the OP has spent in Russia.

[ggg12 0]

A foreigner doing business in Russia is like playing with dynamite IMO. Bribery/government corruption runs rampant there. You would be better off putting that money in the bank (CD's) and living off the interest IMO.

I grew up in Brooklyn, its Russian neighborhood of Brighton Beach nonetheless, and have seen the organized crime and corruption and whatnot. I'm not sure how it compares to Russia but Brooklyn was never a joke. New York was the murder capital of the U.S. when I was growing up, racking around 2,000 murders per year which I don't think Moscow ever had. I'm not trying to shrug it off, just stating the facts. I don't know how exaggerated it is through the media, I don't know if people are still acting like it's 90s Russia still, or what. Hopefully someone can shed a little more light on that.

Edited December 29, 2010 by ggg12

[1HappyGuy 45]

Generally, countries are very open to someone investing large sums of money and work to accommodating their desires (e.g. citizenship), but it is still a long process. Before you decide to make such an investment, you need to be aware of the different tax structures of each of your countries and the "other" business practices necessary to survive.

If you are looking to inherit a significant amount of money, you need to learn to control spending first. The idea of inheriting money is to make it work for you and grow.

[slim 1,525]

Why would you want to be a Russian citizen?

Money aside, joining the army would be a quick way to gain street cred over there.

[SMR 368]

Say I have $20 million in my bank account and wanted dual Russian/U.S. citizenship for the purpose of opening a business in Russia. Would the fact that I wouldn't need a job there due to the amount of money I have in the bank and my intentions of creating jobs in Russia speed my dual citizenship process up? Thank you.

With $20 million in your bank account, a lot of things that are supposed to be impossible are possible. That aside, obtaining Russian citizenship through naturalization is more difficult than obtaining American citizenship through naturalization. The basic requirements are as follows:

the person:

--has been a permanent resident of Russia for not less than 5 years

--promises lawful behaviour

--has a legal source of income

--applied for termination of another citizenship (though the actual loss of foreign citizenship is not required)

--speaks Russian

Money can grease a lot of processes. With a significant bank account, obtaining permanent residence in Russia shouldn't be a problem. But you'll probably still be waiting 5 years.

I assume you know Russian.

As far as applying for termination of another citizenship, I don't know how this works but I would recommend that you find someone who does because it's not simple. It's certainly not like in the US where de-facto dual citizenship is simply ignored.

If you have cash, I wouldn't worry too much about the legal source of income. Worst case you can find a Russian to start a business and pay him to hire you.

In short, I doubt your money will speed up the citizenship process although it will make things easier. As far as employment, if you are planning to start a business, you can hire yourself as the general director.

There are some good discussions about these types of issues at: expat forum.

[eekee 182]

Russia is not Brighton Beach. Brighton Beach still falls under the jurisdiction of the US government. Yes, I've met more people involved with the Russian mafia in the United States than in Russia, but then again I don't hang around wealthy people in Russia.

Like I said, I don't know anyone who decided to get Russian citizenship for the purpose of doing business in Russia. The American government cannot help you if something happens if you decide to go for dual citizenship. The way business works in Russia is that it is impossible to be 100% within the bounds of the law, because local, regional, and federal laws all conflict. If they want to get you for something, they will. As an American, you're afforded a certain amount of protection. They may still #### with you, but you probably won't end up in Russian prison on trumped up charges or something. They may have ousted Bob Dudley out of TNK-BP, but he's sitting pretty in America, not rotting in a cell in Siberia somewhere.

Why do you want to get another citizenship anyway? Sure, Irish citizenship would make it easier to do business in the EU, if that's what you wanted--and this is something to consider--but having Russian citizenship won't really make doing business in Russia better. I actually know people who were born in Russia and emigrated to the US as children and then gave up their Russian citizenship exactly because it would be more favorable for doing business in Russia.

I think that the citizenship laws that SMR listed, like most things in Russia, would be rendered moot by 20 million in your bank account. But honestly no one knows where Russia will be in five years or even two years. I know academics in Russia who foresee total collapse coming very soon. Getting Russian citizenship is not something I would do unless my plan was to live quietly and anonymously in a village somewhere, tending a vegetable garden.

[visaveteran 1]

It's not all to benefit my business but also me personally. I'm of Russian/Irish descent and since I'm not as confident in Ireland's economy as Russia's right now, I'd like to go for the opportunity in Russia. I think it would be cool to have citizenship to a country my ancestors are from but also to have citizenship where I was born and raised. I could go back and forth between both with less hassle each time.

How quickly do you think you can learn adequate Russian to do business with tough Russian businessmen, bankers and local officials...all of whom will want some bribes from you to "help" you out? Do you understand the cost of living is crazy high in Russia? Do you understand one of Russia's greatest businessmen is serving a long time at hard labor in a Siberian prison? Why? He opposed Putin. He sponsored opposing parties. He criticized Putin. He went from the richest man in Russia to a common, convicted criminal who will probably never get out of prison. How "cool" is that?

Yeah, it might be really"cool" to take 2 million and entrust it to a shaky banking system and corrupt business and political environment. And the Russian mafia would most likely "have you for lunch."

[slim 1,525]

my plan was to live quietly and anonymously in a village somewhere, tending a vegetable garden.

I've talked quite a bit about this with my wife. We've taken small steps for TEOTWAWKI here in the States but I've often wondered if we wouldn't fare better in the Russian Far East. I've thought about heading over there if things get crazy here. Maybe just to ride it out, maybe indefinitely. Who knows.

Either way though, I keep telling myself heading to a place that averages 2 meters of snow and sub-zero weather for several months a year just isn't a good idea. Why can't we ride out the apocalypse in the Dominican Republic?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

I can make 10% profit of my investment without ever leaving my bed, and I mean that literally.

If I had 20,000,000.00 to invest, that would give me on average 166,000.00 per month to live on without even having to touch the principal. That's more than I need, a lot more. Now, I like to get out of bed once in a while, so if I were to invest about 2 Million in the business I have, I probably could take another $25K home every month. I could buy a bigger house, a vacation home, and take the time to actually enjoy life a bit more. Twenty Million means never having to worry about money again, even if invested very conservatively. Thus, I think the last thing I would do is travel to freezing cold Russia and try to get involved with the Russian Mafia. If it was money I had to hide for any reasons, there are much better places to do that.

But that maybe just me.