The Hongcouver | The case of the Canadian with eight citizenships, and why the world’s rich covet ‘backup’ passports

The reasons to have a second passport are many, but for the world’s wealthy elite, they often amount to what Canadian immigration lawyer David Lesperance calls “the backup plan”.

But it’s not just China’s millionaires. Americans have represented a big slice of business for Lesperance’s Toronto-based practice, as they look for alternatives to a lifetime of US tax obligations, which are determined by nationality and not residency.

Which brings us to the case of the Canadian with eight citizenships.

Lesperance said his client didn’t start out Canadian; he was an American-born businessman. But at the end of his citizenship spree, he had collected a portfolio of passports via economic citizenship and residency that spanned both sides of the Atlantic, from Belize to Britain. Along the way he became a Canadian, too, and renounced his US citizenship.

“It sounds flaky, but he was intrigued by this concept [of economic citizenship]…He had the money. He didn’t need another car, so this is what he spends his money on. It was wonderful to be his lawyer,” said Lesperance, a former Canadian border officer who has worked as an immigration lawyer for more than 25 years.