With many borders slowly re-opening around the world, major emphasis is being placed on the curtailing of COVID-19, particularly when it comes to air travel.
What are Health Passports?
Health passports, also known as immunity passports or immunity certificates, provide digital proof through a barcode or QR code, that a traveller is COVID-19 free, supported by an antibody test. Given the impact on one’s privacy, these passports are highly contentious, and their accuracy is still relatively unknown considering the minimal amount of data available surrounding immunity. These health passports are already implemented on a low level in countries like China and India, with many in agreement that these digital certifications will be instrumental in a safe reopening of the world post-COVID-19.
How Will Health Passports Affect the Ability to Travel?
Passports are essential to travel, and an individual’s freedom to travel depends heavily on what passport they hold. With the current imposed travel restrictions surrounding the pandemic, travellers worldwide have become frustrated. Global mobility seems to be at the top of mind with more and more people looking for second citizenship to make travel easier.
The implementation of health passports would allow individuals who test positive for COVID-19 antibodies the freedom to return to some of their normal activities, including the ability to travel more freely. With countries like Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Chile all considering these health passports, it is clear we are heading towards a world where your health is linked directly to your ability to access the globe.
Acquiring Greater Global Mobility
Nations across the world have experienced significant disruptions due to the pandemic, and many are considering ways to broaden their travel horizons, business opportunities and secure their future. In the face of this intensified uncertainty, there is a marked increase in the uptake of Citizenship by Investment programmes.
These world-renown programmes offer well-vetted investors and their families the extraordinary opportunity of securing a plan B and second passport for their families, as well as fortifying their financial future by diversifying wealth and assets. Citizenship by Investment programmes have been around for decades, with St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean boasting the longest-standing and most respected programme in the world. Now, what has become abundantly clear is the advantage of having a second passport in the face of a global pandemic. Being able to access safer countries whose borders are open, should the need arise, could prove invaluable in volatile situations.
Why Citizenship by Investment?
In times of such uncertainly and ensuing restrictions, travel and access to foreign investment is becoming predominantly substantial for business-savvy investors. By taking advantage of a Citizenship by Investment programme, individuals can secure second citizenship for themselves and their families in a country that offers greater financial stability, access to better healthcare and education, and most importantly, freedom to travel.
The increasingly popular second citizenship in the Caribbean affords those in possession of Caribbean passports like those of Grenada, Dominica, and St Kitts and Nevis, access to 75% of the world’s countries, visa-free. While many of these countries may well implement the compulsory health passport, the need for visa’s is wholly eliminated, leaving travellers with one less hoop to jump through.
