A second passport acquired primarily as insurance against political instability, economic crisis, or personal security threats in one's home country. The term captures motivation, not mechanism—most Plan B seekers use citizenship by investment (CBI), citizenship by descent, or naturalization to acquire it.
"Plan B passport" is the prepper mentality applied to citizenship. It's different from other passport motivations (tax optimization, travel convenience, business access) because it's rooted in anxiety. A client seeking a Plan B passport is buying peace of mind. They want an escape route if their current country becomes unlivable—economically, politically, or physically.
The distinction matters because it changes how you counsel them. A tax optimizer wants to know about treaty benefits and FIRPTA implications. A Plan B seeker wants to know if they can actually leave when things go bad. They care about real-world usability under stress, not optimization spreadsheets.
The obvious group: citizens of visibly unstable countries. Venezuela has driven tens of thousands to seek second passports—in 2023, unauthorized agents in Caracas were processing CBI applications illegally because official government channels had failed. Lebanon's banking crisis triggered a spike in passport applications; citizens couldn't access their own money in local banks and needed a way out. Iran, Nigeria, Turkey, South Africa—citizens from these countries pursue Plan B passports consistently.
But the less obvious group matters equally. After the 2020 national security law, Hong Kong residents filed roughly 100,000 applications for residency and citizenship in places like Canada, Australia, and the UK within 12 months. Americans purchased second passports at elevated rates around 2016 and again in 2020 during periods of political turbulence. Post-Brexit, UK citizens suddenly cared about Portuguese citizenship by descent (EU entry point). These aren't desperate people—they're affluent, educated, and sufficiently comfortable that they have the luxury of planning ahead.
The psychology is revealing. Someone from Lebanon buying a Dominica passport isn't necessarily planning to go tomorrow. They're insuring against the possibility that they might need to go. The client willing to spend $100K-$200K on a Caribbean CBI program is signaling that the cost of not having optionality exceeds the cost of acquiring it. That's a powerful motivator.
The crucial insight: the best time to get a Plan B passport is before you need it. This is obvious but constantly violated.
When Venezuela's currency collapsed and capital controls tightened, citizens who hadn't planned ahead faced exit bans on leaving the country. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of wealthy Russians tried to apply for CBI programs; most programs suspended Russian applicants within weeks. The Lebanese banking crisis trapped people who'd delayed; once controls tightened, getting documentation together and processing applications became nearly impossible.
This timing problem is why CBI firms see demand spikes during crises. Applications from a country surge right after something goes wrong—but by then the easiest options are already closed. This creates a vicious dynamic: the moment a crisis hits, governments restrict exits, CBI programs suspend applications, and the people most desperate for Plan B passports lose access to them.
Hong Kong in 2020 is the clearest example. The national security law passed on June 30. Within months, the Hong Kong government began investigating activists and potential dissidents. By late 2021, it became clear that anyone politically active couldn't leave. The optimal window to acquire a Plan B passport in Hong Kong was probably January 2020, when nobody thought they'd need it. Anyone who waited until "after the law passed" was already too late.
Caribbean CBI programs (Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis) are the dominant choice. Fast processing (90-180 days), affordable ($100K-$250K depending on program), and accepted for visa-free travel to most countries. The weakness: limited visa-free access to the US or China, and the passport isn't seen as premium internationally. But if you need a way out of your home country and US entry isn't the priority, Caribbean CBI is unbeatable on the time-to-execution metric.
Portugal serves a different function—not a pure Plan B passport but a stepping stone. €280,000 real estate investment gets you a residency permit, which eventually becomes permanent residency (after 5 years), which eventually becomes citizenship and an EU passport (7 years total). Slower than Caribbean CBI but the endpoint is an EU passport, which opens different doors. Popular among people who can plan 5-7 years ahead and want a recognizable passport.
Turkey ($400K-$500K real estate) is underrated for Plan B purposes. Turkish citizenship is processable in 60 days. The Turkish passport isn't strong (no US visa-free access) but Turkey itself is geographically positioned as a regional hub and economic hub. Citizens of Middle Eastern countries often choose Turkey as Plan B because it's regional, accessible, and offers visa-free travel within the region.
Vanuatu is the speed play. Cheapest and fastest in the industry—$130K, 7-10 days processing. The trade-off is that Vanuatu's passport is weak internationally (limited visa-free access). But if your Plan B is "I need to be able to leave my country tomorrow with a valid travel document," Vanuatu solves that. Some Plan B seekers buy Vanuatu passports as a bridge, knowing they'll invest in a stronger passport later when time allows.
The right choice depends on what "Plan B" actually means to your client. "I need an escape hatch I can access in two weeks if something breaks" is a different conversation than "I want optionality in five years." Timeline and budget determine the answer.
CBI applications aren't randomly distributed—they spike in correlation with political events. This is measurable.
After the 2020 Hong Kong national security law, applications from Hong Kong residents to CBI programs increased roughly 5x year-over-year. Turkish CBI applications rise during periods of economic volatility or when the government signals unpredictable policy shifts. Lebanese applications spiked in 2020 during the banking crisis. Russian applications surged in 2021-2022 and then abruptly stopped when CBI programs began suspending Russian clients in March 2022.
CBI firms track this explicitly—Henley & Partners publishes annual reports showing which nationalities apply most frequently, and when. These demand spikes reveal what populations consider their situation genuinely at-risk.
American inquiries for second passports increase around election cycles and during periods of political polarization. This is notable because it suggests that affluent Americans, despite their country's structural stability, actively perceive threat signals that motivate them to hedge.
Plan B passports face an implicit criticism: they're a rich person's insurance policy that ordinary citizens can't afford. This is completely valid.
If you have $500K, you can acquire Turkish citizenship, buy a European residency in Portugal, and build optionality. If you have $10K, your options are citizenship by descent (free but requires ancestry) or asylum (requires demonstrable persecution). The rich get to leave; the poor get stuck.
This class dimension is real and worth acknowledging. CBI exists because it serves a market need—but it's a market that's fundamentally inaccessible to most people in unstable countries. That's not a moral failing of CBI; it's a structural reality of how citizenship and wealth intersect.
For advisors, this means understanding that Plan B passport clients are aware they're privileged. They often feel some guilt about this. Working with them well means not dismissing that awareness while also clarifying that planning ahead and using available tools is rational, not callous.