Want to Escape Military service? Get a Second Citizenship

Citizenship by Investment Passport

A Growing number of countries require mandatory military service or conscription drafting its citizens. Thousands of Young men in more than 60 countries around the world face the prospect of mandatory military conscription – can be served with draft papers and forced to serve in their national militaries.

One easy way to escape drafting is move out to a country where there is no draft or get a second citizenship renouncing your previous citizenship. You can also keep your current citizenship, applying for just for residency programs offshore.

Albert Einstein hated military service in his life as a German. It was one of the main driving factors for him to apply for Swiss citizenship. In 2015, to Escape Military Service, Thousands Of Young Eritreans Fled emigrating To Europe.
 Likewise Syrian refugees who escaped military drafts faced uncertain future elsewhere.

Depending on the country, if you refuse military service, penalty could be from jail sentence to heavy fines and exemption from national benefits. Women are exempted or voluntary.

The United States military has not had a draft, been all-volunteer since 1973. But an act of Congress could still reinstate the draft in case of a national emergency. The Selective Service System is the agency that registers men and is responsible for running a draft. Almost all men age 18-25 who are U.S. citizens or are immigrants living in the U.S. are required to register with Selective Service.

Britain ended conscription back in 1957 and many European countries have since followed suit. The German government to put an end to conscription since July 2011.

While there are many benefits in serving the military, studies show about 20% of service members report that they experienced depression and  traumatic brain injuries during combat.  According to one study, Military service significantly increases both the likelihood of crime and the number of crimes between ages 23 and 30.

A Quick path to Second Country

Think citizenship or residence by investing to move out. The citizenship and residence by investment schemes offer an easy path to acquire second citizenship and residency purely against investments for all those who want to allay their conscription fears. But this requires alteast months ahead of planning.

All investment programs exempt investors from mandatory military services under citizenship by investment regulations. A passport can be acquired within months without any personal visit or residence requirements.  These are small countries in the Caribbean do not have a military force. Among Golden visa programs,Portugal and Malta do not have any national service. It is important to remember you are not required to renounce your previous nationality when applying for CBI and Golden visas.

Be careful! If you hate drafts, make sure you carefully review the list before applying for CBI and Golden visa programs

CBI/Golden Visas Military service
Antigua and Barbuda no
Bulgaria no
Cyprus yes (investors exempted)
Canada no
Dominica no
Grenada no
Greece yes
Ireland no
Latvia yes
Netherlands no
Portugal no
St Kitts and Nevis no
Saint Lucia no
Singapore yes
United States no
United Kingdom no
Turkey yes (investors exempted)
Vanuatu no

Fewer than 30 countries still actually require whole age cohorts to complete military service. To help you understand and compare countries have and dont have military service, here is the list.

No military service countries Mandatory military service
Albania
Argentina
Australia
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
Costa Rica
Croatia
Czech Republic
Ecuador
France
Germany
Hungary
India
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Latvia
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Mauritius
Montenegro
Netherlands
New Zealand
North Macedonia
Pakistan
Panama
Philippines
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Tanzania
United Kingdom
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bermuda
Brazil
Myanmar
Cyprus
Denmark
Egypt
Finland
Greece
Iran
Israel
Latvia
Mexico
Morocco
North Korea
Norway
Russia
Singapore
South Korea
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Prabhu Balakrishnan

Prabhu Balakrishnan

Founder and CEO of Best Citizenships

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