What a second passport really costs: the full budget

The number quoted in an advertisement is the qualifying contribution or investment for a single applicant. The total is a different figure, and it is entirely knowable in advance.

What makes up the total

• The qualifying contribution or investment, which scales with family size in most programmes.
• Government processing fees, per applicant, including children.
• Due diligence fees, per adult applicant and in some programmes for older children, paid to the specialist firms the programme uses.
• The agent's professional fee, which is the negotiable part and is where quotes differ.
• Passport and certificate issuance fees.
• Legalisation and translation of every document for every family member.
• Police certificates from every country of residence.
• Independent legal and tax advice, which is the line most often omitted and the one that most often saves money.
• Travel, for interviews where they are mandatory and for the oath where it is.

The costs after the grant

• Renewal of the passport at intervals, from abroad.
• Maintaining a qualifying investment where the programme requires a holding period.
• Tax and reporting consequences of the new nationality, where any apply.
• The loss on exit from a property bought at a programme price, where the property route was taken.

How to get a real number

Ask any agent for a written breakdown separating government fees, due diligence fees and their own fee, for your exact family composition. The first two are published and identical everywhere; only the third differs. An agent who will not separate them is quoting a bundle for a reason.

Then add the items above that no agent includes. The total is typically well above the advertised figure, and knowing it before deciding is the difference between a purchase and a surprise.