Are you a UAE resident who bought a second passport? Problem dey!!

Thousands of UAE residents who acquired Citizenship by Investment (CBI) passports from countries like Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Cambodia, and Egypt are staring at a storm they didn’t see coming. 

Some had invested their life savings, believing these passports would unlock global mobility, tax benefits, and long-term security. 

On June 14, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memorandum giving 36 countries — including several with CBI programmes — a 60-day deadline, ending August 13, 2025, to meet stringent vetting and information-sharing standards or face visa bans. 

The European Union is also advancing legislation to suspend visa-free Schengen access for nations with weak oversight. If passed, the law could come into force by September. 

For expatriates from India, South Asia, and the Middle East, the implications are severe. 

Second citizenships had become a popular route to global travel and financial flexibility. Families typically spent between $115,000 and $330,000 on passports from Caribbean and other CBI jurisdictions that promised access to more than 140 countries.

“It’s a perfect storm, and many passport holders didn’t see it coming,” says Sam Bayat, founder of Dubai-based Bayat Legal Services and a pioneer in international investment migration in the region. “People invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into citizenship programmes, believing it was their ticket to global freedom. 

Now, they’re facing sudden restrictions that could render those passports practically useless.” The fallout is being felt most acutely in the UAE, where expats make up nearly 90 per cent of the population. While exact nationality data is unavailable, Bayat estimates that more than 10,000 applications have been filed from the region in recent years. 

“Assuming three individuals per application, we’re easily looking at 30,000 people, many of them UAE-based, who could be affected.” 

Culled From Khaleej Times