The most valuable item on Earth.

Welcome, Anticitizen.

What if you had a second (or third) passport without even knowing it? Well, that’s the reality for literally millions of people around the world today.

Discover if you might be one of the lucky ones in today’s letter →

📖 ESTIMATED READ TIME: 6 minutes 35 seconds

The bronze tablet.

At the dawn of the 13th century, the Mongol empire had draped itself across the world like a colossal tapestry that smothered cultures and civilisations under its crushing weight. Expanding under the leadership of the warlord Chinggis Khan, it stretched some 8,000 kilometres from the Sea of Japan to modern-day Hungary to the west.

Within that enormous sea of humanity lived a humble man named Tariq. Growing up close to the bustling markets of the city of Samarkand, Tariq was surrounded by the energy of trade from the time he was a small child. It would come as no surprise then that the fates drew him to pursue the life of a merchant.

As a young man, Tariq’s opportunities were limited. With few opportunities to travel afar, he was relegated to plying his trade amongst the local caravansaries of his homeland. That is until a chance encounter would forever alter his destiny.

Following a successful business deal, Tariq presented a travelling Mongol noble with a gift of exotic fine spices from North Africa. Enamoured by the merchant’s generosity, the nobleman returned the kindness by bestowing upon him a small bronze tablet known as a pāiza.

Also called a gerege, the imperial paiza was engraved with the seal of the great Khan himself, and functioned both as a travel document and badge of honour for those who held one. For Tariq, it was his passport to a lifetime of prosperity.

The paiza allowed him to travel securely through the vast Mongol territories, from the rich bazaars of Baghdad to the fertile valleys of China. It gave him access to the Khan’s postal system, enabling him to send goods and messages quickly throughout the entirety of the empire. Inns, supplies, and protection were guaranteed, all under the watchful eye of the Mongol authorities.

With access to previously unreachable markets, Tariq traded Indian spices, Syrian glassware, and Persian precious metals. His trade thrived, as if the paiza was a fertile rain giving life to the parched soil of his previous life.

For Tariq, it was more than a humble tablet of bronze and stamped lettering. Instead, it was a mandate from on high. A guarantee of safety, opportunity, and freedom. A chance at a better life than the one he was afforded at birth.

His paiza was a document that opened up the world.

Do you have unknown ancestors?

A cover, some pages, and your photograph: despite modest appearances, a good passport is one of life’s greatest assets.

“Good” being the key word here.

It’s obvious that if you were born with a passport from Japan, Germany, or the UK, you’ll have access to much more travel, opportunity, and freedom than someone who holds a Nigerian, Iranian, or Uzbek travel document.

Even if you were born with a valuable passport, however, part of the Anticitizen philosophy is having at least one more as a backup plan, or to open up more opportunities. And like the Mongolian paiza of the old empire, another passport is worth more than its weight in gold.

But just how easy is it to get another?

Probably the easiest pathway is by descent, via claiming citizenship through an ancestor. And here’s the kicker: millions of people are eligible to get another passport this way and don’t even know it.

I’ve encountered this scenario so many times it hurts.

Recently, I was in my birth country of Australia and ran into an old acquaintance named Rose* at a friend’s wedding. Like me, Rose was born with a fairly powerful passport from Australia.
*Name changed to protect her privacy.

We got to talking about some of the scary authoritarian laws our home country had implemented over the past few years, and Rose mentioned that she’d love to have a second passport as a backup plan. However, she didn’t see an easy way to make that happen, being unwilling to live abroad, or make a six-figure donation to get one via investment.

So I asked her one question: “Do you have ancestors from Europe or anywhere else?”

Turns out Rose’s mother was born in Finland. Despite knowing Rose for nearly 15 years, I wasn’t aware of this fact—it had never come up in conversation.

Rose’s mother had emigrated to Australia in the 1960s. At the time, Neither Finland nor Australia allowed dual citizenship, which means that when Rose’s mum became an Australian citizen, she had to renounce her Finnish citizenship and relinquish her passport.

Thankfully though, times have since changed. Australia and Finland now allow dual citizenship (since 2002 and 2003 respectively), and former Finnish citizens can reclaim citizenship and get their passports back if they choose.

This is fantastic news for Rose, as Finnish nationality law is very clear: any child born to a citizen or former citizen has the legal right of jus sanguinis (by blood) to claim Finnish citizenship.

It took me one question, and less than 60 seconds to figure out that Rose could claim a Finnish passport. As a result, she’ll soon have one of the most valuable passports on the planet as a part of her backup plan alongside the Australian passport she was born with.

Not everyone reading this will have an ancestor from Finland. However, there are literally dozens of nations around the world that will allow you to claim citizenship if you have a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent (in some cases even beyond), who is (or was) a citizen.

For example:

→ You can claim Irish 🇮🇪 citizenship from an ancestor as far back as a great-grandparent.

→ Hungary 🇭🇺, South Korea 🇰🇷, Armenia 🇦🇲, and Italy 🇮🇹 will allow you to claim citizenship via an ancestor no matter how far back it was, provided certain legal conditions are met.

→ Polish 🇵🇱 citizenship can be granted to anyone who can prove they had an ancestor who was a Polish citizen after 1920.

These are just a few examples of how easily a new passport could be acquired simply by having a descendent from somewhere else.

If you might have an ancestor from a country that might grant you citizenship, start taking action on it quickly.

To illustrate why, let’s look at Spain 🇪🇸. It currently allows anyone with up to a Spanish grandparent to claim citizenship under its “Memory” law. However, the nation announced it will be closing this program in October 2025, cutting off this avenue for a Spanish passport to potentially hundreds of thousands of people.

In other words, laws change all the time. And just because you have the legal right to claim a passport today, doesn’t mean you’ll have that right tomorrow.

So, how do you figure out if you have a claim to a second passport by descent?

Start by asking these simple questions:

• Do you have an ancestor (up to a great-grandparent or beyond) who was a citizen of another country at some point?

• Do you have ancestors that migrated to your home country?

• Were your parents or other ancestors born in another country?

• Do you have an ancestor (even deceased) who you’re unsure of where they were born?

Apart from that, maybe also get interested in your family history. Or ask your parents questions about where your ancestors came from. Or go through old family documents if they exist. Or even sign up for an online ancestry or family tree service.

You never know what you might discover.

Written by Leon Hill.
Founder, Anticitizen.

This newsletter is for educational purposes, and is not financial advice. Please do your own research, and consider risks involved with investing or purchasing any asset.