The Difference Between White, Gray and Black Passport Programs
If you spend a significant amount of time looking for a second passport, you’ll probably come across the “color coding” system often applied to these documents — “white”, “gray” and “black” passports.
They all refer to different levels of legality.
What is a White Passport
A white passport is authorized legally through the proper channels in any given country.
How to Get a Second Passport: 7 Legal Ways
Here you will find seven legal ways to obtain a second citizenship and the passport that comes with it: how to get a second passport.
What is a Gray Passport
A gray (market) passport is one that’s technically genuine and officially issued, but in an unofficial and unauthorized manner.
In most cases, the promoter finds a corruptible insider with the authority to issue a passport with little to no questions asked. This is usually someone from the office responsible for issuing passports.
Depending on the quality of the insider access, a certificate of naturalization may or may not accompany the passport. Without it, the passport might not be renewable and you may be unable to even use it to enter and leave the country or to open a local bank account.
What is a Black Passport
A black (market) passport is one that is counterfeited or manufactured from lost or stolen blanks.
The passport itself is not genuine, nor is it officially issued.
National intelligence agencies, organized crime families, and terrorist groups all trade in black market passports.
Navigating the Risks: Gray and Black Market Passports
Using gray market or black market passports is risky.
Border control authorities need to catch you only once. And they regularly receive updates on black-listed passport numbers from Interpol and other sources.
Gray market passports may be cancelled at any time, especially once the insider responsible for their issuance is found out or leaves office. In virtually all cases, it is impossible to renew a black market passport.
Exposed: Passport Scams
Red Flags in Second Passport Programs
How can you know whether the passport you’re considering is legitimate or a gray or black market offering?
We look for the following red flags:
- Too cheap. The total cost of the lowest-priced, legitimate citizenship-by-investment program, in the Commonwealth of Dominica, comes to about $130,000 for a single applicant or $210,000 for a married applicant with up to two children under the age of 18. Any passport issued for much less than that amount should be presumed to be a gray market passport unless the company offering it can point to a specific law authorizing its issuance.
- Too easy. No country issues a certificate of nationality and a passport without a detailed application process, including a criminal background check.
- Too fast. It takes months, not days, for a country to issue a passport. The levels of bureaucracy are deep, and the wheels move slowly. Anyone promising an overnight solution is working from, at best, the gray areas of the law.
- Too anonymous. Any promoter that tells you that you have to pay cash for your passport, that the ability to issue the passport is based on a secret law or regulation, or that promises to issue you a passport in any name you choose, falls into this category.
- Too limited. Passports that come without a certificate of nationality fit into this category.
- Too late. Some promoters continue to market the now-defunct citizenship-by-investment program in Belize, for instance. Belize ended its program more than 20 years ago, yet you still see offers out there on the internet.
Stick with White Market Passports
Avoid gray or black market passports. They may be revoked at any time, and you could be subject to arrest and/or deportation.
More Information on How to Get a Second Passport
- How to Get a Second Passport: 7 Legal Ways
- All about Dominica’s citizenship by investment program
- All about St Kitts and Nevis citizenship by investment program
- What is the cheapest citizenship by investment program?
Need Help?
Since 1984, we’ve helped more than 15,000 customers and clients successfully build wealth protection plans and internationalize their lives. Second citizenships and passports play a big part in that, along with expatriation.
If you’re thinking about a second passport and you’d like an unbiased perspective on the various options, please schedule a free no-obligation consultation with a Nestmann Associate. We’ll help you determine whether a second passport is right for you, and whether we can help you legally get one. Click here to request a call.
