October 23, 2025 • 22 mins
Moving Abroad Resources:
👉 Moving Abroad Relocation Roadmap Guidebook that walks you through the five phases of moving abroad ($27): https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/relocate
👉 Moving Abroad Relocation Blueprint Course which offers step by step guidance on everything from choosing the right country to immigration to taxes and everything in between: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/blueprint
👉 Want us to handle the details of your move abroad? Apply for our white-glove relocation services here: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/consult
👉 Free Moving to Mexico Guide: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/mexico
👉 Free Moving Abroad Checklist: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/abroad
Remote Work and Online Income Resources:
👉 Expat Income Accelerator course which shows you the multiple ways you can make money globally based on our 15+ years of experience in online business, investing internationally and living in multiple countries: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/income
👉 Get Your First High Paying Client Online Bootcamp which walks you through the first four foundational steps of creating and monetizing an online business based on 15+ years of experience in online business: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/firstclient-yt
👉 YouTube Mastery Workshop which shows you how we’ve built two YouTube channels that bring clients and passive income from digital course sales (including turning Entrepreneur Expat into a six-figure business in six months): https://www.YouTubeMasteryWorkshop.com
👉LinkedIn Mastery Workshop which shows you how to use LinkedIn to find remote work, clients and connect with recruiters based on Justin’s experience building a six-figure business and finding remote work on LinkedIn: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/linkedin
👉 Free Make Money From Anywhere Guide: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/money-guide
V I D E O S T O W A T C H N E X T :
Online Business Tips to Working and Traveling In Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGH0voCyOc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j&index=2
Moving to Mexico: 10 Reasons Why We Chose to Live in Guadalajara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK23vD8_xjc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_LAY7UV78YMgms-f2e1UcwN&index=23
Tips for Moving Overseas: Top 5 Remote Work Skills That Make Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzjCrlNAL8&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j
--------------------------------------------
Inquiries: community@entrepreneurexpat.com
--------------------------------------------
#livinginmexico #movingtomexico #digitalnomad #makemoneyonline #expatsinmexico #digitalmarketingtraning #geoarbitrage #moveoverseasfromus #digitalmarketingcourse #guadalajara #costoflivingmexico #digitalnomadvisa #digitalnomadnews #workandtravel #locationindependentl
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Germany ends fast track c (00:36):
Well, another citizenship program
bites the dust.
Germany's three year fast trackto citizenship was recently
repealed by the Germangovernment with them.
Saying that a passport or acitizenship to our country is
something that you get afterthat full integration process.
(00:57):
Into our society, not at thebeginning.
In this video we're gonna talkabout exactly what happened,
what that means for you as anentrepreneur, expat looking to.
Place your roots, perhaps inother countries around the
world, and perhaps what some ofyour other options might be now
that this Fast Track program isclosed.
(01:18):
Hi, if this is your first timehere, my name is Justin Keltner
and this is Entrepreneur Expat.
On this channel, we talk aboutbuilding your passport portfolio
of second citizenships, as wellas second residencies.
Living and working from anywherein the world, moving away from
the country that you were bornin.
(01:38):
Search of better opportunities,better investments, better
lifestyle.
Overall, that's what we helppeople do here on Entrepreneur
Expat, and we work with a lot ofhigh net worth individuals
helping them get citizenshipsand residencies in places like
Mexico ua.
Now we're working on Albania anda lot of other countries as
(01:59):
well, and.
If that's something you'reinterested in, if you've got a
million dollars or more in networth, then you wanna book a
call@entrepreneurexpat.com slashconsult.
We'll put that on the screen aswell, because we can help you
and your family.
The consult is absolutely free,and we'll help you see exactly
what your opportunities are andwhere your best to invest your
(02:22):
time and money in terms of othercountries, as well as build
perhaps a business in anothercountry.
We help people do those thingsas.
Well, and if you're interestedin learning more about this, you
can also subscribe to thischannel.
We have over three videos everysingle week coming out and help
us out and click that likebutton as well.
(02:42):
Give this video a thumbs up anddon't forget to click that
notification bell.
It'll help us reach more peopleand also help you make sure that
you're never missing animportant update when it comes
to global citizenship, globaltaxation, global business, and
everything else.
So if you've been looking atEurope lately for a second
passport, I'm sure you've seenthose headlines lately about
(03:05):
what happened to Germany'sprogram.
So that fast track program theyhad the one that let people
naturalize and have a Germanpassport, which of course is an
EU passport giving you the rightto live and work anywhere in the
eu.
Just.
Got canned.
Now here's the thing though,even before they ended it, that
program was insanely tough toqualify for.
(03:26):
You needed near perfect German,exceptional integration,
volunteering, of course, nowelfare or anything like that.
And you pretty much had to livein Germany full time.
And now with things like risingtaxes, in some cases as high as
almost 50% for those higherearners.
Growing tension across Europe,especially with what's going on
(03:47):
with Russia right now.
And, uh, I'll throw this in asan aside.
All of those energy prices goingup like crazy.
I wasn't even gonna dive intothis, but I'll mention this
because I think it relates a lotto what's going on with Germany
and with Western Europe as awhole.
They have a huge dependence onforeign energy in part just
because of their location and,and even more than that, because
(04:08):
of the political moves that havebeen made over these many years
saying, Hey, we're not gonna.
Burn coal in our country.
We want everything to be supergreen.
We want everything to beenvironmentally friendly, where
in reality they weren't doingany of that because let's face
it, energy, unless you're goingnuclear, which has its own pros
and cons, is a very messy thingto create.
(04:28):
And we're big consumers ofenergy in the world, and
especially places like Germanywhere you need energy.
To heat your home in the winter,it's freezing there.
I don't know about you, but Ihave spent winters in Germany
and Austria, in Hungary, in theuk and I'm very familiar with
how cold it gets.
You absolutely need that, uh,heating.
And in the older buildings, youknow, it comes through those
(04:50):
little, little pipes where theheat, uh, the heat, that oil up
and your.
And you, you turn your, yourvalve on and you're, you're
exposed to that heating.
That happens a little bit inplaces like New York as well, in
really, really old buildings.
That sort of central oil basedheating that's been around for
generations.
But guess where all that energycomes from?
Well, it comes from Russiabecause Germany and so many
(05:11):
other countries in the quoteunquote West, have made
themselves.
Dependent on foreign energy andforeign exports overall.
I'm not even gonna get into thesituation with China and how
dependent we in the West are onChina.
That's actually another videothat we just recorded today, so
you're definitely going to wantto check that out.
(05:32):
But Germany isn't even a greattarget because of all those
things for entrepreneurs anymoreat all.
So we're gonna break downexactly what's changed.
How the rules work now and whyFor most entrepreneur, expats
like yourself, your time andmoney are probably better spent
elsewhere.
That includes places likeMexico, like Panama, or even the
(05:52):
UAE so if you're interested inmoving to one of those places,
we've got partners all over theworld.
Don't forget to book that callbelow@entrepreneurexpat.com
slash consult, not just for yourown sake, but also for your
family's sake, because thingsare getting tough in the West,
including the US and Canada andin places like Western Europe as
well in Australia.
(06:13):
There's a lot moretotalitarianism, there's a lot
more dependence on foreigngovernments, which is ironic,
uh, because of everything thathas been said in the political
rhetoric.
And there's also economies thatjust keep going down.
So we really want to help you.
We really wanna help your familyget out if you do have the means
to do so.
So make sure you book that call.
So what exactly is it thathappened?
So Germany's governmentofficially scrapped that fast
(06:35):
track.
Three year citizen option andthe new baseline is now five
years of continuous legalresidence.
Before you can even apply fornaturalization and to qualify,
you now need five years livingin Germany, legally and
habitually.
You need German at a B one levelminimum, which is intermediate
conversational.
(06:56):
Of course, you've gotta befinancially independent.
You're not relying on any typeof public assistance.
You've got a clean criminalrecord and you pass a civic
integration test, as well as nowan explicit declaration
supporting Germany'sconstitutional rights, an order,
and its commitment to protectingJewish life.
(07:16):
Uh, you also need to acknowledgeGermany's historic
responsibility for the Nazi era.
Which as a Jew kind of makessense.
I understand it.
Although it's, it's been, it'sbeen quite some time, right?
They also have loosened dualcitizenship rules, so you can
usually keep your originalpassport, but otherwise it's a
(07:36):
pretty rigid process.
German obviously is not in asuper easy language to learn and
you're gonna spend five yearsqualifying.
For this citizenship, but Iwould argue, like I said before,
places like Germany, places likePortugal, with.
Nearly 50%.
Tax rates at the highestbrackets probably aren't places
that you want to be.
(07:58):
If you are making a lot ofmoney, and even if you're
retired, you've got pensionincome, they may still tax that
depending on the country as wellas if you are looking to start a
business at some point in thefuture, or even if you are
retired and then they decide tochange the laws.
It's all just going in a reallybad direction.
All of these countries in thewest are increasing taxes.
They're making things morecomplicated.
(08:19):
They're adding a lot ofbureaucracy, adding a lot of red
tape.
There's a lot of politicaltension.
When we look at countries likeAlbania, which is not as
dependent on on Russia and otherforeign countries, it just
recently actually was able toget out of communist rule.
And so they still kind of havethat remembrance of everything
that happened under communism.
And they're like, we don't wantto go communist.
(08:40):
We don't want to go.
Socialist even, because that's,that's a very slippery slope.
Versus if you look at WesternEurope, I mean they're all, all
kind of bowing down to Brusselsand they're all following what
the EU powers the be want.
So again, I don't think it's aplace that if you are
entrepreneurial and if you arelooking to build a name and
(09:02):
expand your brand and createmore revenue in different
countries and hire a team andall these other things.
Those places are going down,they're not going up.
So the fast track was neverreally fast.
Anyway, that three year fasttrack was kind of almost
mythical because it required asuper high level understanding
of German, the C one level,which is near fluency.
(09:24):
Most foreigners never reach it.
You also had to show exceptionalintegration, meaning top
academic or professionalachievement plus community
involvement.
So volunteering in a firebrigade, cultural association,
translation work or similar.
And even if you nailed all ofthat, it was not guaranteed.
It was up to bureaucratic.
Discretion.
(09:44):
So Germany's version of Fast wasstill slow, expensive, and
designed for absolute perfectmodel citizens.
So they close the door to thatfast track program completely,
and here's why that mightactually be good for expats.
My honest take is that this movereally clears up a big
misconception, which is Germanyis not a shortcut country.
It's not a place for fasttracking anything.
(10:06):
It's not.
Fast tracking taxes, not fasttracking bureaucracy.
There's a lot of bureaucracythere.
It's not fast trackingcitizenship.
And the average entrepreneur inGermany, if we talk about the
specific numbers here, they'relooking at top income tax rates
around 45% plus.
A 5.5% solidarity surcharge,whatever the hell that means.
(10:27):
If you're religious.
You also need to pay a 9% churchtax if you're registered
religiously.
And you also have, in additionto that, a corporate tax that
ends up around 30% once youinclude trade tax.
And if that wasn't enough, nowyou've also got to.
(10:47):
Contribute heavily to socialsecurity, which includes health
pension and unemployment for youand for your employees.
And that's before you talk aboutthe inflation that's going on
there, which may soon behyperinflation.
Just like in the us, the tightlabor laws and the political
shifts, you've got a lot ofimmigration coming in that the
EU is basically mandating.
Uh, I think that they take itjust too far in so many ways
(11:11):
because they're making it reallydifficult for even model
citizens or people like you thatwant to come to their country
and invest, but they're makingit super easy for people to come
in RAFs, and they get all of thegovernment assistance, all of
the subsidies, everything justlike we're doing in the US or
we're doing until recently withthe open border policies we
have.
It does not make any.
(11:33):
Sense, and of course energypolicy, that's another one.
Energy is astronomicallyexpensive.
Uh, since the war with Russiahas broken out, and Germany
essentially is declared like a.
Basically a trade war there andsanction Russia and all these
other things, which by the way,did absolutely nothing.
Russia's economy is fine.
They have their own version ofMcDonald's and Starbucks that if
(11:55):
you've seen any of TuckerCarlson's videos apparently
taste better and healthier thanwhat we have in the us.
Uh, I am, I'm not pro Russia byany means, but when we look at
the, the data and the facts and.
China's in the same boat, right?
They we, we try to sanctionthem.
We try to make things difficultfor them economically.
Is it working?
(12:15):
I don't think it is.
Of course, you've also got thepolitical instability.
You have all that tension withRussia, not just the energy
prices going up.
You've also got that tensionwith Russia, people coming in
through the border, high crime.
They're starting to increasetheir defense spending a lot.
Guess what?
Now that 45% tax rate might goup to 47, 48 50, who knows?
(12:36):
And you know the people thatthey want to tax the most
because of how liberal thosegovernments tend to be.
It's you.
It's the wealthy expats that arecoming there and spending money
bringing jobs.
It makes no sense.
That's why if you look atplaces, even like the uk, and
this is another video that we'regonna link to below that we're
doing about the UK billionaire,the founder of Revolut, who now
(12:56):
is leaving to the UAE because hewas just sick of all of the
regulation and all thedifficulties with employment and
all the taxes, and they just tryto tax you for everything,
including even leaving thecountry.
So this is another reminder,guys.
I mean you if, if you have themeans, if you've got a million
dollars or more in liquid networth.
You've got the means to get outand to get a residency, whether
(13:18):
it's in Eastern Europe,sometimes in Central Europe.
In Southeast Asia, you couldpotentially get a residency in
the Middle East.
In Latin America where wecurrently are right now, there
are better opportunities foryour money, both to save it, to
store it, to invest it, to growit, to hire people, to build
businesses.
Book a call right below.
At entrepreneurexpat.com/consult because it is
(13:38):
not getting any better in theus.
It is not getting any better inCanada.
And I would argue that a lot ofthese western nations,
especially all these Englishspeaking nations around the
world, Australia and the UK andso much of Europe included, are
not going on the up and up.
They're getting more difficult.
And if it's not for you, ifyou're like, you know what,
(13:58):
maybe I got another 30, 40 yearsleft.
I think I'll ride it out.
I think it'll be okay.
Well think about your kids'future.
And their kids' future.
Think about what all of them aregoing to have to do now that not
only the US and the West ingeneral is getting worse, but
also as you see here, even inGermany, even a country that's
(14:20):
in the quote unquote West, allof these countries, Mexico is
making their citizenship andtheir Visa programs harder.
Germany's obviously making itharder.
They're all making it more andmore difficult to immigrate to
(14:41):
their countries.
Even countries where beforepeople would joke and say, Hey,
Mexico is just sort of lettinganybody in.
You could just show up, renewyour visa for 180 days, fly back
for a day to the us, come back,get another six months, and stay
there forever.
I did that for a couple yearswhen I was living in Cabo and
nothing happened.
People are getting turned awayat the border now.
(15:01):
Or getting 14 days stamped ontheir passport coming into even
Mexico.
So it's getting more and moredifficult and you absolutely
want to book that call becausewe can help you fast track this.
Even if Germany doesn't have afast track program, we can help
you get your residency somewhereelse and create a much better
future for both you and yourfamily.
(15:23):
So all that to say that in theend, this fast track program
going away might actually saveyou from wasting years chasing a
passport in a country that'smoving towards higher taxes,
slower growth, and morebureaucracy.
Here are some of the places thatI hinted at a little earlier
where smart entrepreneur expatsare looking instead.
(15:43):
So Mexico is one that's verystrong.
Obviously we have our residentshere and now we are close to
both getting our passports here.
That's my wife and myself.
We're gonna have Mexicanpassports for both of us in the
next two years.
With Mexico, you can getresidency in just a few months.
Then in around five years, youcan get your passport if you're
(16:04):
living there regularly.
In Mexico now they do have aterritorial tax system for many
non-residents and entrepreneurs.
Meaning if you are here lessthan six months a year, which a
lot of people are, they'll spendhalf their time in the US or
even another country and travellike we're going to do very
shortly here.
If you are here less than sixmonths a year, you don't have to
pay taxes, obviously.
(16:25):
Consult your professional onthat.
But a territorial tax systemmeans that you're only really
paying taxes as a non-Mexicanresident on Mexican income.
And there's a lot of loopholesand there's a lot of tax breaks
and things like that.
And when you pair that withMexico's cost of living and
international connectivity, andof course it's proximity to the
us, it's not that difficult toget back to the US if there's an
(16:46):
emergency or if you wanna visitfamily or if you have clients
there.
It's very practical for expats,especially as a soft landing,
and especially if you're earningin dollars from clients in the
US or elsewhere that you canwork for online.
Panama's another country whereexpats are going.
They also have a territorial taxsystem that's that's even a
little bit more lenient thanMexico's.
They've got investor visasstarting around$200,000.
(17:08):
They've also got really goodprograms for retirement as well.
They are now allowing dualcitizenship too, and you can get
potential citizenship after justfive years of residence.
You can even live there inPanama, run all of your global
operations there and haveminimal tax friction because
your income is coming fromoutside of Panama.
Uruguay, that's another reallygood one.
(17:29):
One of the things that I loveabout Uruguay, and we're gonna
probably be checking that placeout in the next couple years as
well, is that they actually giveyou an 11 year break on all of
your foreign taxes.
So they give you a tax holidayfor 11 years for new residents,
and that's in all of yourforeign income.
They do not tax any of that.
Foreign income at all for 11years.
(17:49):
Most of the taxes that they dohave on foreign income is
actually just from dividend orcapital gains income.
And they've got a solid rule oflaw there.
It's very safe.
They have access to goodtreaties, and it's really a
hidden gem for business-mindedexpats.
And what I'll add in as well isthat they have a very European
style of life.
So even though you're not inEurope, you're in South America,
where living expenses are alittle bit more reasonable and
(18:12):
you could potentially save moremoney.
And of course, don't forgetabout taxes.
Taxes are huge.
You're gonna be paying so muchless in taxes, potentially tens
or hundreds of thousands ofdollars a year, less in taxes
every year than you may bepaying in the US because of how
good the system is there inUruguay for those expats.
(18:32):
Other places that smart expatsare going include the UAE,
Bahrain and Qatar, which have nopersonal income tax at all.
The UAE now does have a 9%corporate tax, but with proper
structure, you can still pay 0%on qualifying free zone income.
If you've got a company in oneof those free zones and you have
a high end lifestyle, of courseyou are trading more flexibility
(18:55):
for a little bit more cost.
Obviously, it's pricier maybethan somewhere like Latin
America.
But you have more flexibility.
You have a lot of internationalbusiness people there, and for
the most part, 0% tax, unlessyou're running your business out
of a place like the UAE, Albaniais one that we've been looking
into personally and we're veryserious about maybe moving there
part or full-time in the nextyear or so.
(19:18):
Albania is EU adjacent.
It's still in Europe, but it'snot currently in the eu.
Which means that they're not atleast yet subject to a lot of
the political craziness that'sgoing on with the eu.
They have very low personal andcorporate tax, in some cases as
low as 15%.
But there's actually a plan nowthat is still in effect to
(19:39):
attract foreigners to theircountry where you have a tax
break until 2029, so you don'tpay any taxes.
And after that, if you'reregistered properly as an
independent business owner, youcan pay as little as 15% tax on
your net.
Active income.
There's a, an emerging digitalnomad scene there, which is
really cool.
They're not yet in the sheinterritory, but it's a hop, skip
(20:00):
and a jump to Italy, to Greece.
I mean, it's a a six hour car orbus ride all the way to Athens
from a couple different citiesin Albania.
You can also take a ferry overto Italy or a cheap flight
anywhere in Europe, and you'llbe in pretty much any country in
Europe in an hour or so.
So that's also.
Very, very cool.
It's a lean base forentrepreneurs in Europe, but
(20:22):
without the bureaucracy ofsomewhere like Germany or the
uk.
Now each of these gives you moreflexibility, faster pathways to
residency or citizenship anddramatically lighter tax burdens
without tying yourself to one ofEurope's most expensive welfare
systems.
So the bottom line is Germany isending its fast track
(20:43):
citizenship program, but that'snot really the end of the world.
And in fact, it's kind of ablessing in disguise because it
wasn't really that great forexpats in the first place.
It was not very practical.
A lot of those economicindicators in Europe are not
great anyway.
So if your goal is time freedom,tax freedom, and long-term
mobility, your best bet isreally to look south, whether
that's Latin America, you lookat the East, perhaps the Middle
(21:07):
East, you look at countries, uh,that we're gonna be going to
like Albania, there's a lot moreopportunity than those.
Legacy brand countries, as theyare called.
So don't chase the passport.
Build the life in business thatlets you choose where you wanna
live, not where the tax mantells you that you should.
If you want help doing that foryou and your family, please book
(21:30):
that call below.
Go to entrepreneurexpat.com/consult.
If you've got a million dollarsor more in liquid net.
If you've got a million dollarsor more in liquid net assets, we
can help you and your familyrelocate to a country that is
going to be tax friendly.
It's going to be businessfriendly, it's going to have
regulations that are not goingto make you sacrifice your
(21:52):
quality of life and the qualityof your business.
Book that call right below, wecan help you out.
And for everybody else, checkout all of the free resources
below this video in thedescription.
Make sure you give this video athumbs up.
It helps us a ton with our goalof reaching a million
entrepreneur expats or aspiringexpats, and also subscribe to
(22:13):
this channel so that you don'tmiss any of our new content
coming out.
Thank you so much for watchingand we'll see you again very
soon
Well, another citizenship program
bites the dust.
Germany's three year fast trackto citizenship was recently
repealed by the Germangovernment with them.
Saying that a passport or acitizenship to our country is
something that you get afterthat full integration process.
(00:57):
Into our society, not at thebeginning.
In this video we're gonna talkabout exactly what happened,
what that means for you as anentrepreneur, expat looking to.
Place your roots, perhaps inother countries around the
world, and perhaps what some ofyour other options might be now
that this Fast Track program isclosed.
(01:18):
Hi, if this is your first timehere, my name is Justin Keltner
and this is Entrepreneur Expat.
On this channel, we talk aboutbuilding your passport portfolio
of second citizenships, as wellas second residencies.
Living and working from anywherein the world, moving away from
the country that you were bornin.
(01:38):
Search of better opportunities,better investments, better
lifestyle.
Overall, that's what we helppeople do here on Entrepreneur
Expat, and we work with a lot ofhigh net worth individuals
helping them get citizenshipsand residencies in places like
Mexico ua.
Now we're working on Albania anda lot of other countries as
(01:59):
well, and.
If that's something you'reinterested in, if you've got a
million dollars or more in networth, then you wanna book a
call@entrepreneurexpat.com slashconsult.
We'll put that on the screen aswell, because we can help you
and your family.
The consult is absolutely free,and we'll help you see exactly
what your opportunities are andwhere your best to invest your
(02:22):
time and money in terms of othercountries, as well as build
perhaps a business in anothercountry.
We help people do those thingsas.
Well, and if you're interestedin learning more about this, you
can also subscribe to thischannel.
We have over three videos everysingle week coming out and help
us out and click that likebutton as well.
(02:42):
Give this video a thumbs up anddon't forget to click that
notification bell.
It'll help us reach more peopleand also help you make sure that
you're never missing animportant update when it comes
to global citizenship, globaltaxation, global business, and
everything else.
So if you've been looking atEurope lately for a second
passport, I'm sure you've seenthose headlines lately about
(03:05):
what happened to Germany'sprogram.
So that fast track program theyhad the one that let people
naturalize and have a Germanpassport, which of course is an
EU passport giving you the rightto live and work anywhere in the
eu.
Just.
Got canned.
Now here's the thing though,even before they ended it, that
program was insanely tough toqualify for.
(03:26):
You needed near perfect German,exceptional integration,
volunteering, of course, nowelfare or anything like that.
And you pretty much had to livein Germany full time.
And now with things like risingtaxes, in some cases as high as
almost 50% for those higherearners.
Growing tension across Europe,especially with what's going on
(03:47):
with Russia right now.
And, uh, I'll throw this in asan aside.
All of those energy prices goingup like crazy.
I wasn't even gonna dive intothis, but I'll mention this
because I think it relates a lotto what's going on with Germany
and with Western Europe as awhole.
They have a huge dependence onforeign energy in part just
because of their location and,and even more than that, because
(04:08):
of the political moves that havebeen made over these many years
saying, Hey, we're not gonna.
Burn coal in our country.
We want everything to be supergreen.
We want everything to beenvironmentally friendly, where
in reality they weren't doingany of that because let's face
it, energy, unless you're goingnuclear, which has its own pros
and cons, is a very messy thingto create.
(04:28):
And we're big consumers ofenergy in the world, and
especially places like Germanywhere you need energy.
To heat your home in the winter,it's freezing there.
I don't know about you, but Ihave spent winters in Germany
and Austria, in Hungary, in theuk and I'm very familiar with
how cold it gets.
You absolutely need that, uh,heating.
And in the older buildings, youknow, it comes through those
(04:50):
little, little pipes where theheat, uh, the heat, that oil up
and your.
And you, you turn your, yourvalve on and you're, you're
exposed to that heating.
That happens a little bit inplaces like New York as well, in
really, really old buildings.
That sort of central oil basedheating that's been around for
generations.
But guess where all that energycomes from?
Well, it comes from Russiabecause Germany and so many
(05:11):
other countries in the quoteunquote West, have made
themselves.
Dependent on foreign energy andforeign exports overall.
I'm not even gonna get into thesituation with China and how
dependent we in the West are onChina.
That's actually another videothat we just recorded today, so
you're definitely going to wantto check that out.
(05:32):
But Germany isn't even a greattarget because of all those
things for entrepreneurs anymoreat all.
So we're gonna break downexactly what's changed.
How the rules work now and whyFor most entrepreneur, expats
like yourself, your time andmoney are probably better spent
elsewhere.
That includes places likeMexico, like Panama, or even the
(05:52):
UAE so if you're interested inmoving to one of those places,
we've got partners all over theworld.
Don't forget to book that callbelow@entrepreneurexpat.com
slash consult, not just for yourown sake, but also for your
family's sake, because thingsare getting tough in the West,
including the US and Canada andin places like Western Europe as
well in Australia.
(06:13):
There's a lot moretotalitarianism, there's a lot
more dependence on foreigngovernments, which is ironic,
uh, because of everything thathas been said in the political
rhetoric.
And there's also economies thatjust keep going down.
So we really want to help you.
We really wanna help your familyget out if you do have the means
to do so.
So make sure you book that call.
So what exactly is it thathappened?
So Germany's governmentofficially scrapped that fast
(06:35):
track.
Three year citizen option andthe new baseline is now five
years of continuous legalresidence.
Before you can even apply fornaturalization and to qualify,
you now need five years livingin Germany, legally and
habitually.
You need German at a B one levelminimum, which is intermediate
conversational.
(06:56):
Of course, you've gotta befinancially independent.
You're not relying on any typeof public assistance.
You've got a clean criminalrecord and you pass a civic
integration test, as well as nowan explicit declaration
supporting Germany'sconstitutional rights, an order,
and its commitment to protectingJewish life.
(07:16):
Uh, you also need to acknowledgeGermany's historic
responsibility for the Nazi era.
Which as a Jew kind of makessense.
I understand it.
Although it's, it's been, it'sbeen quite some time, right?
They also have loosened dualcitizenship rules, so you can
usually keep your originalpassport, but otherwise it's a
(07:36):
pretty rigid process.
German obviously is not in asuper easy language to learn and
you're gonna spend five yearsqualifying.
For this citizenship, but Iwould argue, like I said before,
places like Germany, places likePortugal, with.
Nearly 50%.
Tax rates at the highestbrackets probably aren't places
that you want to be.
(07:58):
If you are making a lot ofmoney, and even if you're
retired, you've got pensionincome, they may still tax that
depending on the country as wellas if you are looking to start a
business at some point in thefuture, or even if you are
retired and then they decide tochange the laws.
It's all just going in a reallybad direction.
All of these countries in thewest are increasing taxes.
They're making things morecomplicated.
(08:19):
They're adding a lot ofbureaucracy, adding a lot of red
tape.
There's a lot of politicaltension.
When we look at countries likeAlbania, which is not as
dependent on on Russia and otherforeign countries, it just
recently actually was able toget out of communist rule.
And so they still kind of havethat remembrance of everything
that happened under communism.
And they're like, we don't wantto go communist.
(08:40):
We don't want to go.
Socialist even, because that's,that's a very slippery slope.
Versus if you look at WesternEurope, I mean they're all, all
kind of bowing down to Brusselsand they're all following what
the EU powers the be want.
So again, I don't think it's aplace that if you are
entrepreneurial and if you arelooking to build a name and
(09:02):
expand your brand and createmore revenue in different
countries and hire a team andall these other things.
Those places are going down,they're not going up.
So the fast track was neverreally fast.
Anyway, that three year fasttrack was kind of almost
mythical because it required asuper high level understanding
of German, the C one level,which is near fluency.
(09:24):
Most foreigners never reach it.
You also had to show exceptionalintegration, meaning top
academic or professionalachievement plus community
involvement.
So volunteering in a firebrigade, cultural association,
translation work or similar.
And even if you nailed all ofthat, it was not guaranteed.
It was up to bureaucratic.
Discretion.
(09:44):
So Germany's version of Fast wasstill slow, expensive, and
designed for absolute perfectmodel citizens.
So they close the door to thatfast track program completely,
and here's why that mightactually be good for expats.
My honest take is that this movereally clears up a big
misconception, which is Germanyis not a shortcut country.
It's not a place for fasttracking anything.
(10:06):
It's not.
Fast tracking taxes, not fasttracking bureaucracy.
There's a lot of bureaucracythere.
It's not fast trackingcitizenship.
And the average entrepreneur inGermany, if we talk about the
specific numbers here, they'relooking at top income tax rates
around 45% plus.
A 5.5% solidarity surcharge,whatever the hell that means.
(10:27):
If you're religious.
You also need to pay a 9% churchtax if you're registered
religiously.
And you also have, in additionto that, a corporate tax that
ends up around 30% once youinclude trade tax.
And if that wasn't enough, nowyou've also got to.
(10:47):
Contribute heavily to socialsecurity, which includes health
pension and unemployment for youand for your employees.
And that's before you talk aboutthe inflation that's going on
there, which may soon behyperinflation.
Just like in the us, the tightlabor laws and the political
shifts, you've got a lot ofimmigration coming in that the
EU is basically mandating.
Uh, I think that they take itjust too far in so many ways
(11:11):
because they're making it reallydifficult for even model
citizens or people like you thatwant to come to their country
and invest, but they're makingit super easy for people to come
in RAFs, and they get all of thegovernment assistance, all of
the subsidies, everything justlike we're doing in the US or
we're doing until recently withthe open border policies we
have.
It does not make any.
(11:33):
Sense, and of course energypolicy, that's another one.
Energy is astronomicallyexpensive.
Uh, since the war with Russiahas broken out, and Germany
essentially is declared like a.
Basically a trade war there andsanction Russia and all these
other things, which by the way,did absolutely nothing.
Russia's economy is fine.
They have their own version ofMcDonald's and Starbucks that if
(11:55):
you've seen any of TuckerCarlson's videos apparently
taste better and healthier thanwhat we have in the us.
Uh, I am, I'm not pro Russia byany means, but when we look at
the, the data and the facts and.
China's in the same boat, right?
They we, we try to sanctionthem.
We try to make things difficultfor them economically.
Is it working?
(12:15):
I don't think it is.
Of course, you've also got thepolitical instability.
You have all that tension withRussia, not just the energy
prices going up.
You've also got that tensionwith Russia, people coming in
through the border, high crime.
They're starting to increasetheir defense spending a lot.
Guess what?
Now that 45% tax rate might goup to 47, 48 50, who knows?
(12:36):
And you know the people thatthey want to tax the most
because of how liberal thosegovernments tend to be.
It's you.
It's the wealthy expats that arecoming there and spending money
bringing jobs.
It makes no sense.
That's why if you look atplaces, even like the uk, and
this is another video that we'regonna link to below that we're
doing about the UK billionaire,the founder of Revolut, who now
(12:56):
is leaving to the UAE because hewas just sick of all of the
regulation and all thedifficulties with employment and
all the taxes, and they just tryto tax you for everything,
including even leaving thecountry.
So this is another reminder,guys.
I mean you if, if you have themeans, if you've got a million
dollars or more in liquid networth.
You've got the means to get outand to get a residency, whether
(13:18):
it's in Eastern Europe,sometimes in Central Europe.
In Southeast Asia, you couldpotentially get a residency in
the Middle East.
In Latin America where wecurrently are right now, there
are better opportunities foryour money, both to save it, to
store it, to invest it, to growit, to hire people, to build
businesses.
Book a call right below.
At entrepreneurexpat.com/consult because it is
(13:38):
not getting any better in theus.
It is not getting any better inCanada.
And I would argue that a lot ofthese western nations,
especially all these Englishspeaking nations around the
world, Australia and the UK andso much of Europe included, are
not going on the up and up.
They're getting more difficult.
And if it's not for you, ifyou're like, you know what,
(13:58):
maybe I got another 30, 40 yearsleft.
I think I'll ride it out.
I think it'll be okay.
Well think about your kids'future.
And their kids' future.
Think about what all of them aregoing to have to do now that not
only the US and the West ingeneral is getting worse, but
also as you see here, even inGermany, even a country that's
(14:20):
in the quote unquote West, allof these countries, Mexico is
making their citizenship andtheir Visa programs harder.
Germany's obviously making itharder.
They're all making it more andmore difficult to immigrate to
(14:41):
their countries.
Even countries where beforepeople would joke and say, Hey,
Mexico is just sort of lettinganybody in.
You could just show up, renewyour visa for 180 days, fly back
for a day to the us, come back,get another six months, and stay
there forever.
I did that for a couple yearswhen I was living in Cabo and
nothing happened.
People are getting turned awayat the border now.
(15:01):
Or getting 14 days stamped ontheir passport coming into even
Mexico.
So it's getting more and moredifficult and you absolutely
want to book that call becausewe can help you fast track this.
Even if Germany doesn't have afast track program, we can help
you get your residency somewhereelse and create a much better
future for both you and yourfamily.
(15:23):
So all that to say that in theend, this fast track program
going away might actually saveyou from wasting years chasing a
passport in a country that'smoving towards higher taxes,
slower growth, and morebureaucracy.
Here are some of the places thatI hinted at a little earlier
where smart entrepreneur expatsare looking instead.
(15:43):
So Mexico is one that's verystrong.
Obviously we have our residentshere and now we are close to
both getting our passports here.
That's my wife and myself.
We're gonna have Mexicanpassports for both of us in the
next two years.
With Mexico, you can getresidency in just a few months.
Then in around five years, youcan get your passport if you're
(16:04):
living there regularly.
In Mexico now they do have aterritorial tax system for many
non-residents and entrepreneurs.
Meaning if you are here lessthan six months a year, which a
lot of people are, they'll spendhalf their time in the US or
even another country and travellike we're going to do very
shortly here.
If you are here less than sixmonths a year, you don't have to
pay taxes, obviously.
(16:25):
Consult your professional onthat.
But a territorial tax systemmeans that you're only really
paying taxes as a non-Mexicanresident on Mexican income.
And there's a lot of loopholesand there's a lot of tax breaks
and things like that.
And when you pair that withMexico's cost of living and
international connectivity, andof course it's proximity to the
us, it's not that difficult toget back to the US if there's an
(16:46):
emergency or if you wanna visitfamily or if you have clients
there.
It's very practical for expats,especially as a soft landing,
and especially if you're earningin dollars from clients in the
US or elsewhere that you canwork for online.
Panama's another country whereexpats are going.
They also have a territorial taxsystem that's that's even a
little bit more lenient thanMexico's.
They've got investor visasstarting around$200,000.
(17:08):
They've also got really goodprograms for retirement as well.
They are now allowing dualcitizenship too, and you can get
potential citizenship after justfive years of residence.
You can even live there inPanama, run all of your global
operations there and haveminimal tax friction because
your income is coming fromoutside of Panama.
Uruguay, that's another reallygood one.
(17:29):
One of the things that I loveabout Uruguay, and we're gonna
probably be checking that placeout in the next couple years as
well, is that they actually giveyou an 11 year break on all of
your foreign taxes.
So they give you a tax holidayfor 11 years for new residents,
and that's in all of yourforeign income.
They do not tax any of that.
Foreign income at all for 11years.
(17:49):
Most of the taxes that they dohave on foreign income is
actually just from dividend orcapital gains income.
And they've got a solid rule oflaw there.
It's very safe.
They have access to goodtreaties, and it's really a
hidden gem for business-mindedexpats.
And what I'll add in as well isthat they have a very European
style of life.
So even though you're not inEurope, you're in South America,
where living expenses are alittle bit more reasonable and
(18:12):
you could potentially save moremoney.
And of course, don't forgetabout taxes.
Taxes are huge.
You're gonna be paying so muchless in taxes, potentially tens
or hundreds of thousands ofdollars a year, less in taxes
every year than you may bepaying in the US because of how
good the system is there inUruguay for those expats.
(18:32):
Other places that smart expatsare going include the UAE,
Bahrain and Qatar, which have nopersonal income tax at all.
The UAE now does have a 9%corporate tax, but with proper
structure, you can still pay 0%on qualifying free zone income.
If you've got a company in oneof those free zones and you have
a high end lifestyle, of courseyou are trading more flexibility
(18:55):
for a little bit more cost.
Obviously, it's pricier maybethan somewhere like Latin
America.
But you have more flexibility.
You have a lot of internationalbusiness people there, and for
the most part, 0% tax, unlessyou're running your business out
of a place like the UAE, Albaniais one that we've been looking
into personally and we're veryserious about maybe moving there
part or full-time in the nextyear or so.
(19:18):
Albania is EU adjacent.
It's still in Europe, but it'snot currently in the eu.
Which means that they're not atleast yet subject to a lot of
the political craziness that'sgoing on with the eu.
They have very low personal andcorporate tax, in some cases as
low as 15%.
But there's actually a plan nowthat is still in effect to
(19:39):
attract foreigners to theircountry where you have a tax
break until 2029, so you don'tpay any taxes.
And after that, if you'reregistered properly as an
independent business owner, youcan pay as little as 15% tax on
your net.
Active income.
There's a, an emerging digitalnomad scene there, which is
really cool.
They're not yet in the sheinterritory, but it's a hop, skip
(20:00):
and a jump to Italy, to Greece.
I mean, it's a a six hour car orbus ride all the way to Athens
from a couple different citiesin Albania.
You can also take a ferry overto Italy or a cheap flight
anywhere in Europe, and you'llbe in pretty much any country in
Europe in an hour or so.
So that's also.
Very, very cool.
It's a lean base forentrepreneurs in Europe, but
(20:22):
without the bureaucracy ofsomewhere like Germany or the
uk.
Now each of these gives you moreflexibility, faster pathways to
residency or citizenship anddramatically lighter tax burdens
without tying yourself to one ofEurope's most expensive welfare
systems.
So the bottom line is Germany isending its fast track
(20:43):
citizenship program, but that'snot really the end of the world.
And in fact, it's kind of ablessing in disguise because it
wasn't really that great forexpats in the first place.
It was not very practical.
A lot of those economicindicators in Europe are not
great anyway.
So if your goal is time freedom,tax freedom, and long-term
mobility, your best bet isreally to look south, whether
that's Latin America, you lookat the East, perhaps the Middle
(21:07):
East, you look at countries, uh,that we're gonna be going to
like Albania, there's a lot moreopportunity than those.
Legacy brand countries, as theyare called.
So don't chase the passport.
Build the life in business thatlets you choose where you wanna
live, not where the tax mantells you that you should.
If you want help doing that foryou and your family, please book
(21:30):
that call below.
Go to entrepreneurexpat.com/consult.
If you've got a million dollarsor more in liquid net.
If you've got a million dollarsor more in liquid net assets, we
can help you and your familyrelocate to a country that is
going to be tax friendly.
It's going to be businessfriendly, it's going to have
regulations that are not goingto make you sacrifice your
(21:52):
quality of life and the qualityof your business.
Book that call right below, wecan help you out.
And for everybody else, checkout all of the free resources
below this video in thedescription.
Make sure you give this video athumbs up.
It helps us a ton with our goalof reaching a million
entrepreneur expats or aspiringexpats, and also subscribe to
(22:13):
this channel so that you don'tmiss any of our new content
coming out.
Thank you so much for watchingand we'll see you again very
soon
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