Showing posts with label passport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label passport. Show all posts

Saturday, August 12, 2023

Where To ?!

 

Things are rather 'messy' ( politically, economically, socially)  in my neck of the woods .  I'm not surprised.  I've even anticipated the situation.  Poor management, high corruption, an extremely 'mixed' population - can  lead to nothing good.

 What bothers me most is the threat of food shortage. If I mention that to people, they react with a smile of disbelief (after all,  lots of food is thrown away daily by individuals, families, restaurants, stores). 

There are a couple of reasons that trigger my thoughts on the above matter.

It's not only the Holocaust background of my  late mother eating potatoe peels (on a good day) in the Ghetto,  not only the ongoing russian- ukrainian war preventing a smooth supply of wheat to the world.  It's also  the very  fickle climate having a disastruous impact on food growth , distribution , and all that has to be done to feed the world.

Will food crisis (that usually starts with a rise in prices ) lead us back to some sort of nomadic lifestyle,  relocation, perhaps?! 

Possibly.  Relocation might or might not help. What's sure is that it requires a lot of planning especially where families with little kids are concerned. One also  needs an additional passport, languages, money, right timing (you cannot relocate at the last moment, as you won't be able even to come near a plane, certainly not be on the plane itself).

Age does have a  say in this. People of the third age, like myself,  are not keen on relocation, for obvious reasons. They'll stay where they are with whatever comes their way.  No energy for new beginnings, although - 'never say never',  might apply to them too. 

Anyway, I believe in God, in God's guidance and protection - and that gives me the peace of mind  I need to carry on with my everyday life, regardless of the  increasing  unrest around me. I'm grateful for that.


 

Monday, September 5, 2022

'Investment' Affairs


Starting with May next year, there will be some new visa regulations for  those who intend to visit countries of the European Union. There's still time to look into these regulations and see what's it all about. The news ,however, made me think of  visas and passports in general, and how they have become a highly profitable business in particular.       

Not only does the service of issuing / renewing/replacing a visa/passport cost the applicant good money, but countries are  willing to sell these documents  to those not elligible at all, for a substantial sum of money invested in a house/business/bank account . Requirements such as basic knowledge of the language by the applicant for the passport,  has been shamelessly removed in many cases.

Don't you worry, said someone to me; after getting the money for the passport, at the tiniest move or request they'll send the new passport owner to learn the language and culture of the place. Money first, national pride next, but still there.

A passport does not only serve as a travel document, but is also evidence of citizenship.  I've got double citizenship : romanian (by birth) and israeli. As Romania is part of the European Union its passport is an european one. 

An additional passport is an asset, and a sort of investment.  It might help with retirement, relocation, taxes, work, studies, life improvements.                                                                           

At my age, I don't plan any relocation , but one never knows what God's plans are. Suppose personal safety gets treatened by certain events (war, famine,earthquake,crime)  one might consider migration to what looks like a safer place.

In my nearby area, Cyprus followed by Portugal, seems to be a popular EU citizenship source. Many hundreds of russians, brits, and israelis have relocated on this island. 

Among the non-EU passports in the near area, the turkish one is quite sought after. No wonder, Turkie  has a more or less steady regime, it is more or less a self-sufficient country. We, in Israel import quite a lot of essentials from Turkie ; it's all good stuff (potatoes, mineral water, canned food etc..) and no less important, decently priced.