There are two ways to acquire a second passport--by naturalization (that is, residency leading to citizenship) or by investment (this is referred to as an "economic citizenship").
The quickest, cheapest by naturalization (residency-leading-to-citizenship) jurisdictions are the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
Economic citizenship (that is, second-passport-by-investment) programs are currently on offer from St. Kitts and Nevis, the Commonwealth of Dominica, and Montenegro. The new Montenegro program is the most expensive, requiring an investment of 500,000 euro in business development in this country.
Check out their respective government websites for more info.
Additionally, for US citizens I read the following in International Living a while back that may be of interest for people who are travel minded and mobile like us on this forum. Anyways, here's the article straight from IL:"In 1956, the US and the Netherlands signed a treaty of Friendship giving citizens and businesses in each country reciprocal rights in both countries. Some of the treaty's provisions no longer apply to the Netherlands itself, but they still apply to the Dutch territories.
European Dutch citizens may stay for 6 months at a time in the Dutch Caribbean territories without applying for a residence permit. The court declared that US citizens ought to have the same entitlement. This is an important development if you're a US citizen interested in acquiring residence in the Dutch Territories, potentially leading to your eligibility to to apply for a Dutch passport...
Based on this court decision, your application for residence in the Dutch Caribbean territories must be treated the same way one from a European Dutch applicant would be treated. After 5 years of continuous legal residence, good conduct and integration into the community, you're eligible to apply for a Dutch passport. (Continuous legal residence means just that, you must actually live several months each year in your selected territory). With a Dutch passport, you have visa-free access to more than 150 countries. You can also live or work anywhere in the EU.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with International Living. Just wanted to share this you guys as this can be a valid option to obtaining a EU passport for US citizens. Also because I have learned a lot of very useful things from this forum so I feel it's my duty as well to share things that can benefit others in here.
I hope this is of interest to some of the forum members.
