Countries should be free to sell citizenship, but not to crooks

WHEN Roman Abramovich had problems renewing his British visa, he turned to Switzerland. It rejected his residence application, however, after Swiss police said he posed a “reputation risk”. (He denies wrongdoing.) The colourful Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea football club now has an Israeli passport, allowing him visa-free travel to Britain, and is converting a former hotel into his Tel Aviv pad.Israel offers nationality to any Jew who asks for it. Other oligarchs have to pay for the privilege, but they are spoilt for choice. Citizenship- and residence-for-sale schemes, typically charging between $100,000 and $2m, are booming (see ). More than a dozen countries sell passports and around 100 sell residence. An industry of lawyers, bankers, accountants, consultants and estate agents has sprouted up to serve well-heeled “investment migrants”.