My journey to dual citizenship: Entrepreneur from the USA

This is the real story of one our client. He wants to remain anonymous, so we removed his first and last name from this narrative.

Where it all started

The idea of getting citizenship was always there, I’m sorry to admit it, but I have always noticed the extreme attention of the society – especially these days (I have a Jewish surname and absolutely everyone pays attention to it). I made my final decision after my son came home and told me about a anti-semitic statements from peers and teachers (!) at school. I faced the same situations in my childhood! I believed that such harassment (especially by children or teenagers) was a thing of the past. I was sure that my child would face it. But history repeats itself.

I actively support Jewish traditions, my children attend a Jewish preparatory school, and I am involved with the Jewish community in my city. In addition, one of the factors which pushed me personally to this decision was the tax burden. My tax rate in the US was as high as 37% per year, which not only demotivated me, but also affected my income and the growth of my company. I thought a lot about starting other companies, but the prospect of an even higher tax rate was stopping me. By becoming a second citizen and redirecting my resources to another company, I can significantly reduce my tax, which will give a boost to my business. Moreover, it will enable me to increase the salaries of my employees.

I contacted the WRAI company and discovered that becoming an Israeli citizen could provide privileges for my company. The business tax benefits would last 10 years if I start my business in Israel before citizenship (7 years if I start after). This was another strong factor in favor of obtaining citizenship and starting a new company in Israel.

Document retrieval process

The idea was a long time ago, so the preparation process started long before applying for the company. I searched for organizations that could help me with this, also I’ve read a lot about taxes and one of the articles led me to the WRAI website. Before that I had called law firms, but they only answered questions directly related to the law and repatriation, and they had no support in Israel. Which was important to me! After all, when you get to a completely unfamiliar country, it is extremely difficult to navigate there. You may not know the language, you may not fully understand the culture and you may not be ready for the realities of another country. Moreover, I was well aware that in Israel I will face paperwork and bureaucracy.

And of course, my problems included more mundane issues, for example, if we are talking about moving, how to choose a school where my child will study? How to open a company in Israel? Which city to choose to move in? Yes, all these questions will affect me only in the future, but I decided to find out everything in advance. That’s why I contacted WRAI consultants, I was not quite clear about what documents are needed and from whom, what I need to do, what awaits me in Israel. And of course I needed support in Israel.

I am now preparing to travel to Israel where I plan to visit all the necessary authorities in the next 3-5 months. The signing of the contract went smoothly, without any hiccups, there were some edits to the contract from my lawyer, but the company representatives quickly accepted them. The approval process went as quickly as possible. I know that I will be supported at all stages of the repatriation process, which is why I chose this company. After obtaining Israeli citizenship, I plan to launch my next startup using the tax privileges that Israel provides to new repatriates.