Could You Qualify For A Free El Salvador Passport?

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced the country is giving away 5,000 free passports to highly skilled workers, which amounts to approximately $5 billion in its passport program.

“We’re offering 5,000 free passports (equivalent to $5 billion in our passport program) to highly skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, artists, and philosophers from abroad,” Bukele said.

“This represents less than 0.1% of our population, so granting them full citizen status, including voting rights, poses no issue. Despite the small number, their contributions will have a huge impact on our society and the future of our country,” he continued.

“Plus, we will facilitate their relocation by ensuring 0% taxes and tariffs on moving families and assets. This includes commercial value items like equipment, software, and intellectual property. Stay tuned for more details,” he added.

We're offering 5,000 free passports (equivalent to $5 billion in our passport program) to highly skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, artists, and philosophers from abroad.

This represents less than 0.1% of our population, so granting them full citizen status, including…

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 6, 2024

X users commented on the announcement:

Imagine a government that actually wants what you have to offer the community instead of signaling their displeasure in you and your rights. https://t.co/EcRvMOaIwg

— Jessica Vaugn (@JessicaVaugn) April 7, 2024

Genius move by a leader who loves his country and is constantly thinking of ways to make life better for its people. If he’s not making El Salvador great again, he’s working on making it great for the first time! https://t.co/iVp5ascMyz

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) April 6, 2024

At the rate Bukele’s hustling, El Salvador will be one of the most prosperous countries in the world by the end of the 21st century. https://t.co/qfTIlkNLtt

— SOVEREIGN BRAH 🇺🇸🏛️⚡️ (@sovereignbrah) April 7, 2024

Bukele shows how to run an immigration system that actually works for El Salvador.
5,000 free passports offered to professionals.https://t.co/QsBAH072mT

— EMPIntelligenceNet© (@Megavolts001) April 7, 2024

A small country in our Hemisphere, acting in a more advanced way on immigration than our administration…#ElSalvador is bringing people to build itself, and the current administration in the US is crumbling our national border, which is shattering the country.

We need to… https://t.co/uN6E6IejIu

— Dr Walid Phares (@WalidPhares) April 7, 2024

Mint reports:

Nearly three-quarters of El Salvador’s gang members have been apprehended since Bukele initiated a crackdown two years ago, according to his security minister on April 3, AFP reported.

Gustavo Villatoro said the tally of detainees has now reached 79,184, with efforts underway to track down the remaining estimated 25,000. He also acknowledged that not all of them are within El Salvador’s borders, as many have fled the country.

Speaking to the TCS television network, he stated, “With the record of arrests that we have, in general terms, we can say that we’re at around 75 percent … and that we have 25 percent left.”

In March 2022, Bukele launched a campaign against gangs, employing a state of emergency that suspended the need for arrest warrants and other civil liberties.

However, Bukele’s methods have faced criticism from human rights groups, with Amnesty International recently characterising them as “disproportionate.”

Despite this, Bukele, who secured reelection in February for another five-year term, has pledged to persist with the crackdown “until we eradicate the little that still remains of the gangs.”

BREAKING: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s new immigration policy includes offering “5,000 free passports (equivalent to $5 billion in their passport program) to highly skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, artists, and philosophers from abroad.”

In contrast, United States… pic.twitter.com/KFGtgsPNW3

— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) April 6, 2024

📰 New: El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has announced offering 5,000 free passports which is equivalent to $5 billion in the country's passport program, to highly skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, artists, and philosophers from abroad. pic.twitter.com/VPDfbclATX

— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) April 6, 2024

News 18 noted:

Not just skilled workers, Bukele is keen on getting foreign investment. Last month, El Salvador’s Congress approved a reform to remove income taxes previously imposed on money from abroad. Money flows from abroad in forms such as remittances and investments in companies will now be exempt from tax, lawmakers said.

Before the reform, incomes equal to or greater than $150,000 had to pay a rate of 30% at the time of entry into the country. “The initiative aims to stimulate domestic and foreign investment to boost the economy and generate better and more employment opportunities,” said lawmaker Suecy Callejas in Congress when defending the reform.

Bukele’s re-election was cheered by supporters of his gang crackdown, but Western analysts fear that the country is sliding into a de facto one-party state. The result grants Bukele unprecedented control of the assembly, where last term he used his party’s supermajority to reshape institutions and pack the courts. One such tribunal let him seek re-election despite a constitutional ban on consecutive terms.