Dear all, I had to share this with you as soon as I have heard it. This is too good to wait until the official news are released! I have just talked to my counterparts from NanoRacks about our Asgardia1 Satellite. It is currently stored in his workshop in his safe box. How cool is that to store the core of the new nation in your safe?!

There are 7 levels of security in the facility: 5 levels of locking, 24/7 video surveillance and onsite security. Our nation is in very good hands!

In the picture you see the satellite in the deployer. You will be soon hearing more about the progression of the Asgardia1 Satellite towards the launch in an upcoming series of the official news.

Greetings Asgardia! Today brings the first video address of Dr. Ashurbeyli, the founding father of Asgardia. He talks a little about the background of Asgardia and it's inspirations, the current status of building it and the upcoming goals of 2017, as well as an exciting announcement of the start of the Asgardia calendar and a proposed motto! Please leave your feedback either here or on the official Asgardia Facebook page. We want to hear your voices! One humanity, one unity! Kind regards, Rebekah Berg, Lead Community Administrator, Asgardia

The lovely people of wonderful  planet of earth :

The dream of having a utopia becomes the large part of history of the human race, but the utopia is not a point on the earth, it is the entire green planet of Earth. It's not too late, I do not say just save the Earth, let's save humanity, because the earth although infected and wounded But will continue to live after human life,so let's decide to saving ourselves and future generations, and ultimately life on the great earth. Help me to advance this goal by your vote.

مردم دوست داشتنی سیاره فوق زیبای زمین

رویای داشتن آرمان شهر به قدمت تاریخ بشریت می باشد اما آرمان شهر بشر نه نقطه ای از زمین بلکه کل سیاره سبزآبی زمین است. تا دیر نشده،نمیگویم زمین را، بیاید بشریت را نجات دهیم چرا که زمین گرچه آلوده و زخمی شده ولی بعد از انسان نیز به حیات خود ادامه خواهد داد پس برای نجات خود و نسل های آینده و نهایت حیات روی زمین بزرگ بیاندیشیم و درست تصمیم بگیریم. با رای خود مرا به پیشبرد این هدف کمک کنید.

Dear Asgardians,

Thank you very much all Asgardians who had believed and voted for me.

You can contact me via eren.omurzak@mayors.asgardia.space for your questions and ideas.

Kind Regards,

Eren Omurzak

Değerli Asgardia'lılar,

Bana inanan ve benim için oy kullanan bütün Asgardia'lılara teşekkür ederim.

Soru ve fikirleriniz için bana eren.omurzak@mayors.asgardia.space adresinden ulaşabilirsiniz.

Saygılarımla,

Eren Omurzak

On December 17th, our acting Prime Minister, Mrs. Ana Mercedes Diaz, issued Directive No.1 , clarifying many aspects around the “Resident status” after the Citizenship Law that was first voted by Parliament in June 2018 and as it applies to us Asgardians at this time .

Despite the clarifications given, the debate on the “Asgardia General Official” Facebook group still remains heated up .
As throughout my life, I’ve had some experience about “residency” in various places on Earth, I felt I could share to help understand the process in which we currently are together.

My experience “abroad”

I have traveled quite a bit. As of today, December 19th 2018, I have so far visited over a hundred countries and autonomous territories, 104 to be precise. I have spent extended periods of time in a few of these countries (there are 11 countries where I’ve spent between a month and up to several years) and I have worked locally in several countries for shorter or longer periods of time (9 countries where I have received a local salary).

I consider myself to be “a World Citizen” even though in reality, like everyone else on Earth, I am bound to the citizenship laws of my country of birth, France, and to the relative “power” of the passport I receive from it as a French citizen.

Applying for a permit

As you can imagine, over the years, I have had experience with various immigration authorities, visited many embassies, submitted lots of applications and filled up many many forms either in order to be a “tourist“ and simply visit a country or in order to become a “resident” when I intended to stay and work abroad.

Being a tourist

At times, just to be a temporary tourist and be allowed to travel freely in a land, you have to buy what is called “a visa”. It is usually a sticker or a stamp placed in your passport, usually giving you the legal right to enter, to travel within and to remain in a given country for a predetermined time. So far, the most money I have had to spend for a visa to visit a country was well over 100€ for a 30 day visit (that was actually Russia). But that was not my most expensive visa: I once had to pay a 5-day visa for 50$US!! (that one was for Iran)

So, just visiting a country, not even staying, yes, that can be costly.

Becoming a resident

Now, what does a “Residence permit” do? In most countries, a “Residence permit” gives legal rights to live in a chosen country for an extended period of time (usually a year). It is also generally affixed in one’s passport, and often gives the possibility to legally work in that country. Other special permits exist for different situations such as “Student permits” or “Volunteering permits” for example.

The price and administrative procedures to follow in order to obtain legally a “Residence permit” are then entirely different from the process to follow when you apply to enter a country for a visit as a tourist. For example, for French passport holders willing to relocate to Canada, the process to obtain Residency usually take about a year, submitting various papers, degrees/diplomas, going through interviews, etc. and the fee just for the application (whether it is successful or not) is well over the 100€ fee that is asked in Asgardia.

What about gaining citizenship?

There are different ways to become the Citizen of a foreign country. Here are the main and most common ones:

1) Paying a substantial fee

Most countries offer different ways to gain Citizenship. Some offer Citizenship for a substantial payment/investment of several hundreds of thousands of euros, even millions in some cases, to acquire Citizenship which then gives access to a passport and the possibility to enjoy full rights as any other regular Citizen of the country.

2) By first being a Resident for a number of years

Some countries require that you first apply for temporary residency (through a “Residence permit”). Then, after remaining a resident for a few years, the candidate must apply for permanent residency (through a “Permanent Resident permit”). Only then, ultimately, the candidate can apply for Citizenship in a process called “naturalisation”. This process is in place in countries such as Australia or New Zealand for example. Usually, attached to that process is a civic training followed by an interview led in the official language of the country, at times even accompanied by a language test and a questionnaire to make sure that the candidate knows their way around the culture and the language of the country of which they want to become Citizens. That’s the case for France, as an example.

3) Through marriage

Marriage is another path to become a Citizen of another country. Laws greatly vary from country to country to make sure the marriage is real and not a “marriage of convenience” or “sham marriage”. Some countries, such as France, don’t automatically grant citizenship to a Foreigner who marries a French person. That foreign person must wait five years, learn French language, sit for citizenship classes and then pass a written test and/or an interview…

What about dual Citizenship?

Dual Citizenship is when you have a second nationality. Please note that some countries don’t recognise dual citizenship (China, Malaysia just to name a few) and that if you were born in these countries and you happen to gain Citizenship in another country, you de facto lose your original Citizenship with all the rights and privileges attached to it (such as the right to access free public services, healthcare, education, right to work in the country, to marry in the country, etc.).

But fortunately, this doesn’t concern us in Asgardia, as we will see later, in an upcoming post.

What about Asgardia’s Citizens?

Because at this time, Asgardia is still not a full-fledged Nation, there are no Citizens in Asgardia . [EDIT: more to come on that in my next blog post]
In the process of building the Nation, before we had laws defining what “Asgardian Citizenship” really means, the term “Citizen” has been used at times, but never as a defined status referring to existing people. To the extend of my research, understanding and knowledge, if such a term was used, it was always referring to the upcoming concept and status of a Citizen, now defined in the Law of Citizenship. That means that at no point in the history of Asgardia anyone was called or even considered officially a Citizen. We were all rather "Citizens to be".

Now that the Citizenship Law has been voted, assented by our Head of Nation and further amended by our Parliament, we now have a clearer route map, a better understanding of the steps to come in the process of acquiring that status of “Citizen”.

No easy way to become a Citizen

As we have seen in the many examples shared above, there is no easy way for someone to become a Citizen of any Nation. To acquire Citizenship in Cyprus without residence, among other specific conditions, the minimum fee to invest is 300,000€, and it is one of the lowest in Europe!

Just like here in Malaysia, where I am glad to be a Resident and enjoy free access to the land, the culture and the food, there is a fee to be paid to acquire my permit.
However, being a Resident here in Malaysia doesn't actually give me any advantage I wouldn't already have if I would only be here as a tourist. Except the fact that a French tourist can only stay a maximum of 90 days and then has to leave the country while me, as a Resident permit holder, I can stay for the whole year!
Maybe that is my special advantage.
If I ever wanted to become a Citizen of Malaysia, I could then vote, I could also acquire property in a much easier way than it is for me now as a foreigner, get access to the public healthcare system, etc.
But to do so, I would have to show the proof that I have lived here 10 years under a Permanent Residence Permit, pay a fee and also work a bit on my Malay language since... there is a language proficiency test to pass!

CONCLUSION

After two years of existence, Asgardia is now offering the people who have followed and supported the developments of the Nation an opportunity to acquire the transitional status of “Resident”, which, as it is for many Nations, is a first step towards acquiring Asgardian Citizenship.

In the light of the above, I now let you be the judge whether paying this “100€ Citizenship fee” to become an Asgardian Resident to be on track to become a Citizen is worth your while or not.
We are building the first Space Nation, we have never done that before, in fact, no one has ever done it before. True, it is not a straightforward road because adjustments are likely to be needed to keep the vision of “One Humanity, One Unity” alive and at the same time to move forward building our Government and our economy.

Now that you know, will you take your steps and become a Resident?

Asgardia Unity Day is here! What’s your way of celebrating it? On this beautiful occasion, we are holding a Mayor and Mayoral candidate contest for the best Unity Day celebration idea. The winner will win an invite to the 1st ever Asgardia Science and Investment Congress this fall! Check the video and vote here –> https://asgardia.space/en/social/posts/88665