Interest in ‘golden visas’ and residency through investment has increased more than sevenfold in the last ten years, according to research by a migration consultancy firm.
The ‘Golden Visa Index’, put together by La Vida and published earlier this month, tracked search demand online across residency and citizenship by investment ‘in all the terms investors use to describe it’, the firm said.
La Vida said the index was constructed with advertiser information it received from Google on the number of impressions the firm’s own material on investor migration received – and the proportion that this made up of all impressions on the topic.
Dividing one by the other, La Vida added, provided it with figures on the derived total market – Google’s own estimate of the total number of searches made into golden visas, citizenship by investment, and other related terms.
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Using its methodology, the firm gave the number of searches in 2016 an index value of 100, and found that nine years later in 2025, it stood at 728.5.
The organisation’s CEO, Paul Williams, told Spear’s that the sevenfold rise in golden visa interest over the last decade had been driven by several factors. These include a surge in US clients looking to relocate following the re-election of President Trump in 2024.
‘The day after the election saw a 23-fold increase in traffic to our website largely from Democrat leaning states,’ he said.
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For US and UK residents, Portugal has remained the most popular choice for residency through investment, Williams said, highlighting the €500,000 investment visa option, and the absence of a minimum stay requirement.
Currently, according to Henley & Partners, over 100 countries have in place some variation of an investment migration scheme, with the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and EU states like Malta and Italy among the most popular.
[See also: Should you move to Greece, like Chris Rokos? ]
Where will UHNWs look to next?
Greece has recently emerged as another destination of choice for wealthy individuals and families, following news earlier this month that UK hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos would relocate to the country.
Williams told Spear’s that the combination of ‘wealth’ and ‘immigration’ means ‘politicians can use these programmes like political footballs’, and highlighted Spain ending their investor residence scheme in 2025 after blaming it for worsening the country’s housing crisis.
For UHNWs looking for new schemes that may be set up in the near future, Williams cited Argentina as a country to watch.
‘We expect to see a citizenship investment programme from Argentina later this year. That will be a big move with a major economy looking to enter the race for global wealth through a golden visa programme that offers citizenship and a relatively strong passport for investors,’ he said.
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Some nations with existing schemes for HNW investors are also currently in the process of making them more attractive.
‘Panama is currently enhancing its programme of residency through $300k real estate investment in new build property to benefit the economy,’ Williams said. ‘Panama offers superb tax benefits for anyone choosing to reside there.’
Some countries have seen economic benefits after introducing investor residency programs. Malta’s government has said the country generated €1.4 billion from its golden visa scheme over the decade it was in effect, before the EU’s highest court ruled it unlawful in 2025.
Others have questioned how lucrative investor routes to citizenship can be for a nation. Dr. Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, wrote earlier this year for Henley & Partners that in practice, ‘policymakers have often found the results disappointing’.
‘While small countries with large investment migration programs can raise substantial funds, investors’ activities in larger countries that have also embraced the programs — such as the USA — are a drop in the ocean compared to the size of their economies,’ she wrote.
