A $500,000 investment means something entirely different to a billionaire than it does to someone with $5 million in liquid assets. For the former, it represents a rounding error. For the latter, it could be 10% of their wealth tied up for years. This distinction matters because the investment migration market’s most expensive programs demand multimillion-dollar commitments that only make sense under specific circumstances.
Whether a high-cost golden visa delivers value depends on factors that no ranking can capture: Your existing passport strength, tax situation, timeline, and what you actually want from the investment.
The Trump administration’s Gold Card program (from $1 million for individuals to $5 million for the pending Platinum Card tier), Hong Kong’s HK$30 million Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES), and Saudi Arabia’s $1.9 million Premium Residency all target different investor profiles.
What Does “Worth It” Actually Mean?
Defining value in investment migration requires moving beyond simple cost-benefit calculations. A golden visa bundles several distinct products: A legal right to reside, potential regional access, a possible citizenship pathway, and an underlying investment that may or may not generate returns.
Each component carries a different weight depending on who you are. For someone holding a passport with limited travel access, the mobility gains from an EU golden visa could justify a premium.
An Iranian investor gaining Schengen access through a €500,000 Portuguese fund investment obtains something fundamentally different from a Canadian making the same commitment. The Canadian already travels visa-free across Europe.
Philippe May, CEO of EC Holdings, has characterized the UAE Golden Visa as “cheap, easy, and the UAE is an attractive country for residence.” But he also notes that “it’s not a plan B and does not lead to PR or citizenship,” likening it to a “long-term nomad visa.” This observation captures the essential distinction between residency value and citizenship value.
Processing realities also factor into worth. Greece has reduced its golden visa backlog from over 52,000 pending applications to approximately 42,390 by November 2025, processing 88% of 2023 applications. Portugal, by contrast, faces processing times hitting a record 39.6 months. The UAE processes applications in under a month. Time has value, and programs that deliver results quickly may justify higher costs.
The Numbers: Comparing Costs and Potential Returns
The world’s most expensive golden visas span a wide range.
Trump’s proposed Gold Card would require $5 million, making it, as London School of Economics professor Kristin Surak noted, “the most expensive golden visa option in the world,” (although it would technically come in second if it ever materializes, behind Singapore’s Global Investor Program which demands a $7.78 million investment).
Hong Kong’s CIES demands HK$30 million (approximately $3.84 million).
New Zealand’s Balanced category requires NZ$10 million. Saudi Arabia’s Premium Residency asks for $1.9 million in business activities.
Real estate-backed programs delivered sharply divergent performance in 2025. UAE golden visa properties showed the strongest results.
Dubai Land Department statistics indicate residential property prices increased 12.8% year-over-year through November 2025, with premium areas exceeding 15% gains. Rental yields remained attractive at 6% to 8% annually, providing total returns approaching 20% for well-positioned investments.
Turkey tells a cautionary tale about currency risk. Residential property prices increased 47% year-over-year in lira terms through September 2025.
But factor in Turkey’s inflation rate of approximately 39% and the lira’s roughly 20% depreciation against the dollar, and properties that showed gains on paper translated to losses.
Aran Hawker warns that he has “watched the Turkish lira tank for 30 years solid” and “it can devalue 100% overnight.”
IMI Pros Who Can Help You with The Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)
The Investor Variable: How Nationality and Wealth Shape Value
Your starting point determines your destination’s value. A €500,000 EU golden visa provides substantially different utility depending on your existing passport. The Portuguese passport grants visa-free access to over 186 countries.
For holders of passports with restricted travel access, this represents a transformation in global mobility. For Americans or Western Europeans, the marginal improvement is smaller.
Tax implications vary based on where you’re coming from, and here the nationality dichotomy becomes stark. The UAE’s zero personal income tax environment creates transformative value for an American entrepreneur paying 37% federal income tax plus state taxes that push the combined rate above 50% in California or New York. For that person, a $545,000 golden visa investment pays for itself within months through tax savings alone.
An Egyptian investor faces an entirely different calculation. With Egypt’s top marginal rate at 25%, the tax savings from relocating to Dubai are far less compelling.
The same program, investment and apartment, yet fundamentally different value propositions. For the Egyptian, worth shifts toward factors like business access, lifestyle, or regional connectivity rather than tax optimization.
Portugal’s Golden Visa does not automatically trigger tax residency. Holding the visa requires only an average of seven days per year, meaning most holders don’t meet the 183-day tax residency threshold.
Nuri Katz of Apex Capital Partners once said that investors rarely spend more than 10% of their net worth on an immigration program, with most allocating closer to 5%. This suggests a $5 million program requires liquid assets of at least $50 million to make financial sense.
Beyond ROI: Mobility, Citizenship Pathways, and Intangibles
Programs differ substantially in what they deliver beyond residency. Hong Kong’s CIES grants residency with a path to permanent status after seven years.
But permanent residency is not citizenship. The UAE operates similarly. Despite its Golden Visa’s popularity (Dubai issued 158,000 in 2023), there is no standardized path to citizenship.
Portugal has historically offered one of the clearest citizenship pathways: five years leading to naturalization eligibility. But recent legislative changes complicate the picture. Portugal’s Parliament approved extending the citizenship timeline to seven or ten years. Legal experts note that processing delays effectively extend the timeline to 9 to 13 years for most investors.
Physical presence requirements to maintain status can shape lifestyle flexibility. The UAE has minimal requirements. Portugal requires only seven days annually. Greece imposes no physical presence requirements at all. These minimal demands allow investors to treat residency as an option rather than an obligation.
When Expensive Programs Make Sense, and When They Do Not
High-cost programs make sense under specific conditions. If you need immediate access to a jurisdiction and can afford the premium, processing speed may justify the expense. The UAE’s sub-one-month turnaround contrasts sharply with Portugal’s multi-year waits.
Tax planning creates legitimate use cases for premium programs. If relocating to a zero-tax jurisdiction saves you millions annually, the program cost represents a small fraction of the benefit.
Expensive programs make less sense when cheaper alternatives deliver equivalent benefits. If you want EU residency, Greece at €250,000 offers the same Schengen access as Portugal at €500,000 with faster processing. If you want Gulf residency without citizenship aspirations, the UAE beats Saudi Arabia’s $1.9 million for most practical purposes.
Before committing to any high-cost program, ask yourself:
- What specific problem am I solving?
- Does this program’s cost reflect benefits I will actually use?
- Could a less expensive alternative deliver similar outcomes?
- What happens to my investment if rules change?
- How does this fit into my broader wealth strategy?
The most expensive golden visas exist because some investors find genuine value in them. But value is personal. A program that makes perfect sense for one investor may represent a costly mistake for another.
The worth of any golden visa depends less on its price tag than on whether its specific combination of benefits matches your specific combination of needs.
