IMI’s Person of the Year 2024: Veronica Cotdemiey

IMI has named Veronica Cotdemiey the winner of the IMI Person of the Year Award for 2024.

The IMI Person of the Year award is bestowed on an investment migration practitioner who: 

• broke new ground in the market;
• displayed remarkable achievements;
• materially advanced the industry’s interests; or 
• otherwise made a notable and positive contribution to the community.

IMI Pro members nominate candidates from which IMI’s editorial board, in consultation with our senior advisors and IMI Official Partner company heads, select a winner.

Cotdemiey wins the award for having successfully sold her Dubai-based Citizenship Invest to BLS International for $31 million, the first large wholesale acquisition in investment migration industry history.

She opened her company in Dubai 15 years ago. The acquisition process, according to her, took about one year and involved the engagement of M&A advisors and an intense due diligence process.

The inaugural award winner clearly met all the criteria. She achieved a remarkable triumph that many had considered implausible and unrealistic. Through this accomplishment, she provided immeasurable inspiration and renewed motivation to hundreds of investment migration business owners.

Several of IMI’s senior advisors (Cotdemiey’s peers) revealed the reasons behind this year’s decision:

Murat Coskun, Managing Partner of Get Golden Visa, said Cotdemiey had “created a precedence that will guide as a north star to many small-to-medium companies in the industry.”

”We are delighted for Veronica,” said Hakan Cortelek, Founder of Beyond Citizenship & Residency. “She managed to achieve what we never could. Many dreamed it, but she did it! It’s a small step for Citizenship Invest and Veronica but a giant leap for investment migration firms.”

Eric Major, Founder of Latitude Residency & Citizenship, said, “I fully support Veronica as the winner of IMI’s Person of the Year award. She truly impressed me with the BLS deal. She accomplished what no other player in the industry has been able to achieve despite numerous previous attempts. RCBI has genuinely reached the mainstream at last.”

David Regueiro, COO of RIF Trust, a long-time amicable rival to Citizenship Invest, congratulated Cotdemiey and remarked that he had been “proud to be your competitor and, above all, your friend. You have always been a pioneer in the industry, so I am not surprised that you are the first person to achieve this success. I know personally how much you have worked and suffered for this dream, and we at RIF are incredibly happy for you.”

Cotdemiey received the award during IMI Connect in Miami last week, where she thanked her team members at Citizenship Invest and a former business mentor for their roles in completing the exit. She highlighted the crucial part played by Citizenship Invest’s CEO, Iñigo de Luna, in the acquisition process and characterized him as “the most suitable person possible to lead the company going forward.”

Cotdemiey attended alongside several family members, including her six-year-old daughter, whom she credited as a major inspiration for selling her firm:

“Many have asked me how I will spend my time going forward and wonder if I plan to start another business. But actually, I would like to use this opportunity to finally become a full-time mother to my daughter.”