Investment migration people in the news this week included:
- John Kiely of Howard Kennedy
- Zoe Jacob of Boodle Hatfield
- Robert Brodrick of Payne Hicks Beach
- David Lesperance of Lesperance & Associates
- Elena Ruda and Vladlena Baranova of Immigrant Invest
- Mischa Mannix-Opie of Greener Pastures New Zealand
- Judi Galst, Philippe Amarante, and Dominic Volek of Henley & Partners
- Sandeep Wadhwa of FAY Investment Group
- Sam Bayat of Bayat Group
- Shermin Chen and Philippe A. May of EC Holdings
- Sacha Wooldridge of Birketts
- David Livitt of Blick Rothenberg
- Kristin Surak
- Nuri Katz of Apex Capital Partners
Financial Times – John Healey to quash visa hopes for wealthy in UK Budget
Advisers to the rich said they would have welcomed the idea. John Kiely, head of immigration at law firm Howard Kennedy, called it “a no-brainer”.
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“There is definitely an appetite among [high-net-worth] clients for a credible investment route,” he said. “I think it is an easy sell with the electorate too, particularly if the route requires genuine and impactful investment into the UK economy.”
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Zoe Jacob, a partner at Boodle Hatfield, said there was “considerable pent-up demand”, adding: “We have a list of potential clients who are waiting for a new investor visa to be announced and would then be interested in relocating to the UK.”
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Robert Brodrick, a partner at Payne Hicks Beach, said an investor visa would “need to tie in with tax” and “ideally, with a £5mn investment, offer some preferential tax status for the duration of the visa — but along with an annual fee”.
Spear’s – Is Britain’s wealth exodus about to accelerate?
As David Lesperance of Lesperance & Associates says: ‘Treating the golden geese like a captive audience only gets them to consider flying away.’ The solution then is not to clip their wings but to foster an environment that makes them willing to stay.
Newsweek – Many Americans Look South for ‘Plan B’ Citizenship
“Interest in residence and citizenship by investment programs is no longer concentrated among ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI, generally defined as those with $30 million or more in assets) and high-net-worth individuals (HNWI, $1 million or more),” Elena Ruda, co-founder and managing partner at Immigrant Invest, told Newsweek.
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“A growing share now comes from upper-middle-class professionals and retirees drawing on personal savings (doctors, senior IT specialists, real estate brokers, scientists and academics, lawyers, and other salaried professionals in distinctive careers). This group now accounts for roughly a quarter (25 percent) of all calls, up sharply from 2025. Meanwhile, the traditional core of investors, entrepreneurs, and business owners is still the single largest group but it has narrowed to just over 40 percent of 2026 calls, down from a roughly 50-to-15 split in their favor over this newer segment back in 2025.”
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“The biggest driver is the desire for options,” Mischa Mannix-Opie of Greener Pastures New Zealand, who works directly with Americans exploring investor migration, told Newsweek.
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“What’s really interesting is that many of these families have no immediate plans to leave the U.S. They’re approaching international mobility as a form of long-term planning. We’re seeing that firsthand in New Zealand, where Americans have become the largest source of applications for the country’s revised investor visa. For these families, the appeal is not necessarily about leaving America. It’s about knowing they have another option.”
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“In an era of political volatility and uncertainty, having multiple citizenships or residences serves as a form of geopolitical risk insurance,” Judi Galst, managing director private clients at Henley & Partners, previously told Newsweek.
Business Standard – US green card via EB-5? Investment limit may rise to $1.25 million in 2027
The investment threshold is not the only factor Indian applicants should consider, said Sandeep Wadhwa, chairman of Villa Roma Resort and FAY Investment Group.
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“The upcoming increase in EB-5 investment thresholds makes timely planning increasingly important for Indian investors. However, the decision should not be driven by the investment amount alone,” he said.
The National Law Review – Argentina’s New Citizenship by Investment Program: Sound Foundation, Unwritten Rules and EU Questions, Says Sam Bayat
Sam Bayat, founder and managing director of Bayat Group, gave the design a largely positive assessment.
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“There is no passive real estate route, so developers are not gatekeepers of citizenship. Vetting was built in from the first day, rather than added years after,” said Bayat. “The foundation is sound. What follows, the implementing rules, will decide whether this becomes something new.”
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“The greatest long-term risk to any program is not the applicants. It is the intermediary industry,” he said. “Argentina needs no exclusive concessionaire, only an official portal and a small accredited network, with due diligence kept apart from the commercial side. The government must control the industry. The industry must never control the program.”
Fin News Asia – Golden Visa Adviser Recruits Marketing Head for Expansion
EC Holdings has named Shermin Chen Chief Business Consultant, the company said on Thursday. She is tasked with expanding the firm’s reach, building strategic partnerships and strengthening ties with industry stakeholders.
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Chief Executive Philippe A. May said building partnerships and maintaining trusted relationships remain «central to our growth». Chen, he added, brings commercial insight and a strong grasp of market dynamics.
Bloomberg – Healey Considers New UK Investor Visa for Wealthy Foreigners
“Unless you have a spouse visa or some other connection to the UK, it is really a closed door,” said Sacha Wooldridge, head of immigration at law firm Birketts. “The entrepreneur visas and business-related visas don’t adequately match the market demand.”
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David Livitt, head of the UK Global Mobility Tax Team at accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg, echoed that, saying he’d like to see “more clarity or thought around how to make it a bit more attractive to come here and invest.”
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“What is the incentive for coming over?,” he said. “The visa route from a tax perspective doesn’t really distinguish between individuals who just want to come over and work here a little bit versus those that are really entrepreneurs.”
Fortune – The ‘golden visa’ isn’t just for the rich: UAE offers 10-year residency to $545,000 property buyers—or for nurses, teachers, and e-sports pros
In essence, the UAE took a visa status normally associated with the rich and powerful and turned it into an umbrella program for both capital and talent, blending labor and industrial policies, according to Kristin Surak, a professor of political sociology at the London School of Economics and author of The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires.
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“It’s not a traditional golden visa,” Surak told Fortune. “Gold sounds cooler. You want a lead scientist? You call [the visa] gold.”
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Vladlena Baranova, head of legal at Immigrant Invest, a consulting firm that advises on citizenship-by-investment and golden visa programs, told Fortune that clients who choose the UAE over competing programs often do so for safety, lifestyle, and business reasons.
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“So many of them just want to live there,” Baranova said, noting that her firm’s clients from the Gulf region value Dubai’s safety—it scored highly on perceptions of public safety and quality of life last year—while its European ones seek out its tax environment and real estate opportunities.
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“We have certainly seen a slowdown in enquiries and applications for UAE residence in recent months, with geopolitical uncertainty influencing sentiment,” Dominic Volek, who advises wealthy families on residence and citizenship planning at Henley & Partners, told Fortune. “We see this as a moderation in demand rather than a fundamental shift in the UAE’s appeal.”
Moneywise – Argentina is launching South America’s first-ever citizenship-by-investment program — but it’ll cost you at least $350,000
The program could generate strong demand among wealthy foreigners. In June, Nuri Katz, founder of the citizenship-advisory firm Apex Capital Partners, told Fortune that there’s a real appetite for backup citizenship among rich Americans. He also later predicted that “Really wealthy Americans will be embarrassed if they do not have an Argentina passport.”
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Some American elites are already moving to Argentina. One example is billionaire entrepreneur and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who has temporarily relocated his family to Buenos Aires and purchased a $12 million mansion in the Argentine city. Philippe Amarante, who leads government advisory at the passport-planning firm Henley & Partners, called Thiel’s Argentine bet “a bit of a proof of concept” for the new program, according to ABC News.
