Domicile Diversification: How Investor Citizens Are Surviving in COVID-19

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The world has experienced unexpected volatility in light of the global pandemic, which has shaken up the citizenship by investment industry significantly.

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The uncertainty has only continued into 2021 and has affected people’s decisions about where they ‘choose’ to live.

The Impact Of Instability On Affluent Entrepreneurs And International Investors

Now, this level of instability driven by COVID-19, has led to a spike in affluent entrepreneurs and international investors diversifying their domicile portfolios through residence and second citizenship investment in a bid to overcome the limitations and risks of being restricted to a single residence.

Despite borders creating barriers in a pandemic world, the right to freedom of movement is a fundamental right preserved in the laws and constitutions of most countries – and yet despite the pandemic, these states are not rejecting dual citizenship acceptance. According to recent research, there has been a 32% increase in the daily average number of enquiries compared to the first six months of 2020. John Hanafin, CEO for Huriya Private concurred with the research with the traction they’ve been seeing in the market, “We’ve seen a huge upsurge in clients coming to us looking for secondary citizenship and investment opportunities this year. People are looking at the most practical options for both investment and the flexibility of living abroad in structures that make sense for both their lifestyle and portfolio needs, in places that offer incentives and sensible returns. As a multi-family office, we’ve been helping our clients find the right solutions and then take care of everything to make it happen for them as quickly and efficiently as possible. The pandemic has accelerated this market beyond expectation.”

There has been a leap a 192% leap in enquiries from US citizens in 2020 compared to the previous year. Enquiries from Canadians are up 34%, and there have been 29% and 26% more enquiries from UK and French nationals.

The Need For Domicile Diversification

Now, more than ever, is the time to bolster the resilience of portfolios to strengthened physical and financial longevity. Alternative residence or citizenship is seen as providing the flexibility and security individuals are seeking considering the pandemic and ongoing geopolitical instability. Having a wide breadth of choice allows for alternative business, career, educational, healthcare, and lifestyle opportunities on a worldwide scale.

The idea of large, multi-generational families all living in the same location is now fast becoming as antiquated and impractical practice, as Hanafin notes, “Domicile diversification allows for investors and their families to broaden their opportunities worldwide. A ‘picking and choosing’ strategy can see a successful Fintech entrepreneur apply for Australia's Global Talent Independent Visa to obtain permanent residence there. The children have their sights set on studying in Europe or the UK, so they also apply for the UK Investor Immigration Program or the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program. The retired parents, on the other hand, would prefer to spend time in Portugal, so they could apply for the Portugal Golden Program. Our team is focused on helping our clients navigate these waters across the globe."

The pandemic has reminded us that we need to take a long-term strategic approach, not make a mad dash to the emergency exit when things go wrong in our current place of residence. Unless a plan and structure is in place, preservation of wealth in today’s high tax economies can still prove very difficult.


About Huriya Private 

Huriya Private is an independent, international, award winning private equity, immigration, multi-family office and corporate structuring firm. They provide a unique set of bespoke strategic management services to international clients in global markets, based out of Dubai. Huriya Private require PR services to position itself as a pre-eminent specialist advisory firm, principally providing citizenship by investment. It is the belief of Huriya (meaning freedom in Arabic) that one’s country of birth shouldn’t dictate mobility in the future. Huriya Private seek to consciously promote free trade, free movement of capital, labour and people. Although these ‘freedoms’ are established, unless a plan and structure is in place, preservation of wealth in today’s high tax economies can still prove very difficult. It is essential to raise awareness to international clients in global markets. Huriya Private is in a unique position of catering to the needs of a modern day high net worth client or international family, by looking deep within the context of the clients’ circumstances and curating a series of proposed options.