The country is among the elite, but which programs offer greater advantages in 2025?
The world’s wealthy are, in theory, among the most able to choose where they want to live. But when you are managing large amounts of wealth, it’s never that simple, given the array of tax laws and other considerations.
Many countries offer advantages for those with significant amounts of investable assets and Canada remains among the best according to a new report from a firm that specializes in advising on investment immigration programs.
Henley & Partners annual Global Citizenship Program Index and Global Residence Program Index reveal that the most advantageous jurisdictions based on multiple factors including tax, visa requirements, investment level, reputation, and quality of life.
Malta takes the top spot again in 2025 for those seeking citizenship, while Greece is number one for residence.
While Canada makes the top 10 – in equal fourth place with Australia and Spain – for residence, it does not make the top 10 for citizenship programs. The residence index top five also includes the UK, Portugal, Italy (equal 3rd) and Switzerland (2nd).
Some of the programs are focused on entrepreneurs, such as Canada’s Start-Up Visa Program, and Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, says that careful analysis of the available options is essential for those considering foreign residence or citizenship.
“Acquiring alternative residence and/or citizenship by participating in reputable investment migration programs enables greater flexibility and participation in the world’s leading economies, as well as optionality, which is now an indispensable part of any family’s insurance policy for the 21st century. The more jurisdictions a family can access, the lower its exposure to country-specific, regional, and global volatility, and the more secure it will be over the long term,” he said.
The firm’s clients are dominated by US-Americans applying for alternative residence and citizenship options, but overall, a record-breaking 142,000 high-net-worth individuals are forecast to move to a new country in 2025, compared to the 134,000 who did so last year, and 120,000 the year before.
“Faced with unprecedented instability and uncertainty, investors and wealthy families are adopting a strategy of geopolitical arbitrage to acquire additional residence and citizenship options to hedge against jurisdictional risk and leverage differences in legal, economic, political, and social conditions across countries. They thereby optimize their personal, financial, and lifestyle outcomes,” said Dominic Volek, group head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners.
