"Golden visa" programs are now drawing America's middle class

Buying a second passport was once seen as a privilege reserved almost exclusively for the ultra-wealthy, but according to a company working in the investment-migration field, that's changing: middle-class Americans are showing growing interest in these programs too. The investment-migration industry has traditionally served clients able to pay six- and seven-figure sums, since many "golden visa" programs (schemes granting foreign citizenship or residency in exchange for a large investment or donation) carry exactly that kind of price tag.

Peter Thiel, who obtained New Zealand citizenship in 2011 and temporarily relocated to Argentina that same year, is among the billionaires who have sought an extra passport and residence. For wealthy Americans, holding another citizenship typically doesn't erase U.S. tax obligations, but it does give them the freedom to live, travel, and work abroad.

According to exclusive data provided to Business Insider by Immigrant Invest — a citizenship-by-investment advisory firm founded 20 years ago and based in Malta — salaried professionals and retirees now make up 25% of the company's U.S. consultation calls, up from around 15% in 2025. The company analyzed 450 consultation conversations with U.S. clients from January through July 2026 and compared the results to the same period in 2025. That growth is coming from doctors, IT professionals, scientists, real estate brokers, lawyers, and retirees with personal savings.

At the same time, the company's traditional core clientele — very wealthy investors, entrepreneurs, and business owners — has shrunk from about 50% in 2025 to 40% in 2026. Immigrant Invest consultant Pavel Reshetnikov says the cost of citizenship programs has stayed relatively stable in recent years, which suggests more Americans with savings are seeking a "Plan B" amid rising political polarization in the U.S. and global geopolitical instability.

Among Immigrant Invest's U.S. clients, the most popular options are Caribbean citizenship-by-investment programs requiring sums in the low six figures. Grenada, for instance, requires a donation of at least $235,000 to its National Transformation Fund or a real estate investment of at least $270,000. St. Kitts and Nevis requires a contribution starting at $250,000 or a local real estate investment above $325,000. Cheaper options exist too: the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe off Africa's west coast has a program starting at $90,000, while Vanuatu in the South Pacific starts at $130,000.

According to Henley & Partners' 2026 Private Wealth Migration report — one of the world's largest investment-migration advisory firms — demand from U.S. clients nearly doubled in 2025 compared with the previous year, though most of them aren't planning to relocate anytime soon. Basil Mohr-Elzeki, the firm's head of private clients for the Americas, notes in the report: "Most of them aren't Americans already living abroad — they're Americans living in the U.S. who have no intention of moving, at least not yet."

According to Immigrant Invest, Americans showed almost no interest in citizenship-by-investment programs back in 2021, and middle-class clients were especially rare. "Five years ago, this was a tiny sliver of our U.S. clients," Reshetnikov said. "Now it's a completely different picture." The rise in demand coincided with the start of 2025, when President Donald Trump took office, and since then U.S. clients have made up as much as 28% of the company's consultations in some months, becoming one of its largest segments. According to company press representative Alexander Razinkov, for many Americans this isn't about leaving the U.S. — it's about having the option, an "insurance policy," to quickly relocate the whole family elsewhere if the need arises.