Migration by investment revs up in India and South Asia as ultra-rich add Europe as a key destination

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Investment migration seems to be booming in India and the larger South Asia as the ultra rich who have been historically drawn towards the US and Canada add Europe as a key destination.

Global citizenship planning firm Henley and Partners said it saw a 52 percent increase in client enquiries in 2021 across South Asia, and 2022 looks to be another year of growth.

“Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi families are seeing the benefits of investment migration not only as a means to improve their mobility, or for lifestyle and education purposes, but also as an avenue to access global markets, to protect their families’ futures, and to have an insurance policy in place to diversify their domiciles as a hedge in this volatile world in which we live,” wrote Nirbhay Handa, group head of business development at Henley & Partners, and managing director and head of global South Asia team.

As per a report by the firm, India has 22,400 multi-millionaires or those having more than $10 million each and 1,149 centi-millionaires or those having over $100 million each. Similarly, the country has 128 billionaires, as per Henley & Partners.

According to the firm, European countries including Greece, Malta, and Portugal offering golden visa facilities are drawing interest from the ultra-rich in South Asia in recent years.

Overall, the concept of an alternative residence as a means of hedging your sovereign risk is new in South Asia. While the region remains an exceptionally exciting place for business activities, commercial growth for corporations, and high-yielding investments, high-net-worth families are becoming increasingly cosmopolitan and transnational and are keen to diversify a portion of their wealth abroad, the firm said.

“While historically Canada and the US have been extremely popular education hubs for South Asian families, now many are also becoming receptive to Europe. This can be attributed to more European universities having become bilingual and offering tuition in English. A number of European countries are also being considered as potential places to own retirement or vacation homes, conduct business, and enjoy lifestyle benefits,” Handa wrote.

The most popular programmes for South Asian investors are golden visa ones in Portugal and Greece on the residence by investment front, and Malta and Montenegro on the naturalisation/citizenship by investment front. "We have also seen a great deal of interest in Global Talent Independent Visas in Australia, where high calibre tech entrepreneurs can acquire permanent residence in just six months," the firm said.

This has been particularly attractive to entrepreneurs who are looking to take their businesses global and utilise the entrepreneurial infrastructure such as access to government support and tax breaks, which may not be available in places such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lank