High net worth individuals make a beeline for Greece, Portugal, Thailand, Canada and Hong Kong

The number of Indian high net worth individuals (HNIs, with wealth of $1 million) and ultra high net worth individuals (UHNIs, with wealth of $50 million onwards), acquiring citizenship in foreign countries is growing year on year, according to people familiar with the trend.

Indians mainly applied for residence to Greece, Portugal and Thailand (2019), and Canada, Portugal and Hong Kong (2018), while for citizenship, they mainly applied to Malta, Cyprus, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada (2018 and 2019).

“In terms of wealth migration trends, it’s anticipated that overall demand for a second passport among wealthy individuals will continue to increase in 2019,” said Dominic Volek, managing partner and head of Southeast Asia, Henley & Partners, an investment migration firm that specialises in helping wealthy individuals obtain second residence or citizenship.

“China, India, Turkey and the U.K. saw the biggest outflows of wealthy individuals in 2017. Safety, financial stability, high taxes and religious or political tensions are a few of the factors driving these wealthy citizens abroad,” he said.

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While the U.S., the U.K. and Canada have long been a favourite with rich Indians, countries like Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Malta and other European Golden Visas are seen gaining a great deal of traction and interest in the past few years.

“For citizenship investment programmes [CIPs], like the Caribbean CIPs of Saint Lucia, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda, there’s a certain limit on demand — just like there is for the Chinese — because of the Indian government’s law on not allowing dual citizenship,” Mr. Volek said.

As per Henley & Partners data, there was a 33% increase till date in Indian nationals applying for residence programmes for 2019, when compared to the whole of 2018. “Indian nationals applying for our programmes did so from all over the world [not just from India]. These Indian nationals mainly lived in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates,” Mr. Volek said.

According to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, India has about 3,43,000 HNIs and 3,400 UHNIs. The number of U.S. dollar millionaires in India grew nearly nine times to 343,000 from 39,000 in 2000. Total wealth in India increased five-fold between 2000 and 2018, reaching $6 trillion in 2018.

India is viewed as one of the top 10 fastest growing high net worth countries, alongside Bangladesh, Vietnam, China and the Philippines.

He said most HNIS from India are investing in properties in London, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New York and Dubai. A larger number is also seen investing in the U.S. through the EB-5 visa programme to acquire green cards. Quoting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data for fiscal 2016, Mr. Volek said India accounted for $177 million in foreign direct investment, behind only China and Vietnam.

Travel freedom

According to the Henley Passport Index, the strength of the passport plays a big role in Indians seeking alternative citizenship. In the recent Henley Passport Index, an annual ranking, the Indian passport ranked 86th, with visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to only 58 countries out of 227 possible travel destinations. He said, “This puts the Indian passport behind other Asian countries like Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand.”

He said UHNIs and HNIs want travel freedom and this is the main reason why such people opt for passports that provide visa-free access to most countries.