The greatest voluntary transfer of private capital in modern history is underway, according to a new report on wealth migration: the United Arab Emirates and the United States (EU) gain ground, while the United Kingdom and China lose a lot.
Key data
A record of 142,000 hnwis (individuals of high net worth), defined as those who have an invertible liquid wealth of a million dollars or more, will acquire residence or citizenship status in another country this year, according to the Henley 2025 private heritage migration report, and the projections amount to 165,000 in 2026.
“To have a million dollars in liquid assets, basically money in the bank, you would generally have to have a value close to 10 million dollars,” Nuri Katz, founder of Apex Capital Partners, told Forbes, a firm that provides guidance on immigration of investments to high -equity customers.
The United Arab Emirates are again the most sought -after fiscal paradise, with 9,800 people of high heritage that are estimated to obtain the status of resident in the country of the Middle East in 2025 (compared to 6,700 last year), according to Henley’s report.
The country of faster growth according to the report is Saudi Arabia, which is projected to receive more than 2,400 millionaires in 2025, an increase of eight times compared to last year, thanks to an increase in Saudi citizens who return and international investors established in Riad and Yeda.
On the contrary, the United Kingdom faces the greatest exodus of wealth in a single year ever registered: Henley projects that 16,500 people of high heritage will acquire the status of resident elsewhere.
China is the second largest loser of the report: it is projected that 7,800 people of high heritage will obtain the status of resident elsewhere in 2025.
Why is wealthy migration important?
“A deep change in economic influence is at stake, since countries compete not only for talent, but also for the accompanying fortunes,” says the Henley report. “With an invertible collective wealth in around 63 billion dollars, the EAUs have evolved from regional center to global wealth nexus through comprehensive political innovation.” The authors of the report stand out to the United Kingdom as a history with moral, since before 2016, it had always attracted more millionaires than those lost by migration. But Katz says that the term “migration” is a bit inappropriate. “In my experience, wealthy people use these programs as a plan B,” he said. “These people don’t really leave the United Kingdom. They are simply obtaining documentation in different countries, but they are not necessarily moving.”
How do most people with high heritage get residence in another country?
According to Henley & Partners, most HNWI migrate by obtaining work visas, ancestry visas, retirement visas, family visas or second passports by birth right. Only about 30 % opt for investment migration programs to obtain residence or citizenship.
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What makes the United Arab Emirates so attractive to people with a high net worth?
Henley & Partners highlights the “cozy immigration policy” of the United Arab Emirates, with “zero income taxes, first level infrastructure, political stability and a regulatory framework that deals with capital as a partner and not as a prey”. The Golden Visa program of the 2019 EAU was modified in 2022 to expand eligibility. “Recently, many people with a high heritage have moved to the EAU for their lifestyle and, obviously, for the absence of personal income tax,” said Katz, adding that although the EAUs are “undoubtedly receiving a lot of influx”, “does not come from Americans, since they are never condemned by the Income Tax.”
What position does the United States occupy in the Henley & Partners list?
The United States, number 2 in the Henley classification, is expected to receive 7500 new immigrants of high purchasing power in 2025, mainly through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which has channeled more than 50,000 million dollars in foreign direct investment and has created hundreds of thousands of US jobs, according to Henley & Partners. President Donald Trump and the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, have promoted the Trump Gold Card visa program, 5 million dollars and still in development, as a substitute for the EB-5 program.
Large number
Almost 70,000. That is the number of people who, according to Lutnick, were recorded for the Trump Gold Card Visa of 5 million dollars on their website in the days after its launch on June 11. Lutnick has affirmed that the Trump Gold Card could attract up to 200,000 investors who would become green card holders, while Trump has suggested that the United States could “sell perhaps one million of these cards, perhaps more,” noting that 10 million cards could generate 50 billion dollars in revenue and eliminate the national debt of 36 billion dollars. If Lutnick’s statement is correct, it is likely that “the vast majority” is simply registered to obtain more information “and not people with an ultraralt net worth (UHNWI) that they hope to request it,” said a spokesman for Henley & Partners, and added that if the Trump Gold Card gave the wealthy people a more favorable tax treatment on their world income, “we could see a pair of golden cards issued every year, but there are still many unknowns at this stage. ” Katz declared Forbes that Lutnick’s accounts do not fit, since “I have rarely seen someone spending more than 10 % of their net assets on an immigration program, and generally is around 5 %. So you have to have 100 million dollars to afford it ». There are less than 30,000 centimillionaires in the world, and approximately one third are Americans who would not need to buy a permanent residence card.
This article was originally published by Forbes Us.
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