Golden visa: Greece pips Portugal in investment migration ranking for HNIs

Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme has taken the top spot in the Henley and Partners Global Citizenship Program Index rankings for the tenth consecutive year, while Greece has claimed the top spot for the first time in the Global Residence Program Index. This marks a significant shift in the investment migration landscape, underscoring the growing dominance of European nations in the citizenship and residency-by-investment sector.

 

Malta’s citizenship program, designed in 2013 by Henley & Partners, continues to set the benchmark for other nations. The Mediterranean island nation earned a score of 76 out of 100, maintaining its lead as the most attractive investment immigration offering. The program allows foreign nationals and their families to obtain citizenship after a 36-month residence period or even 12 months under exceptional circumstances, by making substantial contributions to the country’s economic growth.

 

 

Following Malta, Austria claims second place with a score of 75, offering a premium citizenship by investment route requiring a significant economic contribution. The Caribbean island nations of Grenada (third, 69 points) and Antigua and Barbuda (fourth, 67 points) continue to be top choices for investors seeking global mobility and access to key financial hubs.

 

Meanwhile, the island of Nauru, a newcomer to the index, shares fifth place with St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Lucia, scoring 66. Nauru’s program stands out for its contribution to climate crisis solutions, directing funds to infrastructure, renewable energy, and climate resilience projects in the South Pacific region.

 

Dominica, another Caribbean island nation, ranks 6th with a score of 65, and Türkiye sits in 7th place, providing investors with easy access to Asian, European, and Middle Eastern markets and offering multiple routes to citizenship, including a real estate option. Across the Mediterranean, Egypt, Africa’s only citizenship program option, ranks 8th, a position it shares with Jordan and North Macedonia, all scoring 63. The last two ranks are occupied by 9th-placed Vanuatu with a score of 60, and Cambodia 10th with 53.

 

Residence programs: Greece takes the crown

 

In the 2025 Global Residence Program Index, which ranks 26 programs, Greece’s increasingly popular golden visa program secures top spot with a score of 73 out of 100, toppling Portugal, which has held or shared first place for the past nine years. Portugal now ranks joint 3rd with Italy and the UK, all scoring 70, while Switzerland, which has an option developed by Henley & Partners that combines private residence with Swiss forfait tax provisions, ranks 2nd with a score of 72.

 

Australia, which recently launched its National Innovation Visa (NIV) ProgramME to attract high-level tech skills, Canada, which introduced changes to its Start-Up Visa Program to enhance its appeal and flexibility for entrepreneurs, and Spain (due to close in early 2025) are all joint 4th, each scoring 69, and the UAE, which strategically expanded its golden visa program last year to attract top talent and drive growth and innovation, rounds up the Top 5 with a score of 68.

 

Hungary and Costa Rica: Newcomers in the Top 10 residence programs

 

One of two new entrants to the Global Residence Program Index in 2025 is Hungary which ranks 6th with a score of 67. "Investors and their spouses and children under 18 can obtain a Guest Investor Residence Permit by investing in a real estate fund or donating to a higher education institution operated by a public trust and become long-term residents, enjoying visa-free access to Europe’s Schengen Area," said Henley & Partners.

 

Small but powerful wealth hubs — Luxembourg and Singapore — occupy the 7th and 8th spots, scoring 66 and 65, respectively, while two others share the 9th spot: Jersey and Panama, both scoring 64. Costa Rica, the second newcomer to the index, rounds up the Top 10 with a score of 63 out of 100 and offers investors and their families a business-friendly landscape, a favorable tax regime, and a safe environment.

 

Two island nations share the 11th place in 2025: Malta and New Zealand, which both score 62, followed by Monaco and the USA in joint 12th position with scores of 61. New Zealand recently announced adjustments to its Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa to incentivize more foreign investment.

 

Three diverse territories share the 13th spot this year: Hong Kong, Latvia, and South Korea, all with scores of 60, while Cyprus and Thailand are joint 14th, both scoring 59, and Thailand’s neighbor Malaysia ranks 15th with a score of 51. The final place is taken by the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, which ranks 16th on the index with a score of 49.

 

Top scorers in select parameters

 

The two indexes each analyze 10 key factors, with slight variations between them. The following aspects are evaluated in both indexes: Reputation, Quality of Life, Visa-Free or Visa-on-Arrival Access, Processing Time and Quality of Processing, Compliance, and Investment Requirements. The Global Citizenship Program Index also assesses Residence Requirements, Relocation Flexibility, Physical Visit Requirements, and Transparency, and the Global Residence Program Index additionally evaluates Tax, Total Costs, Time to Citizenship, and Citizenship Requirements.

 

In the 2025 Global Citizenship Program Index, the highest scorer for Investment Requirements, which considers the upfront investment amounts required, is newbie Nauru, which scores 8 out of 10, while Australia, Hong Kong, and Switzerland all enjoy top marks with 10 out of 10 on the Global Residence Program Index due to no upfront investment being required in order to secure residence rights.

 

Six countries score 10 out of 10 for Physical Visit Requirements in the 2025 Global Citizenship Program Index this year: Dominica, Grenada, Jordan, Nauru, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia, and five score 10 out of 10 for Processing Time and Quality of Processing in the Global Residence Program Index: Hungary, Panama, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand.

 

Monaco and the UAE both score perfect 10s for Tax in the Global Residence Program Index, and all the European Union countries score 10 for Visa-Free/Visa-on-Arrival Access: Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, and Spain, as all grant visa-free travel to Europe’s Schengen Area, while in the Global Citizenship Program Index, Austria and Malta score 10 for Visa-Free/Visa-on-Arrival Access as well as for Relocation Flexibility.

 

A diversification strategy for investors

“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," said Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners.

 

For two consecutive years, US-Americans were the top nationality applying for alternative residence and citizenship options with Henley & Partners, and this trend has continued in 2025. This year is also projected to be a landmark year for wealth migration, with a record-breaking 142,000 high-net-worth individuals forecast  to move to a new country, compared to the 134,000 who did so last year, and 120,000 the year before.

 

The firm onboarded clients from 94 different nationalities in 2024 and received enquiries from over 180 countries. US nationals accounted for 23% of all applications processed by Henley & Partners last year, totaling nearly as many as the next four client nationality groups — Indians, Turkish, Filipinos, and Brits — combined. Comparing 2024 US-American client numbers to five years ago (2019), there has been an increase of over 1,000%. Last year was also record-breaking for the UK, with a 57% increase in the number of applications submitted by British citizens in 2024 versus 2023.