Investment migration in 2025 was shaped by one clear trend: governments are still competing for global capital and talent, but they’re tightening policy, pricing, and compliance. The result is a visible split between programs that gained momentum through clarity and value, and programs that lost ground due to regulatory pressure or closure.
Winners: what actually worked in 2025
1) Portugal remained resilient (despite a noisier compliance environment)
Portugal stayed in the “core portfolio” for many global families because it continues to be perceived as:
- A credible EU residency platform
- A pathway with broad international demand even as the market shifted away from property-led narratives
HNWI takeaway: Portugal’s edge is not “cheap entry.” It’s reputation + optionality + long-term planning value.
2) Greece gained share as investors rebalanced after Spain
As Spain exited, investors reallocated to jurisdictions still offering viable EU residency-by-investment options. Reuters’ overview of “golden visa” markets places Greece among the EU routes at the lower end of the investment spectrum.
HNWI takeaway: Greece benefited from being a ready alternative with an established track record in the investor visa space.
3) Gulf programs kept winning on “lifestyle + operating base”
Across 2025, Gulf states continued to compete for global capital and talent through long-term residency frameworks. Reuters lists the UAE among the jurisdictions offering “golden visa” style residency tied to investment thresholds, reflecting its role as a major non-EU hub.
From an official standpoint, UAE Golden Residency is positioned as a long-term (5–10 year) residency mechanism for eligible categories.
HNWI takeaway: The Gulf value proposition is business-first:
- stable operating base
- regional access
- family relocation optionality
Losers: what stopped working in 2025
1) Spain’s Golden Visa ended (a headline regulatory shock)
Spain formally ended its golden visa framework effective April 3, 2025, following domestic political focus on housing pressure. This is confirmed in major Spanish reporting and global advisory updates.
HNWI takeaway: If your mobility strategy depends on one country + one route, you have concentration risk. Spain reinforced that lesson.
2) Malta CBI: the EU shut the door on “transactional EU citizenship”
The EU Court of Justice decision in Commission v Malta (April 29, 2025) became the most important “loser event” in European investment migration, accelerating a broader EU stance against investor-citizenship models that look purely transactional.
HNWI takeaway: In Europe, the strategic center of gravity is residency first (with longer-term naturalization rules), not instant citizenship.
What HNWIs should do next (the 2026 playbook that 2025 created)
Use this decision framework:
- Separate objectives
- Travel access (short-term)
- Business base (mid-term)
- Family security and education (long-term)
- Rank programs by regulatory durability
- Prefer jurisdictions with clear legal frameworks and consistent enforcement
- Treat compliance as an asset
- Strong source-of-wealth proof and clean banking trail = faster execution and lower reputational risk
- Build a portfolio
- One EU residency option + one non-EU operating base is a common risk-managed structure
How Globalia (Globevisa Group partner) positions HNWIs for the 2026 playbook
The 2025 “winners vs. losers” story proves one point: investment migration is no longer about finding a single program that looks good today. It’s about building a durable mobility portfolio that can withstand policy shifts, tighter screening, and changing regional sentiment.
Globalia, as a partner of Globevisa Group, supports high-net-worth individuals with a strategy-led execution model:
Portfolio design (EU + non-EU): we structure a two-track plan—an EU residency anchor (where suitable) plus a non-EU operating base to reduce concentration risk.
Regulatory durability screening: we shortlist programs based on stability, enforcement consistency, and long-term usability—not headlines.
Compliance-led execution: we engineer a bankable file (source of wealth, source of funds, beneficial ownership clarity, clean transfer trail) to protect approval probability and reputation.
End-to-end delivery: legal coordination, timelines, document governance, and post-approval planning (renewals, family inclusion, relocation setup).
Ongoing risk monitoring: as rules evolve, we keep your plan adaptive so you don’t get trapped in a closed route or a weakened benefit set.
If your objective is to secure mobility with enterprise-level risk control, Globalia’s role is straightforward: choose the right jurisdictions, build the cleanest file, and execute with Globevisa Group standards.