As global inequality and instability accelerate, it’s unsurprising that the demand for second residency or citizenship is on the up. The 2026 World Citizenship Report found that 71.6% of affluent respondents are more likely to consider an additional citizenship in response to global events. It also suggests that second residency planning is no longer a contingency – it’s a default setting. In a global marketplace impacted by volatility and uncertainty, on what seems like a weekly basis, CEOs, business leaders and HNWIs pursuing alternative residencies are no longer just seeking a luxurious lifestyle – they’re looking for a way to strategically protect their businesses, long-term investments and family life.
The emergence of high-value residency
We’re entering a time where residency in some countries is seen as more valuable than others. Residency programmes that provide visa-free access to multiple jurisdictions are perceived as more valuable as they simplify cross-border deal-making opportunities. EU residency, for instance, provides visa-free access to 29 countries and ensures that holders can travel and do business at short notice, rather than waiting weeks to obtain a visa.
For many global entrepreneurs, investors and HNWIs, an opportunity to access enhanced mobility rights is now viewed as a significant business advantage and an essential element of a wider risk management strategy. Ozgun Uysal, speaking at the Hubbis Independent Wealth Management Forum – Dubai 2026, spoke of how “mobility planning ensures that personal access aligns with financial structures. Without the appropriate residency or citizenship status, investors may face administrative barriers simply to access banks, investments or operational hubs… this alignment closes the gap between financial planning and personal mobility, ensuring that physical presence and legal status support strategic objectives.”
An effective hedge against geopolitical instability
Second citizenship or residency can be seen as a potential haven, functioning as an effective hedge against political instability, state-implemented capital controls and legal uncertainty. Recently, Israel News reported that Elena Bunina, CEO of Yandex, Russia’s number one search engine, stepped down from her role and relocated to Israel ‘in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the wave of sanctions that the offensive triggered.’
In the light of geopolitical instability and the financial uncertainty, many HNWIs view dual residency as an insurance policy in an uncertain world. It enables them to diversify assets across jurisdictions, seeking both access to potentially more stable banking systems and protection from tax changes or expropriation beyond their control. Increasingly, wealth management and advisory providers are recommending that dual residency is integrated into long-term financial planning to help protect and grow investments and savings. This is especially true in relation to CEOs and HNWIs that operate across multiple markets, hold assets in politically sensitive jurisdictions and require fast, frictionless global mobility.
An age of strategic residency
We’re entering an age of ‘strategic residency’ incorporated into wealth planning frameworks to maximise opportunity and minimise risk. Business leaders are seeking second residency to help diversify assets and reduce exposure to their home country’s banking system, tax regimes and political climate. Many residency by investment (RBI) programmes offer no tax on worldwide income, no inheritance or capital gains tax and provide attractive corporate tax regimes.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that in the last decade – which some might argue has delivered an historically unprecedented level of geopolitical shocks and crises – demand for RBI programmes is increasing by around 15% to 20% annually, according to Private Banker International (PBI). PBI also notes that for HNWIs, dual residency can be viewed as a strategic and financial necessity when it comes to protecting assets.
A gateway to financial and personal resilience
Many HNWIs are leveraging residency as a resilient, tried and tested route to portfolio diversification, asset protection and corporate restructuring in a volatile world. They also value the ability to relocate capital, businesses and family across borders and see it as both offering financial and personal resilience and acting as an alternative core asset class alongside equities, bonds and cash equivalents.
