‘Investment migration isn’t shrinking, it’s growing up,’ says CS Global Partners CEO

Speculation is growing over whether the citizenship by investment (CBI) industry can survive the pressures it's facing now, with some commentators going as far as to predict its decline.

Following such speculations, Micha Emmett, the CEO of CS Global Partners said, "What people are calling the end is actually the clean-up. Investment migration isn't shrinking, it's growing up, and the next ten years will prove it."

What lies ahead is not a wind-down, but a transformation. The coming decade is set to be the strongest in the industry's history, she concluded.

Experts predict that the sector will grow three to four times over the next decade. Demand for Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes has grown consistently over the past several decades, since the concept was pioneered by the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in 1984, which became the first nation in the world to offer citizenship in exchange for a qualifying economic contribution.

At first, the programme began as a bold experiment by a small Caribbean state that has since grown into a global industry. Dominica launched the programme in 1993, which has now become one of the most recognized in the world.

The model has spread across the Caribbean, along with countries in Europe, the Pacific and the Middle East, and they have adopted their own frameworks. CBI has claimed its place as a proven asset class and not just a passing trend, as it has proved it over the four decades.

Demand kept growing through recessions, financial crises, wars, a global pandemic and repeated geopolitical shocks.

This growth isn't just a trend, as CBI has claimed the place as a proven asset class, not a passing trend.

Growth is driven by structural forces: expanding global wealth in emerging markets, high-net-worth individuals with restrictive passports that constrain their ability to trade and invest freely, geopolitical uncertainty pushing demand for second citizenship, entrepreneurs treating mobility and international trade access as an essential business tool, and for families seeking education/healthcare access. Demand keeps rising while the pool of credible programmes stays small.

What the New CBI Programme Will Look Like

According to the reports, the CBI countries are expected to introduce a series of new safeguards that are specifically designed to make their programmes more robust, safer and more secure for both the states and the investors. Based on the direction of travel already visible across the industry, these are likely to include:

Mandatory enhanced, multi-layered due diligence by independent international due diligence firms to ensure that only applicants of the highest standing are approved.

Elements such as mandatory interviews add a further layer of scrutiny that protects the integrity of the citizenship carried by every existing holder.

Regional cooperation on shared standards, so that programmes reinforce one another rather than compete on shortcuts.

Transparent management of investment funds will also give applicants confidence that their contributions deliver the national development outcomes they are promised.

Clearer investor protections, written directly into programme legislation, will provide greater certainty around process, timelines and rights.

All of these measures serve the investor as much as the nation. A citizenship backed by rigorous standards is a more valuable citizenship, more respected by banks, more durable in international relations, and more secure as a long-term family asset.

St. Kitts and Nevis established an industry from nothing, forty-two years ago and since then the CBI has grown from a single programme to a global sector that has not only funded schools or hospitals but has helped in hurricane recovery and has spurred on valuable economic diversification across small states while giving thousands of families security and opportunity.

This record marks that the next ten years will bring the most substantial regulatory evolution CBI has undergone. This notes that the question should not be whether citizenship by investment has a future but it should be, whether they are prepared for how big the future of CBI will be.