Why Asia-Based Investors Seek Second Citizenship

Many of our Asian clients live in Singapore or Hong Kong, but most of them weren’t born there. A typical client is an Indian businessman who moved to Singapore 15 years ago, built a successful company and raised his family there. Yet despite establishing his life in Singapore, he still travels on an Indian passport.

Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and Malaysia have been popular business hubs with international expats for decades. Families from mainland China, India and Indonesia have moved there for the business environment, the schools and the stability, and most of them live there on long-term residence rather than citizenship. Increasingly, those residents are asking us about a second residence or citizenship as a Plan B.

A Home In Singapore, A Passport From Elsewhere

Residency in locations such as UAE, Singapore or Hong Kong opens many doors locally, but it doesn’t change the passport a family travels on. A Chinese or Indian national living in Singapore still travels as a Chinese or Indian national, and that often means applying for a visa before visiting the markets where they do business.

Obtaining citizenship in their country of residence is not always straightforward. Singapore generally requires naturalised citizens to renounce their previous nationality, and national service obligations can apply to male citizens and permanent residents. Hong Kong SAR passports are restricted to Chinese nationals who hold permanent residency and a valid permanent identity card. UAE citizenship is also highly selective, with limited routes available to foreign nationals.

For most of our clients, the practical route to easier travel and wider options for the family is by investing in a Plan B citizenship or residence elsewhere.

Our Asia-based clients already think globally about their business and their money, so mobility is the natural next step. They want a passport that makes business travel simple and a residence where their children can study, and they increasingly plan both alongside their wealth structure.

Wealth That Already Crosses Borders

For many of our clients, their money is already more international than their passport. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission reported that assets under management rose 20% in 2025 to a record HK$42.2 trillion, or US$5.4 trillion, with investors from outside mainland China and Hong Kong accounting for more than half of the total. Singapore’s asset management industry grew 11.7% to S$6.7 trillion over the same year, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s annual survey.

Those figures show how the region’s hubs work. Capital arrives from abroad, is managed locally and is invested across dozens of markets. A family can hold a portfolio run from Singapore or Hong Kong with holdings across Europe and North America, yet still need a visa to visit many of the places their money already reaches.

A second citizenship or residence brings the family’s travel access into line with its wealth, so the people behind the portfolio can move as freely as their capital does.

Where A Second Passport Adds Value

The La Vida Passport Value Index shows how wide the gap between address and passport can be.

A Singapore passport reaches 216 of the 227 destinations the index tracks, covering 99.5% of world GDP and 99.7% of global visitor arrivals.

By comparison, an Indian passport only provides access to 113 destinations, or 49.8% of global travel, and Chinese and Indian nationals still need a visa to enter the Schengen Area.

That’s why the value of a second passport doesn’t lie in the total number of destinations it opens. It lies in the specific markets it adds that the family’s current passport lacks. For Chinese and Indian investors in particular, the most valuable additions are often visa-free access to the Schengen Area and other key business destinations, rather than more access across a region they can already reach.

In our conversations, business owners often start with travel, looking to reach clients, partners and trade shows without the delays of visa applications. Families then extend the conversation to education, with a second residence in Europe opening schooling and university options for the next generation.

Citizenship Or Residency? Start With Your Home Country’s Rules

Each client’s home country sets its own rules on dual nationality, and for many Asian investors this decides the route. China and India don’t generally permit dual citizenship, so many clients from those countries choose a residency program they can hold alongside their existing nationality. Where dual citizenship is permitted, a second passport adds travel access directly. La Vida’s advisers review those rules at the start of every application.

The Programs Asian Clients Choose

Asian investors most often look at a combination of citizenship and residency:

• Caribbean Citizenship by Investment – Citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis or St Lucia, with contributions starting from US$200,000, visa-free travel to the Schengen Area and the option to include the wider family.
• Turkey Citizenship by Investment – Citizenship through a US$400,000 real estate investment, held for three years, with the whole family included in one application.
• Portugal Golden Visa – Residency through a €500,000 fund investment, with a minimum stay of seven days a year and visa-free travel across the Schengen Area.
• Greece Golden Visa – Residency through real estate investment from €250,000 for qualifying conversion and restoration projects, €400,000 in most regions and €800,000 in Athens, Thessaloniki and the larger islands, with no minimum stay.

For clients who already hold a Singapore passport, almost all of that travel access is in hand, so the value of a Portugal or Greece Golden Visa or Malta residency lies in the right to live, study and base a business in Europe.

For clients travelling on a Chinese, Indian or other regional passport, the same programs can also open travel to the markets they currently need a visa for, which is why our advisers measure each program against the client’s existing passport before recommending a route.

Planning Ahead

For many of our Asian clients, the trigger is a date: a business expansion into Europe, or a child starting university abroad. Approvals take months, so the families who plan around those dates apply well ahead of them.

The programs most popular with Asian investors have also changed over time. Turkey raised its citizenship investment threshold from US$250,000 to US$400,000 in 2022, and the Eastern Caribbean set a US$200,000 regional minimum in July 2024. Investors who had already applied were generally able to proceed on the earlier terms.

Building Your Global Base

Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE and the region’s other business hubs give Asian families a strong base for their business and their wealth. A second citizenship or residence closes the gap between where the family lives and where its passport lets it go, from simpler business travel to schooling and university options in Europe.

The families who get the most from their investment match the program to those goals, choosing the access their current passport lacks rather than duplicating what they already have. La Vida’s advisers can compare your current passport against each program and show you exactly which markets a second citizenship or residence would add.

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