For years, David Lesperance, an immigration attorney who helps wealthy Americans obtain second citizenships, saw a similar type of client: millionaire MAGA-heads, Silicon Valley libertarians, new-money crypto investors—basically, rich guys who wanted out of the U.S. tax system. But in recent months, he’s seen an increase in a surprising clientele: moneyed liberals who are terrified about the political future of the country and want an escape plan.

“I was on vacation two weeks ago, I answered emails and I set up phone calls for when I came back,” Lesperance said. “In the last week I had nine new inquiries. Typically I may get one or two a week.”

So-called “golden visas” have become a white-hot status symbol among the ultra-rich in recent years. Some 30 countries now offer citizenship or residency by investment, which allows individuals to live and work in a foreign country simply by spending a lot of money there—a second citizenship starts at several hundred thousand dollars and stretches to several million. For a time, the clientele was also fairly conservative, driven by fears of a pending liberal “wealth tax” or—for the tech bros—a pending IPO that would result in a massive taxation event. But, now the demographics are shifting dramatically.

Lesperance said that he saw a nine-to-ten-fold rise in liberal-leaning customers this summer. It was due to everything from Uvalde’s mass shooting to the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe V Wade. Mel Warshaw, who is a tax attorney and sometimes partners with Lesperance, confirmed that there was an increase. Eric Major, CEO of Latitude, a residency and citizenship company, confirmed that he saw a rise in Democratic clients in the first instance following the January 2021 siege at the Capitol.

Donald Trump, then-candidate, greets supporters at his rally at Ladd–Peebles stadium on August 21, 2015 in Mobile.

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“There are people who are convinced that this country is filled with lunatic Christian fundamentalists and good old boys from the South, and [that] that’s what we’re going to become. And so they’re making plans,” said Marc Hyman, founder of E-2 Visa Solutions, who observed the same pattern among liberals. “A lot of people have a second citizenship as a Get Out of Jail Dree card or as a life raft in case America becomes unlivable… and, you know, the shrimp is no longer cold in the Hamptons.”

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“A lot of people have a second citizenship as a get out of jail free card or as a life raft in case America becomes unlivable… and, you know, the shrimp is no longer cold in the Hamptons.”

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People were trying to enter the United States and not escape it when they first became citizens through investment schemes. Canada launched the first such program in 1980s to attract talented and wealthy people into its country. Soon, the United States, Australia, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and New Zealand followed suit. Those were investors’ main options until the global financial crash of 2007, when European countries launched similar schemes to boost their economies.

Major, who is the CEO of Latitude, stated that most of his clients were Hong Kong businessmen concerned about a Chinese takeover in the beginning. His services were sought after by more wealthy clients as China became an economic powerhouse.

“They were generating huge amounts of wealth, and in case something went wrong or there were political changes, they were looking at it from an asset protection point of view,” added Glen Craig, of Stanford Knight & Partners, who saw a similar trend.

Millionaires from the Middle East were also interested in moving to Europe and North America after 2008’s Arab Spring. The stereotype of a golden visa recipient still mirrors these trends—that of an ultra-rich tycoon from a politically unstable or autocratic nation. Vito Magagnino (CEO of Mirabello Consultancy in Switzerland) described a client who owned a Rolls-Royce and drove it around the Gulf. The client forgot his birth certificate during their first meeting. An assistant was sent to fly three hours private jet to retrieve it.

Some applicants are not as wealthy as others. Major offers his clients three investment options depending on their income levels. Clients with assets of more than $2 million have the option to choose the Caribbean. Here, a family of four can get citizenship for less then $200,000. There is Malta for those who have a net worth in excess of $1 million. This allows investors to access the entire European Union. And for the ultra-wealthy client looking for something even more prestigious, there is Austria, which allows a small number of individuals per year to claim citizenship by bringing “a significant contribution” to the country’s economy—usually to the tune of more than $3 million.

Despite forking over a significant amount of cash, most people seeking second citizenships aren’t looking to immediately relocate. Instead, experts say, they’re simply looking for a fallback plan.

“The vast majority of clients… get it because it’s an insurance policy. It’s a Plan B,” said Dominic Volek, head of private clients for the investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners. “Wealthy people, they want the option.”

It helps, of course, that many foreign nations have temptingly low tax rates—though dodging Uncle Sam isn’t as simple as fleeing the country. Americans living abroad are one of the few countries that tax citizens. This means that they must give up their citizenship in order to reap the benefits of a tax haven.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that so many people plan to do this.

“I would say one out of five clients that I’ve spoken to out of the U.S. in the last two years has told me that they’re planning on renouncing their citizenship in the next five to 10 years,” said Armand Tannous, vice president at Apex Capital Partners.

In 2020, the surge in Americans seeking second citizenships began. Most of the citizenship-by-investment firms that spoke with The Daily Beast said they previously had only a negligible number of U.S. clients. Patricia Casaburi is the CEO of Global Citizen Solutions, a Portugal-based company. She says that most of her clients now come from the United States. Volek said the volume of American clients at London-based Henley & Partners increased more than 400 percent in 2020, making it the company’s largest market by far. They are now opening their first offices, in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

Many experts agree that the pandemic was what triggered this trend. Due to the poor handling of the virus in America, many countries barred U.S. travel for a time. Wealthy Americans began to view their U.S. passports as a problem. During this time, remote operations became more common, allowing employees to work from anywhere in the world and split their time between different countries.

Jason Swan, senior partner at Holborn Assets, recalled a rich couple with a daughter who worked in tech and didn’t “want to be tied to any one particular country.” By obtaining a pair of golden passports, Swan said, their daughter would immediately get a visa as well.

Trump supporters clashed with police and security personnel as they attempted to storm Washington’s Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Brent Stirton/Getty

The 2020 election was the moment that the trend became firmly established. There were a few conservatives who reached out with concerns about a Biden-era wealth tax, experts said, but they were far overshadowed by liberals terrified by Trump’s attempt to discredit the election. They were even more worried after the Capitol was under siege for five days on January 6, 2021.

Liberals had plenty to be afraid even after Biden was elected. Major noticed a rise in concerns about the possibility of raising children in America after Roe v Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. Warshaw is currently helping relocate an individual who doesn’t want his children to experience a school shooting or have to go through mass-shooter drills. And with Biden’s poll numbers dangerously low and the presidential election looming, some liberals are reaching out for fear of Trump being reelected in 2024.

“A year or two ago, these people weren’t coming to me,” Warshaw said. “But now, the floodgates are beginning to open.”

These clients are not all traditional liberals. Lesperance explained that there are some moderates and Republicans who do not agree with Trump’s party direction. One couple he works with are a pair of civil servants who served under both the Obama and Bush administrations, and were troubled by Trump’s recent promise to drain Washington of “rogue bureaucrats.” They feel, Lepserance said, like they have “a target on [their] backs.”

What all this means for the country isn’t entirely clear. Few of these firms’ clients have actually left the United States; most see it as a kind of security blanket. However, some advisors believe that the trend highlights the larger fragility of democracy and the loss of faith by citizens in their country.

He said that nervousness is the main emotion Major feels from clients from Connecticut and California.

“Whether they’re nervous because they fear they can get shot, or because they’re African American and something could happen [to them]They think that there will be another civil war. Whatever it is, they’re nervous,” he said.

“America is known for its confidence,” he said. “Right now it doesn’t have much of it.”

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