Ultrawealthy second passport applications from US nationals have surged, with Henley & Partners recording a 183% rise in enquiries from Americans between the first quarter of 2024 and the same period in 2025, as California prepares to put a billionaire wealth tax to voters and federal legislation remains stalled.
The enquiry surge did not flatten after the initial election spike. Henley & Partners recorded a further 39% increase in US enquiries comparing Q4 2024 with Q1 2025 alone, according to the firm’s USA Wealth Report 2025. US citizens now account for over 30% of all investment migration applications submitted through the firm, nearly double the combined share of the next five investor nationalities, including Turkish, Indian, and British nationals.
Why Ultrawealthy Second Passport Demand Has Surged
The political backdrop is driving the anxiety. California Proposition 40, the Billionaire Tax Act, would impose a one-time 5% levy on the net worth of state residents worth over $1 billion. Crucially, the eligibility cut-off is set at 1 January 2026, meaning any billionaire who maintained California residence after that date would be subject to the tax if the initiative passes in November.
The Tax Foundation notes the measure would fund state healthcare, food assistance, and public education programmes, and proponents say the tax could be paid upfront or spread over five years with deferral charges. According to Foley & Lardner, the initiative would apply to virtually all forms of personal property and wealth, including public and private securities, while excluding directly held real property.
Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have already moved assets out of California ahead of the potential vote. Outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom opposes the measure and has argued that taxes on extreme wealth are better handled at a national level, because billionaires can simply move between states. Federal billionaire-tax legislation proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ro Khanna is not expected to pass in the near future.
Against that backdrop, advisors to the ultrawealthy say their clients are treating second or third passports as a form of insurance, a hedge they may never need to use. David Lesperance, a lawyer who advises the ultrawealthy on tax and citizenship matters, put it this way: ‘There’s a more than zero percent chance that a wildfire will hit. So wouldn’t you spend a little bit of time, effort, and money getting fire insurance and a fire escape plan, hoping you never use it?’
The Lineage Route and the ‘Insurance’ Logic
Lesperance typically starts clients with lineage citizenships, which allow people to claim a passport based on the nationality or descent of a parent or grandparent. An American whose grandmother immigrated from Ireland, for instance, can apply for Irish citizenship. Over 50 countries offer citizenship by descent, including Greece, Poland, Italy, and Germany. Obtaining citizenship in any EU member state carries a particular benefit: the right to live in all 27 member countries.
Because lineage processes can take years, Lesperance says wealthier clients often pursue faster investment-based options in parallel. Once their European passport arrives, a citizenship-by-investment document from somewhere such as Saint Kitts and Nevis may lose its urgency. ‘They get out, they save this much in tax,’ he said, ‘but once they’ve got their Irish passport, their Saint Kitts and Nevis passport’s going to collect dust in a drawer somewhere.’
Caribbean nations remain among the most accessible entry points, with some offering citizenship in exchange for investments of up to $250,000. Worldwide, over 120,000 investment citizenships or visas are issued annually, according to Dominic Jones, managing director of Greener Pastures New Zealand. ‘People want them for all sorts of reasons,’ Jones told Business Insider. ‘Some are looking to protect wealth or worried about the political situation at home.’
New Zealand’s Golden Visa: The Corrected Numbers
New Zealand has attracted particular interest from Americans since relaxing its investor visa rules. The original article cited a minimum investment of about $3 million US dollars, but Immigration New Zealand sets the threshold at NZD $5 million under the Growth category or NZD $10 million under the Balanced category.
Those thresholds were themselves the result of a major reform. According to Fragomen, April 2025 changes cut the previous NZD $15 million minimum by two-thirds, reduced required residency days by 60%, and broadened acceptable investment types to include private equity and philanthropy. From 1 June 2026, Growth-category applicants may direct up to 20% of their total investment towards philanthropic contributions.
The scale of movement goes beyond any single destination. The Henley & Partners Investment Migration Programs Report 2025 projects that 142,000 high-net-worth individuals will relocate to a new country in 2025, up from 134,000 in 2024. US nationals accounted for 23% of all applications processed by the firm in 2024 (nearly as many as the next four nationalities combined) and US client numbers have risen by over 1,000% since 2019.
Many of those acquiring a second citizenship have no intention of moving. Jones described their mindset plainly: ‘They manage their investments and focus on things like risk. They don’t put all their apples in one basket.’
The passage of Proposition 40 in November would be the clearest test of whether that insurance gets used.