Interest in Nigel Farage’s recently proposed ‘Britannia Card’ is dwarfed by Residency by Investment (RBI) programmes in both Greece and Portugal, analysis from Astons shows.
The Reform UK leader’s ‘Britannia Card’ would allow wealthy foreigners to buy a 10–year UK residency permit for £250,000.
Astons analysis of Google Trends data found that searches for the ‘Britannia Card’ achieved an average search interest score of 24.00 in June but quickly faded by 54.9% in July to 11.00.
However, the overall concept of RBI continues to capture people’s interest, with the search interest score for ‘Golden Visa’ soaring by 317.8% between June and July, and interest in ‘residency by investment’ increasing by 23.3%.
Suzanna Uzakova, senior consultant for residency and citizenship programs at Astons, said: “Politicians in both the UK and US are floating the idea of offering Golden Visa-style programmes as a means of attracting wealthy individuals and their capital into their economies.
“Both Trump and Farage suggest that such schemes could increase funding for public services and support citizens most in need.
“However, interest in these proposals currently appears to be lagging. This may be because they are not yet active or accessible to high-net-worth individuals, but it could also be due to the fact that neither the UK nor the US is seen as especially tax-friendly for the wealthy.
“Meanwhile, countries like Portugal and Greece are benefiting from exceptional global interest in their Golden Visa programmes – and it’s not difficult to see why.”
In Greece the minimum investment required for a Greek Golden Visa starts at €250,000 as long as it is invested in real estate.
Additionally, Greece’s non-dom regime offers tax advantages, as eligible individuals can opt to pay a flat annual tax of just €100,000 regardless of the source or amount of their global income.
