“One thing that the Indian community needs to understand is that India doesn’t allow dual citizenship. For anyone still holding an Indian passport, residency is often the smarter first move.” — Jeremy Savory, founder of Millionaire Migrant.
For decades, the American dream offered Indian immigrants a clear path to building careers, wealth and long-term lives in the United States. Now, immigration uncertainty is prompting some to rethink that path.
Long green card backlogs, tighter visa scrutiny under the Trump administration and growing global uncertainty are leading some Indian professionals and high-net-worth families to consider a Plan B: a second residency or citizenship that gives them greater flexibility over where they live, work and invest.
One person tracking that shift is Jeremy Savory, founder of Dubai-based Savory & Partners, one of the world’s largest citizenship- and residency-by-investment advisory firms. He is an advocate of what he calls “passportmaxxing.”
Savory says global mobility has become a modern asset class—one that can offer entrepreneurs, investors and diaspora families greater freedom, flexibility and control over their futures. In an exclusive interview with The American Bazaar, he discusses why wealthy Indians and Indian professionals in the U.S. are increasingly seeking a “Plan B,” considering the limits of India’s dual-citizenship rules, and how global mobility is reshaping the meaning of citizenship in the 21st century.
The American Bazaar: You left the UK at 22 and built a global life across multiple countries. Was there a defining moment that made you realize geography could be a tool for creating wealth and opportunity?
Jeremy Savory: I grew up in the UK with deaf parents, so from a very young age I was the one interpreting at the bank, the insurance broker and the mechanic. Nobody handed me the rules of how the world works, which meant I never assumed there was only one way to do things.
Until I was 20, I had only ever been to France and Spain. Every trip abroad showed me there was more opportunity on foreign shores.
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The defining moment was Dubai. I accepted a job there without ever having visited, and I landed [there] during Ramadan in 45°C heat. Most people would have turned straight around.
What I saw was a frontier market with very few people who had my real estate skills. That was my blue ocean. There is a real correlation between discomfort and success, and nothing I have built since would exist if I would have stayed in the UK.
You describe yourself as pursuing “self-sovereignty.” What does that mean in practical terms for entrepreneurs, investors, and families in an increasingly uncertain world?
Sovereignty means being answerable to yourself. Most people feel in control of their lives until a government makes a decision that takes that control away overnight. We saw it with COVID-19 lockdowns, with Brexit, with Russians who suddenly couldn’t invest abroad, and with people being de-banked. You pay your taxes, you vote, you play your part, and the decision still gets made without you.
In practical terms, sovereignty means not having your passport, your bank accounts, your property and your business all sitting under one nationality. It means a second residency, assets in more than one country, and a Plan B that’s ready before you need it. It isn’t about leaving. It’s about having the choice.
You’ve helped more than 12,000 clients secure second residencies and citizenships. What are the biggest motivations driving wealthy individuals to seek a second passport today compared to a decade ago?
When I started, many of our clients were from the Middle East and for them a second passport was about safety. Today the motivations are far broader. In recent months alone, we’ve worked with a Filipino billionaire going for Turkish citizenship through property, an international footballer whose weaker passport was being used against him in contract negotiations, and a Frenchman living in Monaco who no longer considers it secure.
What’s changed is confidence. The high-net-worth people I look after don’t have a problem paying tax. They have a problem with where it’s being spent, and with having no say over decisions that affect everything they’ve built. Every unpopular government decision sends more people looking for a Plan B.
Many successful Indians in America have spent years navigating H-1B visas, Green Card backlogs, and citizenship pathways. Are you seeing growing interest from this community in alternative residencies or second citizenships?
Yes, and it makes complete sense. Many Indians in America have spent years, sometimes a decade, with their future sitting in another government’s visa queue. That is exactly the loss of control that drives people to build a Plan B.
We’ve now processed more than 450 Indian clients for second passports and more than 150 for residencies (aka Golden Visas). With H-1B routes harder and U.S. enforcement tougher, more Indian talent is also staying home. India is a neutral bystander in the U.S.-China rivalry, and it’s keeping both the people and the money.
One thing this community needs to understand is that India doesn’t allow dual citizenship. For anyone still holding an Indian passport, residency is often the smarter first move.
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India is producing more globally mobile entrepreneurs, investors, and wealthy families than ever before. How do you see Indians and Indian Americans shaping the future of global wealth migration and cross-border living?
Countries used to compete for factories. Now they design residency, citizenship and tax programs to compete for individuals: the best talent and the most mobile capital. Indian founders, investors and families are right at the center of that competition.
What’s different about this generation is that they aren’t choosing between India and the world. They keep their base in India or the U.S. and build optionality around it: a residency in Europe, a company in Dubai, property across two or three markets. A third of the world’s population lives within a four-hour flight of Dubai, and India is a huge part of that. I expect Indian families to be one of the defining stories of wealth mobility over the next decade.
Your concept of “Passportmaxxing” has generated significant interest online. What are the seven levels, and why do you argue that collecting passports alone does not necessarily create freedom or security?
Level one is Exposed, you’re entirely exposed to one nationality, and by extension, its economy, taxes and banking system. Two is Education, where you discover possibilities, and three is Eligibility, when you look closely at which programs you can apply for.
Level four is your first move, you take your first steps toward securing a second citizenship. Five is when you experience Real Mobility. Six is when you start to build Jurisdiction Stacks, which also takes tax residency and family into consideration, as well as banking, schooling, estate planning and so on. Finally, at the very top is the family office, where you have a multigenerational set of passports, residencies and structures spanning multiple jurisdictions, all managed as one strategy.