Snake Oil Salesman in the Immigration World…
Before AI completely makes it irrelevant, it is very enticing to get on here and tell you all of the programs for residency that you could qualify for, all the citizenship passports you could purchase or the nomad visas where you live like a shipwrecked sailor for 12 months. This would relatively easy and fun, especially if I don’t view these options within the greater context of what’s going on in the world–and… not pointing fingers (YouTube is a good source as to who I’m talking about), most immigration consultants operate on this surface-level analysis.
I don’t know what it is exactly, but I find it very difficult to sell someone a residency to a country that I strongly believe to be economically, politically and culturally doomed–if they wish to head there, then that’s on them, but to promote a failing product or service–not my style.
Instead, I think it’s a better approach to have an idea of the “big picture” ongoing around us and how a customized international portfolio fits in to that individual–even if this is contrarian by saying how bad a seemingly beautiful country looks.
I’ve created Open Door Consultancy to go with my investment management service to get both sides of this equation; immigration and strategy in conjunction with investment decision making for the long-term. By all means, if you’re serious about changing your situation amid the changing world around us, simply send contact@imontheball.com an email with the subject “Let’s Win”.
More On Travel
Back to how many individuals or small companies sell nomad visas or the-like (and why it pisses me off) is something that I realized once traveling to Europe recently. I believe there’s a tendency for you and I to consider differences between countries (after all, it’s only natural for humans to categorize items psychologically). This division, such as the differences between Italy and Malta, are the lifeblood of the immigration snake-oil salesman.
Why? Because they’ve created the illusion of optionality in their services. They’re selling you a donut with 39 different flavors but they’re all the same ingredients–by analogy, most of these countries operate upon the same laws, the same culture, same trends, same demographics, same products on the shelf. The net effect is that there’s little variation from one country to another.
I liken it to this: we can imagine we’re betting on different European boats (Europe is easier cause there’s so many countries), but the reality is they’re all in the same river which flows in the same direction. If we’re all in agreement that that river leads over a waterfall–then all there is to debate about is which boat is closest to the waterfall relative to another.
But, whether it be managing your stock portfolio, your estate planning for your little ones, or your day to day, choosing a place because it’s “less fucked” is only a short-term strategy. At some point, that boat, being sold as an independently navigating entity, will catch up and face the same problems as the rest.
The problems are obvious, I don’t have to state them or argue them in this post.
This was highlighted in my recent travels–the sameness in items that matter. Never mind that Italians like pizza and pasta, Germans with their sausage and Brits with their beans… the laws, the regulations, the banking regulations, laws on short-term rentals, the tax names and their rates, the demographic declines and their respective replacements (foreign nationalities), their trade routes and reliance upon 1-3 other countries for critical resources. These all meld into one cohesive situation and flowing trend. It’s a puzzle, and you must make sure each piece is colored differently to paint a complete picture.
The only exception, as far as Europe is concern, are locations that are very exclusive and difficult to acquire residency/citizenship. Some say they are too small to matter, but that provides them with an edge in distinguishing themselves or not getting totally wrapped into the chaos.
However, these YouTubers can’t easily sell you residency to a place where you must be worth 10 million euros or there’s only 50 residencies offered per year that easily, can they?
