How to check an authorised agent in five minutes

Every legitimate citizenship-by-investment programme requires applications to be submitted by a licensed agent, and every one of them publishes the list. Checking it is the highest-value five minutes available in this field.

The check

1. Find the programme's own website — the government unit that runs it, not an agency's page that looks official. Search the country's official domain rather than the programme name.
2. Open the list of authorised agents. Every serious programme publishes one, with licence numbers and validity dates.
3. Search for the exact legal entity name you have been given, not the trading name on the brochure.
4. Check whether they are an agent or a promoter. Many programmes have two tiers: agents who may file, and sub-agents or promoters who may only introduce. A promoter presenting themselves as an agent is the first misrepresentation.
5. Check the licence is current, and note the expiry.

What the answer tells you

• Not on the list — they cannot file your application. Whatever they are selling, they will have to pass it to someone who can, and you are paying two margins and knowing neither.
• On the list under a different name — establish exactly which entity you are contracting with, and insist the contract names it.
• On the list — good, and it is the beginning of diligence rather than the end.

Beyond the list

• The company registry in their jurisdiction: incorporation date, directors, filed accounts. A firm incorporated eight months ago selling a decade of experience is describable in one word.
• The regulator, where they claim to be lawyers or financial advisers. Bar associations and financial regulators publish membership and disciplinary records.
• Court records and press in their jurisdiction, in the local language, which is where problems appear first.
• Who holds the money. A licensed agent's client account or an escrow arrangement, not a personal or offshore account with a different name from the contracting entity.

The one sentence to remember

Programmes are run by governments and are contactable directly. Any adviser who discourages you from contacting the programme, or who explains why the official channel would not understand your case, has told you what you needed to know.