Global Citizen Solutions Reviews and Six Questions I Wish I’d Asked Before Hiring a Relocation Adviser
I get some version of the same message every few weeks now. Someone found this site while researching a move abroad, and they want to know which adviser to hire. My honest answer used to be “I don’t really know, I did mine through a route that doesn’t exist anymore.” That is not helpful, so this year I sat down and actually researched the current advisory market the way I’d research anything else before recommending it to a reader. These are the six questions I now tell people to ask, worked through with one of the more visible firms in the space, Global Citizen Solutions, as a live example.
What does the fee actually cover, and what does it exclude?
This sounds obvious until you are three weeks into an application and discover the quoted fee did not include translation costs, or a second consultation after your circumstances changed. Ask for the fee schedule in writing before anything else, and ask specifically what triggers an additional charge. A firm that answers this cleanly, without hedging, is telling you something about how they operate.
Who is actually doing the in-country paperwork?
Some firms are essentially marketing operations that hand your file to a local lawyer once you sign. Others have their own in-country team. Neither model is automatically wrong, but you should know which one you are getting, and you should know where that team is physically based, because it affects how fast they can respond when a government office asks for something on short notice.
What happens if the programme rules change while my application is in process?
This is the question I wish I had asked years ago, because it happened to a friend of mine mid-application on an entirely different programme, and her adviser had no clear answer beyond “we’ll figure it out.” When I looked into how Global Citizen Solutions handles this, I found they publish dated updates as rules shift rather than leaving clients to discover changes secondhand, which you can verify yourself by checking the firm’s own programme overview before you sign anything. If you are looking at the passive-income route specifically, it is worth checking current thresholds directly rather than trusting a number you read somewhere last year.
Further reading: D7 visa requirements
How do they handle the years after approval, not just the approval itself?
Most residency programmes are not a one-time transaction. There are renewals, sometimes annual, sometimes every few years, and the requirements for keeping your status can shift. Ask what support looks like in year three, when the adviser has already been paid and has less obvious incentive to stay responsive. A firm that has a specific answer for that scenario, rather than a vague reassurance, is one that has actually thought about clients past the closing date.
Do they take a view, or do they just process what you tell them?
A good adviser will tell you when a route is a bad fit for your situation, even if that costs them the engagement. A firm that says yes to everyone is optimizing for volume, not for your outcome. Ask them directly, early on, whether there is any scenario where they would advise against the route you are asking about.
What does “full service” actually mean, in writing?
This phrase gets used loosely across the industry. Get a specific list of what is included, not a general description. If a firm’s answer is vague on this point, that vagueness is itself useful information.
What I tell readers now
I did not go through Global Citizen Solutions myself. My own move happened years ago, through a route that has since closed, and I handled most of it directly with minimal outside help, which was possible then in a way it may not be now given how the programmes have changed. What I can offer readers today is the research I have done since, comparing how current firms answer the six questions above. Global Citizen Solutions holds up reasonably well on the two I dug into most closely, transparency around rule changes and clarity on programme structure, and I would put it on a shortlist worth comparing against at least one other full-service option and a local legal opinion before anyone commits to a route.
If you are early in this process, work through the six questions before you go shopping for a firm. Whoever you end up talking to, the right one is whoever answers all six clearly, in writing, before you pay anything.
Reviewed August 2026 – Jeff
