How People Without Citizenship Live—and Help Others Through Investment Migration: An Interview with Harsev Oshan (10 Questions for the Weekend for the Yandex Audience)

“10 On The Weekend” is IMI’s weekly (sometimes slightly less frequent) format: in each episode, one expert answers the same ten questions. This helps readers get to know the guest beyond business meetings and presentations.

The guest of this edition is Harsev Oshan, Head of Global Strategic Initiatives at World Talents.

How do you spend your weekends?

For me, weekends are a “reset button.” When you live in Vancouver, work calls can start before dawn and stretch until late at night, so the days blur together. By Friday evening, I want to slow down.

Most of the time I’m with my fiancée and our French bulldog, Coco. We might take a walk along the Seawall, linger over coffee at home, or simply stay together and enjoy the quiet. Sometimes I meet friends for a relaxed dinner in the city, but more often I try to “clear the mental space” so I can recover.

The main goal isn’t to cram more in—it’s to come back rested, so that Monday’s decisions are grounded in reality, not fatigue.

Three key business goals for this year

This year, my goals aren’t just about numbers.

First—create more room for reflection and empathy in how we work at World Talents.

Second—deepen partnerships with universities, local communities, and government bodies, so the ecosystem around clients becomes stronger and more resilient.

Third—invest in mentoring early-career consultants, so trust and long-term thinking remain regardless of who holds a key role today. For me, this isn’t a “plan” so much as careful stewardship.

What worries you most in business right now?

What troubles me most on Sundays isn’t revenue. It’s how quickly policy can reshape people’s lives.

The global order is becoming more restrictive—and even hostile—toward human mobility, even though instability is what pushes people to move. Today, one passport can open doors; tomorrow, those doors may close.

Behind every debate about rules and documents, there’s a child who needs to feel at home. Yes, navigating uncertainty is part of our work—but unpredictability shouldn’t be treated as the new normal.

What book is on your bedside table right now?

Almost always it’s my phone—more precisely, the Audible app for audiobooks. Right now I’m listening to Ari Wallach’s Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs.

It challenges the habit of reacting “here and now” and invites you to look further—beyond your own lifetime. The book keeps returning to a simple question: “To what end?”—“For what purpose?”

As someone who grew up without citizenship and now helps others navigate uncertainty, I feel this theme especially strongly. I revisit it during evening walks and think about how long-term humility and respect for context matter not only at work, but also in personal relationships, and in questions of belonging and citizenship.

How and when did you first get into the investment migration industry?

I never planned to work in residence and citizenship. When I was younger in Kenya, I was stateless, and the idea of “leaving” felt far too distant.

A scholarship—International Leaders of Tomorrow from University of British Columbia—brought me to Vancouver. There, I saw firsthand how documents and policy can either open up or shut down someone’s future.

My path into this field wasn’t direct. While working in business development at Cognitive3D in Vancouver, I received an offer from a vice president at a local investment migration company: to help launch startups in Portugal.

At the time, I still didn’t have a passport. But the idea of building projects across borders inspired me. About thirteen months later, after I finally became a Canadian citizen, I left that job and went traveling.

A couple of weeks in Portugal—and I fell in love with the country. On that same trip, the founder of what would become World Talents messaged me on LinkedIn. We met in Florence in March, and by September 2024 I was already working with him. What drew me in wasn’t “strategy”—it was curiosity.

Your proudest moment as a service provider

I don’t have one single event I can point to as the proudest. It’s more like a series of quiet moments that stay inside you.

World Talents’ model emphasizes meaningful connections between universities and companies, as well as incubation, acceleration, and specialized education in Portugal.

When we connect an investor to a university ecosystem, I can see a subtle shift: conversations that start with risk and return gradually turn into mentoring, learning, and long-term contribution. And that pattern repeats again and again—which is why I stay in this work.

Here, pride isn’t about a loud headline. It’s about how relationships form—things that wouldn’t exist without patience, trust, and a human approach.

What surprised you most about the investment migration market over the past year?

After many years in the industry, 2025 surprised me with how quickly people started questioning the very idea of mobility.

We began asking more often whether international travel would remain a “default” value. By December, Norway had stopped accepting citizenship by investment, and governments across the Caribbean region coordinated their actions in response to potential U.S. restrictions.

I’ve always said that investment migration isn’t only documents and passports. It’s about people who have to navigate uncertainty. When governments openly challenge the legitimacy of certain passports, it becomes clear that the rights many assume are “automatic” can be reconsidered literally overnight.

If you could go back 10 years, what business decision would you change?

In 2016, I assumed borders would stay open and the global order would hold. If I could return to that moment knowing a pandemic would arrive four years later, I would have assessed the scale of future disruptions differently.

Maybe I would have invested earlier in digital tools and remote processes instead of expanding practices that relied on in-person communication and face-to-face interactions. I’d also have spent more time learning about AI and data infrastructure.

But that doesn’t mean I regret the path I chose. It taught me resilience. Today, though, I would approach things with even more humility—because technology and geopolitics can change faster than it seems.

Which “personality” in the investment migration industry do you respect the most?

I especially value Professor Michael Doyle—he contributed to the development of the Model International Mobility Convention.

His work doesn’t look “loud,” but there’s moral clarity in it. He offers a straightforward idea: “Every person should have all their rights somewhere”, while also “no one should be able to exercise all their rights everywhere”.

This balance between universal human dignity and respect for sovereignty helps me shape my consulting approach for clients.

Doyle brings together academics, NGOs, and policymakers to create frameworks that outlast political cycles. In an industry full of marketing, his calm, research-based stance becomes a guiding point.

What will happen in five years if everything goes according to plan?

In five years, I want to live by the same principles I value today: protect my relationship with my fiancée (and possibly, by then, my wife), maintain financial stability, keep close friends nearby, and contribute to the communities I consider “mine.”

I plan to spend more time in Portugal: splitting the year between Vancouver and the Algarve or Lisbon. If the legal framework holds, I’ll aim for Portuguese citizenship.

Professionally, I want to keep mentoring and build a more humane system. But for me, the success criteria are personal and societal—not just an external metric.

If the story about people “without citizenship” and how investment migration works resonates with you, it’s a great time to get clarity on the practical steps: what options exist, how to assess risks, and what documents you’ll need in your specific situation. At Digital Nomad, we help you navigate the logic of Golden Visa and investment residence so your decisions feel confident, structured, and evidence-based.

Our Telegram channel about various types of Greek residence permits, digital nomad programs, and the Greek Golden Visa: @digitalnomadgr