The firm
Founded in London, 2009.
Deliberately unhurried since.
- 2009
- Established
- 4
- Offices
- 14
- Jurisdictions
- 26
- Advisers and counsel
Our approach
The industry sells outcomes.
We sell judgement.
Investment migration attracted, in its first two decades, a great many intermediaries and very few advisers. The distinction matters: an intermediary is paid to complete a transaction, an adviser is paid to reach the right decision, including the decision not to proceed.
We built Hampton & Kent around the second model. Our fees are fixed and disclosed. We take no commission from developers or fund managers. Around one enquiry in six does not pass our own review and is declined, because a refusal marks a client’s record permanently and damages the programme for everyone else.
What remains is a practice with an unusually boring risk profile and an unusually loyal client base. Most of our work now comes from families we already act for, and from the private banks and law firms who send us the files they cannot run themselves.
We would rather be the firm that told you to wait than the firm that filed too early.
History
Seventeen years, told in six moments.
2009
Founded in Mayfair
Established by two private client lawyers who believed investment migration required advisory discipline rather than brokerage.
2013
Caribbean desk opened
Authorised agent status secured in Dominica and St Kitts & Nevis, followed by Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Lucia and Grenada.
2016
First sovereign mandate
Engaged by a Caribbean state to restructure its due diligence architecture after a partner-state review.
2019
Dubai and Singapore
Regional offices opened to serve Gulf and Asia Pacific families in their own time zones.
2022
European residency desk
Dedicated coverage of Portugal, Greece, Malta, Italy, Hungary and Latvia as golden visa rules tightened.
2026
Caribbean desk deepened
Zurich private wealth desk added and the Caribbean five brought under a single partner, with Dominica the most frequently filed programme in the practice.
The partners
You will meet the people who will run your file.
Marcus Hampton
Managing Partner
Private client lawyer by training. Leads sovereign mandates and the firm's compliance standards.
Eleanor Kent
Senior Partner, Programmes
Twenty years in immigration law. Oversees jurisdiction analysis and the European residency desk.
Priya Raman
Partner, Compliance
Former financial crime lead at a Swiss private bank. Owns source of wealth methodology.
Omar Al-Rashid
Partner, Middle East
Heads the Dubai office and the firm's family office relationships across the Gulf.
How a mandate runs
Five stages. One adviser. No surprises.
- 01 Week 1
Private consultation
A confidential conversation about objectives, family structure, tax position and time horizon. No programme is named until we understand the mandate.
- 02 Weeks 1 – 3
Jurisdiction strategy
A written recommendation comparing shortlisted jurisdictions against your specific criteria, including the options we advise against and why.
- 03 Weeks 3 – 8
Compliance file
Source of wealth documentation assembled to private banking standard, pre-screened against the programme's own due diligence providers.
- 04 Weeks 8 – 12
Submission
Filed through licensed local counsel, with interviews and biometrics coordinated around your calendar rather than the other way round.
- 05 Months 4 – 14
Grant and stewardship
Passports or residence cards delivered in person, followed by an annual review covering renewals, dependants and legislative change.
Governance
The reason our approval rate is unremarkable is that we decline work.
Roughly one in six enquiries does not proceed past our own review. Refusals damage a client’s record permanently and a programme’s reputation collectively, so we would rather return a fee than file a file that should not be filed.
“Compliance is not the obstacle to a second citizenship. It is the reason the document is worth holding.”
Marcus Hampton · Managing Partner
Licensed representation
Authorised agent status or licensed local counsel in every jurisdiction we file in. Your application is never routed through an unnamed intermediary.
Pre-screened compliance
Source of wealth files are tested against the programme's own due diligence providers before submission, not after a request for information.
Client money discipline
Government contributions are paid directly to state accounts. We never hold client investment capital on our own balance sheet.
Written rationale
Every recommendation is documented, including the jurisdictions we advised against. Family offices keep the file; so do we.
Offices
Four offices, four time zones, one file.
London
Global Headquarters
18 Hanover Square, Mayfair, London W1S 1JY
GMT
Dubai
Middle East & Africa
Level 41, Emirates Towers, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai
GST
Singapore
Asia Pacific
One Raffles Quay, North Tower, Singapore 048583
SGT
Zurich
Private Wealth Desk
Bahnhofstrasse 52, 8001 Zurich
CET
The private office
Begin with a conversation, not an application.
Initial consultations are confidential, without obligation, and conducted by the adviser who would run your mandate.
Direct lines
Private clients
private.office@hamptonkent.comPartner desk
partners@hamptonkent.comLondon office
+44 20 3901 7742