The market for "golden visas" and other citizenship-by-investment programmes is booming, so it seems, as a firm specialising in the space opens in Singapore.

Residency and citizenship solutions firm Arton Capital has opened its first office in Singapore, citing “explosive” demand for second residency and citizenship opportunities from the Asia-Pacific region.

The opening takes the total of offices run by the firm to 15.

“What Dubai is for the MENA region, Singapore is for Asia, so it was only a matter of finding the right time to come,” John Hanafin, chief executive of Arton Capital, said in a statement yesterday.

The new operations in Singapore will be headed by Philippe May, who recently joined Arton. May is a Swiss-certified financial planner and banking specialist. He has worked at Credit Suisse, EFG Private Bank and VP Bank, among others. In 2011, the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines appointed him as its honorary consul to Singapore.

The firm is located in Asia Square’s Tower 1 in Singapore’s Marina Bay business district.

The firm is one of a number of businesses tapping into the annual $2 billion market for “golden visa” and citizenship-by-investment programmes, operated by more than 20 jurisdictions, with St Lucia and Montenegro becoming new additions, adding to more established ones such as the UK, Malta, Spain and Portugal. (To see an article about this market, click here.)