Fees & independence

€10,000. That is the whole of our fee.

A flat fee to run your application end to end, agreed in writing before you commit. It does not scale with the size of your investment and it does not move if the matter proves harder than expected.

The advice is not the chargeable part. The first conversation, the comparison between jurisdictions and our view on whether a route fits you cost nothing.

Scope

What the fee covers.

And, just as usefully, what it does not. Scope is where advisory relationships go wrong, so it is set out before you engage rather than after.

Included in the €10,000

  • The full application, run end to end, from engagement to the permit decision
  • Programme selection — and the modelling behind why that programme, for you
  • Independent analysis of any qualifying property you are considering, including the ten-year picture and the downside case
  • Document preparation, the source-of-funds file and the submission pack
  • Coordination of admitted local counsel in the jurisdiction, and of the developer or agent
  • A single point of contact for the whole matter

Paid by you, to others

  • ·Government and immigration fees — paid by you, directly to the authority, at published rates
  • ·Legal fees for admitted local counsel, quoted by them and paid to them
  • ·The investment itself, and its transaction taxes, VAT and transfer duties
  • ·Translation, apostilles, medicals and courier costs
  • ·Anything we would have to mark up. We do not resell third-party services.

These are itemised in full for your circumstances before you commit — see the cost breakdown on any programme page.

The alternative

A “free” adviser is paid by the other side.

Most firms in this market cost the client nothing, because a government or a developer pays them on completion. That payment is usually larger than our fee, and it is contingent on you buying one particular thing. The figures below are published or market-reported rates for what an intermediary earns on the same transaction.

RouteIntermediary earnsOn aThat is worth
Dominica citizenshipPublished agent commission schedule10% of the investmentUS$200,000 contributionUS$20,000
St Kitts & Nevis citizenshipReported authorised-agent terms; higher on developer real estateUS$50,000 per approved clientsingle applicantUS$50,000
Grenada citizenshipReported authorised-agent termsUS$30,000–35,000single applicantUS$30,000+
Türkiye citizenship by propertyDeveloper-negotiated; market-reported range4–15% of property valueUS$400,000 propertyUS$16,000–60,000
European qualifying propertyTypical developer sales commissiontypically 3–5% of price€300,000 property€9,000–15,000
Kestrel PrivatePaid by the client, and only the clientA flat €10,000any transaction€10,000

Figures are published or market-reported agent rates, shown to illustrate how the other side of this market is paid. They are not quotations, they vary by agent and transaction, and no firm is named. The point is not that commission is improper — it is that it is an incentive, and you are entitled to know which way it points.

Before you spend anything

If it will not succeed, we say so first.

We do not submit applications we do not expect to succeed. If your circumstances do not fit a programme — the source-of-funds position, the timing, the property, the family composition — you will hear it before you have committed money to it, not after.

That occasionally means telling someone there is no route worth taking right now, and losing the engagement. It is the only posture consistent with being paid by you rather than by the people selling the asset.

Questions

Answered before you ask.

Buyer guides in this market tell prospective clients to put these questions to an adviser in writing. Here they are, answered in public.

What does Kestrel charge?

A flat €10,000 to run your application end to end, agreed in writing before you commit. It does not scale with the size of your investment, and it does not change if the matter turns out to be more work than expected.

Do you receive any commission, referral fee or remuneration from a programme government, a developer or a fund manager?

No. The client is the only party who pays us. We are not an agent for any developer, government or fund, and we hold no inventory of our own. Where a developer or licensed local agent is involved in a transaction, that relationship is disclosed to you in writing.

Is the first conversation chargeable?

No. The conversation, the programme comparison and our view on whether a route fits you are free. The fee applies when you engage us to run the application.

Why would I pay a fee when other advisers are free?

They are not free — they are paid by the other side. On the same transaction, an intermediary paid by a developer or a government commonly earns more than our fee, and that payment depends on you buying a particular thing. Ours does not. You are paying for advice that has no stake in which answer you reach.

What happens if you think my application will not succeed?

We tell you before you spend anything. We do not submit applications we do not expect to succeed, and we would rather lose the engagement than take a fee for a filing that was never going to work.

What other programmes did you consider before recommending one?

You are shown the comparison, not just the conclusion. Our modelling covers the routes we ruled out and why, including the ones where our recommendation is that you do not proceed at all.

Are there other costs?

Yes, and they are published. Government fees, admitted local counsel, transaction taxes and the investment itself are all paid by you directly to those parties. We itemise the whole stack for your circumstances before you commit, so the total is known in advance.

Is Kestrel a law firm?

No. Kestrel Private is an advisory firm — the advisory practice of 8T20 Capital (Pty) Ltd. Regulated legal, tax and immigration work is delivered by admitted local counsel in the relevant jurisdiction, whom we coordinate on your behalf.

Know the number before the conversation.

You now know what we charge, who pays us, and what would make us tell you not to proceed. The next step costs nothing.