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Case study / Founding role, shipped

Immigration Diligence: designing a second-citizenship advisory from zero

A Washington, D.C. firm helping Americans gain a second citizenship, by investing or through their ancestry. I took it from first concept to launch in four weeks.

4 weeksfrom first concept to launch, as the founding product designer
9 / 3country pages on one template, and three published pricing tiers
Role
Founding product designer
Team
Me and the founders
Timeline
Nov–Dec 2025
Context
Contract, 0→1, shipped

Immigration Diligence helps Americans gain a second citizenship or residency, either by investing or through their ancestry. As the founding product designer, I took the platform from first concept to launch in four weeks. I shaped the offer into two clear paths and three published price tiers, and built the site on a modular design system and HubSpot component library, so the founders can add pages and publish articles without a designer.

In short

Problem
Americans exploring a second passport face dozens of programmes across many countries, each with different rules, costs and timelines, in an industry known for hidden fees and hard selling.
Opportunity
A firm run by Americans, for Americans, could win on clarity: show the paths, the prices and the process before anyone books a call.
What I did
Defined the product’s structure with the founders, designed it end to end, and built a modular design system, a reusable HubSpot component library and a CMS structure for country pages and articles.
Outcome
Launched in four weeks, with two acquisition paths, 9 country pages on one template and 3 published pricing tiers. The founders have kept publishing on their own since handoff.
Proudest decision
Publishing the prices.

01 / Context and constraints

Almost nothing was decided.

The clients are successful American individuals and families. They want a safety net for their family, visa-free travel, a lower cost of living, a reconnection with European heritage, or better tax and legacy planning. When I joined, almost nothing was decided: which paths to lead with, how to talk about price, what a country page should hold, the brand and the content.

  • Four weeks from concept to launch.
  • Founders, not a product team. There were no PMs or researchers, so every design decision had to tie directly to a business goal in that sprint.
  • The founders run the site after launch. Every page had to be buildable and editable by non-designers in HubSpot.
  • A high-trust, high-price service. Engagements run from $1,500 to $15,000 and up, so the site had to earn trust before it asked for anything.

02 / Key design decisions

Four decisions that shaped the firm’s first site.

01

Two front doors: by investment or by descent

Context
The two routes to a second passport start from completely different questions.
Options
  • A — country-first navigation, where you pick a country and then a route
  • B — goal-first navigation, built around travel, safety or tax
  • C — route-first, with two hero calls to action, Immigration by Investment and Citizenship by Descent, each leading to its own countries
Choice
C, with goals as a supporting section further down the homepage.
Why
Eligibility is decided by a different question on each route: “How much can I invest?” or “Where did my family come from?” Italy, Portugal and Greece appear under both routes, so country-first navigation would mix two different offers on one page. Goals explain why people come, but they don’t decide eligibility.
Trade-off
Someone who qualifies for both routes only sees it after exploring both. The free consultation catches them.
02

Publish the prices

Context
In investment migration, fees usually hide behind “Contact us”, which reads as a sales funnel to cautious, well-off clients.
Options
  • A — “Contact for pricing”
  • B — a single “from” price
  • C — three tiers with prices and what each includes
Choice
C. Essential Guidance at $1,500, Comprehensive Strategy at $5,000, and Premier Concierge from $15,000.
Why
A visible price filters out people who aren’t ready and tells everyone else the firm has nothing to hide. Three tiers let a client start small, with an eligibility assessment and a country comparison, before committing to a full strategy.
Trade-off
Some prospects leave at the price, and competitors can see it. The free consultation stays as the first step, so a price never blocks a conversation.
03

One country template for both routes

Context
The site launched with investment pages for Portugal, Greece, Italy and Latvia, and descent pages for Italy, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Greece, with more countries to come.
Options
  • A — a bespoke page per country
  • B — one template, with the same sections in the same order: who qualifies, what it costs, how long it takes, what you get, and the next step
Choice
B.
Why
Clients compare countries. A shared structure means they compare by scrolling, and the founders add a country by filling in a template.
Trade-off
Countries with unusual rules need the template’s optional sections, and some nuance moves into the consultation.
04

Build the system before the pages

Context
A short timeline, and a site the founders would run on their own.
Options
  • A — design each page bespoke, then systematise later
  • B — define tokens and a small set of HubSpot modules first, then compose every page from them
Choice
B.
Why
Pages built from modules ship faster, and the founders can make new ones without a designer.
Trade-off
A slower first week, and less visual variety between pages.
Evidence
The founders have kept publishing since handoff. Insights articles went live in February and May 2026, after my contract ended.

03 / Outcomes

What launched, and what kept going.

4 weeksfrom first concept to launch
9country pages built from one template
3published pricing tiers, from $1,500 to $15,000 and up
2acquisition paths: by investment, or by descent
  • Launched within the one-month contract.
  • Two acquisition paths, 9 country pages on one template, 3 published pricing tiers and a four-step process from free consultation to new beginning.
  • A modular design system and a HubSpot component library the founders use without me. New articles have gone live since handoff.

04 / What I would do differently

What I would do differently.

Test the offer with buyers

Tier names and contents came from the founders’ experience. Five calls with prospective clients would have tested them before launch.

Never launch placeholders

The team section still shows placeholder profiles, and the client strip uses generic labels instead of names. On a site that sells trust, I’d hide both until real content is ready.

Measure from day one

I’d track consultation bookings by route and by pricing tier, so the founders know which door brings in business.