Tier 1 Investor Visa route is currently closed over security concerns
What is a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa?
Get Permanent Residency in the UK for your family – when investing £2,000,000 into the UK, in stocks/shares or government bonds. If you are a high net worth individual who wants to make a substantial financial investment in the UK, then the Tier 1 Investor visa may be perfect for you. Our expert legal team will guide you through the entire process. First applying for the UK Visa, and then helping you to get started in the United Kingdom. Full UK Tier 1 Investor Visa guidance for you and your family.
The Tier 1 Investor Visa is a points based system for NON-EU high net worth individuals who want to invest into the UK. The investor and their immediate family are granted residency in the United Kingdom when investing £2,000,000. This is not a work based visa – and there is no requirement to work in the UK.
The benefits of a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa
- UK Residency – under the tier 1 UK Investor visa, you will be able to live anywhere in the UK.
- Bring your Family – under the tier 1 Investor visa, you can bring your family to the UK with you, including your spouse and any children under 18.
- Education and Healthcare – with the tier 1 UK visa, your children have access to the UK educational system, and your family has access to the UK’s NHS free healthcare system.
- Permanent Residency in UK – You can apply for permanent residency in the UK after 5 years.
- British Citizenship after 6 years – it is possible to apply for British Citizenship after 6 years.
The requirements of the UK Tier 1 Investor Visa
- The applicant must have £2,000,000 available to invest
- The funds must be available to invest in the UK
- The funds must be held in the UK at the time of application
- The investment must be made within 3 months of application.
UK Tier 1 Investor Visa Qualifying Investments – 2 Million Pounds (£)
You must show that you have access to at least 2 million pounds or equivalent in another currency. These funds do not need to be in the UK before you make your application.
This can be shown in one of four ways:
- You hold £2 million which you intend to bring to the United Kingdom. The money may be held in your name or that of your partner.
- You already hold £2 million pounds within a UK bank account
- You hold £2 million pounds in investments outside the United Kingdom. OR
- You have pre-existing permitted investment made within the UK in the last 12 months.
The Investment Account
A relatively recent additional requirement is that you will need to ensure that you have a UK investment account opened before you apply for the visa. It is important to note that the visa rules require an investment account, as opposed to a normal retail or savings account.
This can often raise difficulties as those who have no residence permit for the UK often find it hard to open any type of bank account in the UK.
We have built connections with banks who we can introduce to our clients, as part of our preparation process, who can not only open the bank account – in the correct investment format but also prepare the exact wording of the letter required by us to meet the immigration authorities rules in your application.
Additional Aspects of the Investor Visa, UK
Once you have the visa, we can introduce you to wealth advisors who we know and trust.
We are also on hand, to work with your existing financial advisors, if you have any, to ensure we work together to ensure your Tier 1 investments are both compliant, and viable for you, and within the Immigration Rules set out by the UK Immigration Authorities.
There are accelerated settlement options with the Investor Visa. Essentially this means that you have a choice of investing greater levels into the UK, which allow you to settle in the UK faster. This settled status is known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). (Most countries refer to this as permanent residency.)
The immigration authorities have set out the following tranches.
- An investment of £2 million – PR after 5 years
- An investment of £5 million – PR after 3 years
- An investment of £10 million – PR after 2 years
A Note on Obtaining British Citizenship by Investment
It should be noted that you would have PR in the manner listed above, but to be able to apply for British Nationality – this could only be done 1 year after obtaining PR /Indefinite Leave to Remain.
This means that even on the £5 million and £10 million routes you can apply for the British passport once you have lived (meaning spending at least half the year here) in the UK for a period of at least 5 years, but under the 2 million route, you could obtain British nationality on the 6th year.
Conclusion
The UK Tier 1 investor visa is one of the simplest and smoothest means to obtain British nationality.
There are always however, small details which have to done correctly. Our lawyers will help you work through this.