This visa (formerly known as the Tier 1 Investor visa) is for high-net worth individuals who wish to invest a minimum of £2m in the UK to travel freely to and live in the UK with their families.
As of 17 February 2022, this visa route is now closed to new applicants.
This visa is granted initially for a period of three years and four months. It can then be extended for a further two years allowing you to hold this visa for a maximum of five years and four months. You can ultimately apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Yes, you can bring certain family members known as “dependants” with you. These are your:
If your child is over the age of 18 at the time of applying and not already in the UK as your dependant, you may still be able to include them in the visa application but this will depend on the individual circumstances.
If you are already in the UK with your dependants and you switch to the Investor visa, they will be able to remain with you. Whether or not they need to apply for new visas will depend on the circumstances and it is recommended that you contact us to discuss this further.
Yes, dependants of an Investor visa holder are free to attend nursery, school and/or university in the UK.
Your Investor visa will allow you to travel in and out of the UK.
When applying to extend the visa there is no requirement to intend to live in the UK for a certain length of time or to make the UK your main residence.
However if your intention is to apply for ILR in the future you do need to comply with the maximum absence from the UK requirement (see below).
How long it will take to settle in the UK depends on the value of your investment into the UK. You can apply to settle after:
Further information about ILR and settlement can be found here.
All dependants of an Investor have to wait five years before they are eligible to apply for ILR.
There are other eligibility requirements for ILR which you should be mindful of. Please contact us to discuss these to ensure that you do not fall foul of these whilst holding your Investor visa.
As a result of the changes to this route introduced on 17 February 2022, settlement will now be conditional on applicants executing an investment strategy that can show genuine job creation and other tangible economic impacts, holding UK investments will no longer be enough.
If you wish to apply for ILR you must have had no more than 180 days’ absence from the UK during any rolling 12 month period during the applicable two, three or five year qualifying period. You are required to list your absences when applying for ILR and so you should retain a record of these.
Dependants of Investor visa holders who were granted their initial or extended visa on or after 11 January 2018 must also meet the above absence requirements for any period of leave granted after this date.
No, if you wish, you can withdraw your investment after obtaining ILR.
ILR can be revoked for a number of reasons, for example relating to criminal or immigration offences, but importantly, ILR will lapse if you spend more than two consecutive years outside of the UK. To ensure this does not happen, you should travel to the UK at least every two years if you are a non-UK resident.
Yes, if you invested £2m, you must have lived in the UK for five years and held ILR for one year (a total of six years) before you can apply for citizenship. This is also the case for dependants regardless of the total funds invested.
If you invested £5m or £10m, you are usually eligible to apply for citizenship after five years rather than six.
The absence requirements for British citizenship applications are more onerous than they are for ILR and so if you may want to apply for citizenship in the future, please contact us to ensure that you are aware of the requirements and can plan ahead.
Previous years have seen substantial changes to this visa route = and most recently, the route has been closed down completely to new applicants.
It remains to be seen whether the Home Office will introduce a similar route in the future.
The changes introduced on 17 February 2022 have also altered the requirements for settlement under this route. Settlement is now conditional on applicants executing an investment strategy that can show genuine job creation and other tangible economic impacts, passively holding UK investment will no longer be enough. We expect further details about this in due course.
The eligibility criteria applicable to extension applications will depend on:
For the specific requirements that are applicable to your visa and circumstances, please contact us.
As of 17 February 2022, new applications for the Investor visa are no longer permitted. We can assist Investor visa applicants with extending their visa, applying for family members to join them and with settlement applications. This includes:
Fee estimate (extension applications)*: £10,000 – £15,000
*: Our fees are calculated based on the number of hours it will take us to carry out this work. The exact number of hours it will take depends on the circumstances in your case, such as:
Fees are excluding VAT at the rate of 20%.. Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as visa fees payable to the Home Office and document translation fees. These are not included in the above estimates.
Full details can be found in our comprehensive pricing document, which can be found here, or please contact one of our immigration specialists.
Given the fast pace of change, we would stress that this information is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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