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The UK Home Office has scrapped the Tier 1 investor visa program with immediate effect amid fears of money laundering and corruption. The Tier 1 investor visa scheme is no stranger to scrutiny and has constantly been under review in recent years. Ironically, on 6 December 2018, the Home Office wrongly announced the suspension of the so-called ‘golden visa’.
In a statement from UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, she said: “Ending Tier 1 investor visas for those spending at least £2 million is the start of a renewed crackdown on illicit finance and fraud.”
Launched in 2008, the Tier 1 investor visa scheme was introduced to encourage wealthy people from outside the European Union to invest in the UK. However, the immigration route has been the subject of scrutiny for some time amid concerns that it was open to abuse.
Announcement expected
Speculation over the future of the Tier 1 investor visa scheme had been mounting for several months, but an announcement was expected amid pressure on ministers to cut UK ties with Russia over the threat of invading the Ukraine.
The UK government has now confirmed the closure of the so-called golden visa program and said that it’s “all part of its new plan for UK immigration.”
The scrapped program offered UK residency to wealthy, non-EU individuals investing £2 million or more in the UK, and allowed their family members to join them.
Tier 1 investor visa holders could apply for permanent residency in Britain at different intervals, depending on how much they invested. A £2 million investment meant that an individual could apply for UK permanent residency after five years, this was reduced to three years for a £5 million investment or two years if a £10 million investment was made.
Failed to deliver
In closing the Tier 1 investor visa scheme, the government said that it had “failed to deliver for the British people and gave opportunities for corrupt elites to access the UK.”
Patel said: “I have zero tolerance for abuse of the UK immigration system. Under my new plan for immigration, I want to ensure the British people have confidence in the system, including stopping corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities.”
“Closing this route is just the start of our renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance. We will be publishing a fraud action plan, while the forthcoming Economic Crime Bill will crackdown on people abusing our financial institutions and better protect the taxpayer,” Patel added.
The Home Office said that settling in the UK will now be conditional upon applicants ‘executing an investment strategy that can show genuine job creation and other tangible economic impact – passively holding UK investments will no longer be enough to secure settlement in Britain through investment’.
Putin’s cronies
Layla Moran, the foreign affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Shutting the door to Putin’s cronies is not enough - too many of them have already walked through it with virtually no questions asked.”
Ms Moran has urged the government to publish its investigation into those who came to the UK on so-called golden visas.
Meanwhile, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, echoed Moran’s comments, calling on the government to publish its review and added that a ‘general plan’ was needed to prevent illicit finance coming into the UK.
Cooper said: “For years the Conservatives failed to stamp out the influence of Russian money in the UK. It has taken international condemnation of our failures... for the Home Secretary to act.”
Tier 1 investor visa scheme constantly changed
Since the launch of the scheme in 2008, Russian citizens have been issued with 2,581 UK investor visas.
Meanwhile, the visa program has undergone several changes since it was opened, including additional checks on how and when applicants acquired their wealth.
Banks had also been required to complete certain checks prior to opening an account for applicants – who were also required to submit extra paperwork if their qualifying funds originated from a chain of different companies.
In 2020, the UK Parliament’s intelligence and security committee argued that a more ‘robust approach’ was needed for approving Tier 1 investor visas as a part of a report into Russian influence in the UK.
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