UK Welcome™ – the home of Tier 1 Investor Visa expertise. The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is designed for high net worth individuals who want to relocate themselves and their family to the UK. Only a few hundred of these visas are granted per year so it is imperative you deal with experts in the field. UK Welcome™, part of Knightsbridge Wealth, exists to ensure your transition into the UK is as smooth as possible. We’ve been doing this for over 10 years.
Who is the Tier 1 Investor Visa for?
For wealthy non-UK nationals looking to qualify for leave to remain in United Kingdom, the Tier 1 Investor Visa provides an ideal solution. It offers the shortest Investor Immigration application processing time amongst the G8 countries with objective entry criteria and predictable outcomes.
What are my financial obligations under the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa scheme?
The investor category is designed to allow wealthy individuals who make a substantial financial investment in the UK to obtain permission from the UK to enter as an investor under the Tier 1 category. The applicant must invest a minimum of £2m in the UK.
Tier 1 Investor migrants must, upon arriving in the UK, invest at least £2m in UK Government Bonds, Loan Capital in active and trading UK-registered companies, or UK equities. Companies must not be mainly engaged in property development. Throughout the period, the applicant can be employed or self-employed, and has no recourse to public funds.
What does the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa offer me?
A Tier 1 Investor Visa grants leave to enter the UK for an initial period of three years, and is then extended for a further two years, if the above conditions are maintained.
At the end of five years, the applicant, and their dependents, will be eligible to apply for permanent residence (Indefinite Leave to Remain). They will need to take and pass the Life in the UK test, unless the applicant is under 18 or over 65. After a further year, an application can be made for British citizenship. If approved, possession of a passport will also give the applicant and family members citizenship of the European Union and the right to live, work and retire in any one of the members of the Union.
It is not a requirement to make the UK your main home.The UK Border Agency permits absences of up to six months in every year. However, excessive absences from the UK could affect the success of the application.
If your eventual aim is to secure British citizenship, you must not have been absent from the UK for more than 450 days in the five-year period preceding the application, and not more than three months in the year before the application. Absences for those looking to secure a passport should be kept to 90 days or less a year. The Home Office retains discretion to waive absences in excess of the 450-day limit on occasion.
What other routes are open to me under the Tier 1 (Investor) visa scheme?
The Tier 1 scheme offers accelerated routes to Permanent Residency for those investing £5m in the UK that secures Indefinite Leave to Remain in three years. This falls to two years for those investing £10m.
How do I apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) Visa?
Applications for entry clearance should be submitted outside the UK, usually at the British Embassy or Consulate General in the country of the applicant’s origin, or residence. The main applicant’s spouse and children under the age of 18 years can apply as dependants. The UK investor visa does not provide for dependent parents, who may be required to apply for leave to enter the UK under a different visa category, although currently this is very difficult.
Applications usually take 4-6 weeks. There are specific requirements for the types of documents that are required both by the Home Office, and the UK Financial Institution that will manage your investment. It is mandatory to provide the required evidence.
All of the above information is available in detail on the Home Office website www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk and this information is not intended to be immigration advice.