Enjoy the freedom and flexibility of relocating to the UK.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, life as we know it has changed including the UK’s Tier 1 investor programme as well as similar schemes around the world. However, as the global economy starts to reopen, and lockdowns start to ease, the restrictions on travel and movement will reinvigorate the desires and ability of high net worth (HNW) individuals to relocate. The UK’s Tier 1 Investor Visa is a flexible and attractive option for those of HNW from overseas. it is likely to become a popular option for EU and Swiss HNWs in the future.

Any decline in the applications to the Tier 1 Investor visa are expected to be offset from the growth from non-EU HNWs who would previously have considered obtaining a similar investor visa from Cyprus or Malta in order to benefit from EU (and by definition UK) citizenship and the freedom of movement.

Some things don’t change – why the UK persists as a destination for residents.

Despite restrictions on international travel, the number of Chinese high-net-worth individuals applying to live in the UK has risen. Those from mainland China and Hong Kong applied to settle in the UK in the third quarter of last year than from any other nation, latest statistics show.

Russia and American applicants were also high in the statistics, which showed a marked rise in Tier 1 investor visa applications from the first half of the year. In the first quarter, 45 applied, in the second quarter only 23 applied but in Q3, there were 96 applications. 23 of these applicants were from mainland China and 20 were from Hong Kong, around 45% of the total.