The United Kingdom (‘UK’) will always be an attractive proposition for wealthy high net-worth foreign migrants to make investments.

The UK Tier 1 Investor visa allows wealthy high net-worth migrants to enter the UK by investing a minimum requirement of £2 million within 3 months of entering the UK.

Under the UK Tier 1 Investor route, the required funds can only be invested in either UK government bonds, share capital or loan capital in active and trading UK companies.

An appealing factor for foreign investors under the UK Tier 1 Investor visa is, it allows the foreign investor to potentially obtain settlement in the UK within a minimum period of 2 years. No other UK visa category would permit a Non-British or EU national to obtain settlement in the UK and subsequently British Citizenship within a total 3 years period. .

The required levels of investments and time periods to obtain settlement in the UK are:

• £10 million of investments in the UK- You could be eligible for settlement after 2 years and British Citizenship a year later (3 years in total);
• £5 million of investments in the UK– You could be eligible for settlement after 3 years and British Citizenship a year later (4 years in total); or
• £2 million of investments in the UK (minimum requirement) – You could be eligible for settlement after 5 years and British Citizenship a year later (6 years in total);

The relevant funds must be your own, held in a regulated financial institution and disposable in the UK. However, similar to the UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur route, Tier 1 Investor visa holders are not permitted to invest funds in companies mainly engaged in property investment, property management or property development.

The investment funds can be owned either jointly with or solely by your spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner. The investor must however have an unrestricted right to transfer and dispose of the funds and if required, have permission from their spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner to have control of the required funds in the UK.

The UK Tier 1 Investor route also allows dependents such as spouses and children under the age of 18 to enter the UK with the main applicant.

However, it is worth noting that the Tier 1 investor is not permitted to invest in an offshore company or hold their investments offshore as such investments will not qualify for an extension of stay or settlement. The UK government will not regards investments from offshore companies as investments being made in the UK because it will fail to deliver the maximum tax benefits to the UK.

If you are interested in investing in the UK under the UK Tier 1 Investor route and require further advice, please feel free to contact us on +44161 826 6922.