17 February 2022

The Home Office has announced that it has closed the Tier 1 (Investor) route with immediate effect. The route, which has been under review, was available to nationals from outside the UK (including the EEA/Switzerland) who made a significant investment of at least £2 million in the UK.

In a press release, the Home Office said that the route has given rise to ‘security concerns, including people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption’.

Speaking about the decision to close the Tier 1 (Investor) route, Home Secretary Priti Patel said:  ‘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.’

Investors who have (or have held in the last year) permission under the route can continue to extend their permission until 17 February 2026 and must apply for settlement by 17 February 2028.

The Home Office said it is making reforms to the Innovator route to ‘provide an ambitious investment route which works more effectively in support of the UK’s economy’.

Findings from a Home Office report examining Tier 1 (Investor) visas granted between 2008 and 5 April 2015 (when reforms were introduced) have yet to be published; though the Home Office has said they will be published ‘in due course’.

In a recent article, Senior Partner and Head of UK Practice at Laura Devine Immigration, Sophie Barrett-Brown, debunked some of the myths surrounding the Tier 1 (Investor) route and corrected some of the inaccuracies being reported in the media.

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To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.