Investor Visa
An Investor visa is for individuals who can make a substantial financial investment in the UK. To qualify for an Investor visa, you will need to commit to investing at least £2 million in actively trading UK companies. An Investor visa gives you the right to work, study and engage in business activities in the UK. You can also bring your family and dependents with you. You might qualify for settlement in the UK once you have legitimately held an Investor visa for five years. Depending on your investment amount, you might also be eligible for settlement earlier.
To qualify for an Investor visa, you will need to satisfy the following requirements:
1) You have an investment fund of at least £2 million belonging to yourself, your partner, or jointly;
2) The money is held in a regulated financial institution (this may be in the UK or abroad);
3) The money is freely transferable to the UK and able to be converted to pounds sterling; and
4) You hold a bank account with a UK-regulated bank to invest not less than £2 million in UK companies.
If you have held your investment funds for less than two years, you will need to prove the source of your funds and, the Home Office will need to be satisfied as to the provenance of your funds.
INVESTOR VISA REQUIREMENTS
Investment requirements
The general requirement is that you have held your investment funds for at least two years. However, you may still qualify for an Investor visa if the source of the funds was:
- a gift received by yourself (and/or your partner) less than two years before the date of application; or
- proceeds from the sale of assets (such as a business or property) less than two years before the date of application; or
- money held in your business (and/or the business of your partner); or
- inheritance under a will received less than two years before making the application; or
- the proceeds of a divorce settlement received less than two years before the date of application; or
- a financial award or winnings; or
- any other source provided that it is documented and independently corroborated.
If you have held your investment funds for over two years, you will not be required to provide specific evidence of the source of your funds. However, you will still need to satisfy the Home Office that you lawfully obtained your investment funds. We would generally advise you to provide documents attesting to the source of the funds.
Investment options
Once you have obtained your Investor visa, you will need to invest at least £2 million in qualifying investments. The only qualifying UK investment options are share capital and/or loan capital investments in active, and trading UK registered companies. You will need to make a qualifying investment within 90 days of obtaining your Investor visa.
UK bank account requirements
You must provide a letter to prove that you have a UK-regulated bank account to deposit your investment funds. The letter must:
- have been issued by an authorised official
- be dated within three months of your application
- be on the official headed paper of the bank
- state your name and account number
- confirm you have opened an account with the bank to invest at least £2,000,000
- confirm the Financial Conduct Authority regulates the bank
- confirm money-laundering checks have been conducted by the bank
We can introduce you to a bank directly so they can assist you with opening a UK bank account.
Criminal record certificates
If applying for an Investor visa from outside of the UK, you and any adult dependants will need to provide an overseas criminal record certificate for any country you have lived in for at least 12 months in the last ten years.
English Language & maintenance requirements
As an Investor visa applicant, you will not need to satisfy any English language or maintenance funds requirements.
Tuberculosis test requirement
If you are applying from a country on the Home Office's 'Countries where you need a TB test to enter the UK' list, you must provide a valid certificate issued by an approved clinic. This does not apply if you make your visa application from inside the UK.
Further requirements
Recent changes in immigration rules have added further criteria. As part of your application, you will also need to demonstrate:
- The £2 million investment is the price paid by the investor rather than the market value.
- The investment funds belong either to you, your spouse, or your civil partner.
- The funds are held in one or more regulated financial institutions. The UK bank holding your funds will need to confirm they have carried out all required due diligence checks.
- The funds are readily available to transfer and invest in the UK.
- The source of funds, if the £2 million has been held for less than two years.
Applications can be refused if the Home Office has reasonable grounds to believe the investment funds have breached exchange controls.
Length of an Investor visa
If you apply from outside the UK and your Investor visa application is successful, your initial visa will be valid for three years and four months.
After this period, you will be able to extend your stay as a UK Investor visa holder for a further two years and may qualify for settlement after five years.
You will need to invest at least £2 million in actively trading UK companies within three months of receiving your visa. You will need to maintain your investment to retain your Investor visa.
UK Settlement on an Investor visa
You may qualify for settlement earlier:
• If you invest at least £5 million, you could be eligible for settlement in 3 years; or
• If you invest at least £10 million, you could apply for settlement in 2 years.
In either case, you will need to spend no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months and, unless aged 65 or over, have sufficient knowledge of the English language and life in the UK.
Most immigration applications have strict factual and evidential requirements that are not necessarily straightforward to comprehend or satisfy. LS Legal Solicitors are well versed and highly experienced in providing advice and assistance on immigration applications. We appreciate that many of the requirements may seem overly complex and onerous. However, we guarantee to make your experience as smooth and stress-free as possible.
For the quickest response, please WhatsApp or call us on +44 (0) 75 3595 9450. You can also contact us via email at info@LSLegaLUK.com or use the contact form to discuss your requirements further or arrange an appointment with one of our experts.
