The UK has been a super attractive destination for millionaire and billionaire families for ages. For more than a decade, the UK has been welcoming foreign investors through the gold card scheme.
The scheme was first launched for £1m and later in 2015, the minimum investment doubled to £2m. This money must be deposited in a UK bank account buying Gilts (government bonds) or investment funds.
The UK tier1 investor scheme, quite contrary to what many believe, only becoming more popular, amid Brexit chaos, because of sterling decline, hot UK property market and University education for children will become only cheaper post Brexit.
UK Golden visa scheme has fastest processing times in the world, usually entry clearances approved within 1 week to 3 weeks.
Why UK attracts wealthy millionaires?
- London is one of the most attractive cities to live in the world, major financial center offering high standard of living.
- UK has the best healthcare systems in the world.
- British citizenship after five years is very appealing
- UK gold visas offer expedited path to permanent residency with £5m and £10m
- UK has the best education system with some of the top universities in the world (eg. Oxford)
- Property prices have fallen due to Brexit concerns, best time to invest in UK property market
- Falling value of Pound sterling infact makes the investor scheme cheaper.
- Recoverable full investment and the money invested is not wasted!
- UK is has mixed multicultural foreign population, english spoken everywhere and drives on the left.
- UK has best infrastructure and facilities for research and development in science and technology
- UK is most attractive for investors and startups. UK ranked first in Europe and sixth in the world to operate business.
Fastest Golden Visa
UK has the fastest golden visa scheme in the world and the application processing time is also very fast from 1 week to 3 weeks. No other golden visa scheme in the world is as fast as UK.
All golden visa schemes in Europe (Greece, Portugal) takes 3-4 months for approvals. United States EB-5 is the worst golden visa scheme in the world, when it comes to approvals, takes long waiting time atleast 1.5-2 years for some countries and for chinese more than 15 years.
| Golden visa | Processing times |
| United Kingdom (UK) | 1-3 weeks |
| Ireland | 6-9 months |
| Portugal | 3-4 months |
| Greece | 3-5 months |
| Malta | 3 months |
| Spain | 3-4 months |
| Australia | No standard times |
| United States | 1.5 -2 years (others), 15 years (china) |
| Canada Quebec | 18 months |
How much it costs?
- Invest £2 million to settle after 5 years
- Invest £5 million to settle after 3 years
- Invest £10 million to settle after 2 years.
The investment must be made in Bonds, Share capital or loan capital in active and trading UK registered companies. There is a PBS (points based system) which requires atleast 75 points to qualify.
The entry clearance visa for investors is granted for an initial period of Leave to Enter (LTE) the UK and remain for three years and four months . After this period, a Leave to Remain (LTR) can be granted, which is an extension for another two years.
Applicants must also provide important evidence of the source of the funds: gift, deeds of sale, a will , divorce settlement , business, award or winnings etc.
The Application fee is £1,623 to apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa.
Note for settlement applications, investors must show english language knowledge and absent out of UK for more than 9 months. Permanent settlement or citizenship is only optional not compulsory. If you travel in and out of UK and dont want to spend much time, you dont need permanent residency or passport, you can extend the entry clearance every 2 years.
Investor visa gives permission to work and study
The UK golden visa scheme (tier1 investor visa) is particularly attractive to chinese, russians as the UK grants only immediate residency through investment, not citizenship or passport.
What changed in 2019?
The Home office implemented several changes in 2019 including new rules tightening the scheme effective from April 2019
- Government bonds (Gilts) has been excluded
- Applicants must open a UK bank account complying with background checks and must hold investments for 2 years (24 months) instead of previous 3 months.
- Intermediaries to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA),
- Investment pools option introduced
Why Invest in Education Bonds?
The Education Bond offers international students to finance UK education by investing in the UK and qualifying for permanent residency. The returns from the investment will fully pay for UK education and college fee yearly, while retaining the full investment. This type of investment is good if you want to sponsor education to your children in UK universities, while still recovering your full investment.
The bond scheme will provide 4% return and requires one time £50,000 management fee. The minimum subscription price is £2 million and the combined portfolio will produce a net annual income of £40,000 per million invested in Education Bond per year, before tax but after paying the Programme’s management fees. The income of £40,000 will pay for the student’s secondary school or higher-education tuition fees.
International students can achieve Indefinite Leave to Remain after the 5-year term of their investment
Restricted countries
UK home office may refuse applicants subjected to sanctions (North Korea, Iran, Syria etc) who are unable to open a bank account in the UK and do not have necessary approvals from HM Treasury
Switch from other visa categories
Under tier1 investor scheme, applicants can switch only from the following visa categories:
• Highly skilled migrant
• Tier 1 (General) migrant
• Tier 2 migrant
• Tier 4 migrant
