Investor Visa
If you plan to apply for a UK Investor visa (Tier 1), there are some requirements that you should know. First of all, you have to be from outside the European Economic Area or Switzerland and you have to want to invest at least £2,000,000 or more in the UK. You must demonstrate that you have access to at least £2,000,000 in investment funds before you apply. There are other UK visa eligibility requirements that will be mentioned below in this article.
The earliest you can apply for a UK Investor visa (Tier 1) is three months before you travel to the country. For example, you can apply from 17 April if you plan to travel on 16 July. You are guaranteed to get a decision on your visa within three weeks when you apply from outside the UK. Many visa application centers offer a number of priority services, like fast visa decisions. If you choose to use this service, you can get your visa decision faster – within a week (five working days) or even 24 hours after you apply.
A fee for a UK Investor visa application is £1,623. The cost does not change if you are extending or switching visas, or if you are applying as a family member. Also, you will pay the healthcare surcharge as part of your application process. You can check how much you will have to pay before you apply for a UK Investor visa. After you have received your decision letter, your biometric residence permit will take up to ten working days to arrive.
Your Investor visa (Tier 1) allows you to come to the UK for a maximum of three years and 4 months. You are allowed to apply to extend this visa for two more years. UK Investor visa holders are permitted to work or study in the UK; to apply to settle in the UK after two years if they invest £10 million; to apply to settle in the UK after three years if they invest £5 million; to apply to settle in the UK after five years if they invest £2 million.
UK Investor visa holders are forbidden to work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach and receive public funds. Work as a doctor or dentist in training is also forbidden unless one of the following conditions applies: they have a corresponding primary degree at bachelors level or above from a UK institution that holds a Tier 4 sponsor licence or is the UK recognized or listed body; they worked as a doctor or dentist in training the last time they were in the UK; neither of those conditions were a part of the terms and conditions on their previous UK visas.
As mentioned above, to apply for a UK Investor visa (Tier 1) you must have at least £2,000,000 investment funds and be 18 or over. You have to be able to prove that the money belongs to either you or your husband, wife, or partner. You have to demonstrate that you have opened an account at a UK regulated bank to use for your funds. Additional requirements to your funds are: they must be held in one or more regulated financial institutions and they must be free to spend in the UK. When you apply for a UK Investor visa (Tier 1), your money can be in the UK or overseas.
You are also allowed to apply for a UK Investor visa (Tier 1) if you are already in the UK and you are a General visa (Tier 4) holder. You must show an unconditional agreement from your financial sponsor to stay or re-enter the UK if your course fees and living costs were paid by a government or an international scholarship agency.
When applying for a UK Investor visa, you need to provide: a valid passport or other travel identification; tuberculosis test results (if needed); a criminal record certificate. Also, you need to show evidence that you have the required investment funds. If they are your own, you should be able to demonstrate how much money you have; where the money came from, and that your money can be transferred to the UK and converted to sterling. If you will use your partner’s money, then you need to provide: a certificate of marriage or civil partnership; a statement from your partner that you are allowed to control the funds in the UK, and a statement from a legal adviser that the declaration is valid.
When applying for a UK Investor visa, you must also prove that you have an account at a UK regulated bank to use for your investment funds. Your bank must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and it must confirm that all the checks for money-laundering have been carried out.
For a UK Investor visa (Tier 1) you must start your application process online and then visit a visa application center. Your biometric residence permit must be collected within 10 days of when you said you would arrive in the UK.
You may be able to extend your Investor visa (Tier 1) and include all the dependants who are on your current visa. Important extension requirements are your possession of at least £1,000,000 under your control in the UK; at least £750,000 (or 75%) of that invested in UK government bonds, share capital or loan capital in active UK companies within three months of your start date. Some other UK Investor visa (Tier 1) requirements vary depending on the date of your visa application – before or after 6 November 2014.
Holders of UK General, Entrepreneur (Tier 1), General Student visa (Tier 4), and any Tier 2 category visas are allowed to apply to switch to a UK Investor visa (Tier 1) if they meet the eligibility requirements. They are allowed to stay a maximum of three years after switching to a UK Investor (Tier 1) visa. They are also allowed to extend their visas if they are eligible for it.
Family members (a husband, wife, partner, children under 18 and children over 18 if they are currently in the UK as dependants) can come with a UK Investor visa holder to the UK.
Regards,
SmartImmigrant
