Home Office tightens golden visa rules after earlier failed crackdown
The Home Office announced reforms to so-called golden visas for wealthy investors today, following an embarrassing debacle last year when it announced their suspension before being forced to backtrack days later.
Under reforms to the Tier 1 (Investor) scheme, applicants will be required to prove they have control of the £2m they are required to have for two years, rather than 90 days, or provide evidence of the source of those funds.
Read more: Home Office backtracks on plans to scrap ‘golden visas’ for rich investors
In December the Home Office announced the visa scheme would be suspended over corruption fears, but backtracked days later, reportedly after opposition from other government departments.
The reformed scheme will be operational from 29 March.
Philip Barth, head of immigration at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said he was concerned that an opportunity for greater reform could have been missed.
"This was trailed when they had the bungled suspension, these are not novel concepts," he said.
"My concern is that there hasn't been a more fundamental redesign of the investor visa or the permitted investment and now the opportunity has been missed," he added.
The Home Office has also announced that two new visa routes, the startup visa and the innovator route, will also take effect from 29 March.
The startup visa will be open to those starting a business for the first time in the UK, replacing the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) route.
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It will apply for people of any background, not just graduates, and they will have double the amount of time, two years, to make their business a success before they need to make a further application.
The Innovator route will be for more experienced business people who have £50,000 to invest in their business, down from the £200,000 required under the previous scheme.
Both routes will see endorsing bodies and business experts, rather than the Home Office, evaluating applicants’ business plans.
Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said: “These visa routes will be run in partnership with business experts to make sure the businesses benefit our economy and the UK remains a world-leading destination for pioneering businesspeople.”
Russ Shaw of Tech London Advocates welcomed the new startup and innovation visa routes.
“This is good news,” he said. “The government is listening on the startup visa side, this is something that is great for the sector. What I am particularly pleased about on the startup visa and innovator visa route is they are embracing third party endorsement.”