Ten of the world’s most popular investor immigration schemes
By International Adviser, 17 Nov 15
With investor immigration programs rapidly rising in popularity around the world, the Global Investor Immigration Council publishes its latest report giving an overview of a number of investor visa schemes.
The UK has operated an immigration route for investors since 1994.
Significant changes were made to the program in 2008, with the introduction of a points-based system. The Tier 1 (Investor) route was established for high-net-worth individuals wishing to invest at least £1m in the UK.
In 2011, the government introduced provisions to for accelerated settlement for those investing larger sums. For the standard £1m ($1.52m, €1.43m) threshold, investors could settle after five years and apply for citizenship after six years.
The settlement qualifying period was reduced to three years or two years for those investing at least £5m or £10m respectively; investors on these schemes could apply for citizenship after five years.
Residence requirements were also relaxed in 2011, permitting up to 180 days of absence per year for investors.
In late 2014, the government announced the minimum investment would be raised to £2m, all of which was now required to be invested in invested in UK companies or government bonds.
Little interest
For the first four years of its existence, there was little interest in the UK’s investor visa. In 1995, the first full year of the program, there were only 10 people admitted. In 1996, the number was 30 and in 1997 it fell to 20.
In 2008, the Tier 1 Investor route had a very low uptake: 43 investors and 95 dependents. Since then, it has grown rapidly. In 2014, there were 1,173 main applicants and 1,827 dependents, roughly double the numbers of 2013.
From 2008 to the end of 2014, more than 8,000 people came to the UK on the Tier 1 scheme, of which nearly 3,000 were main applicants.
Tags: Visa
