The United Kingdom's Tier1 Investor Visa is one of the most expensive residency by investment programs. However, the number of applicants is growing, despite Brexit. If you would like to live in the UK and become a permanent resident, later citizen, then investing a minimum of two million pounds is your solution.
Since its introduction, a total of 5,760 visas were granted to wealthy investors until the March of 2017. The applicants arrived from several third countries (not the EU Member States). Of course, most of the successful applicants came from China, Russia and the United States.
Tier 1 Visas can be issued for various occassions. The different UK Tier 1 visa options are:
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa
Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa
Tier 1 (General) visa
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) visa
Tier 1 (Investor) visa
Interestingly, the Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa is not an expensive solution. Investments from 50,000 pounds may qualify. Meanwhile, the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa is for those candidates, who have "been endorsed in your field in science, humanities, engineering, medicine, digital technology or the arts. They can be recognised leaders (exceptional talent) or
emerging leaders (exceptional promise.) If you are a rare talent, then don't forget, that this visa allows only a limited number of applicants to settle in the United Kingdom, there are only half thousand places annually. The Tier 1 General visa is not applicable anymore, but family members may still join. Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur visa is an attractive solution, but the young talent must be endorsed by the Department for International Trade or any authorised endorsing body, which must be a UK higher education institution.
The Tier 1 Investor visa is the most straightforward option. When the government doubled the minimum qualifying amount from one million pounds to two million, it was the most expensive residency program globally. Naturally, the number of applicants dropped significantly, but because of Brexit, the third country nationals became interested again in this option, and from the spring of 2019, even the Europeans will use this option. The falling value of the pound also increased the number of candidates.
Gays, lesbians, Bisexuals and transsexual people enjoy equal rights in the United Kingdom. Same-sex couples can enter into a registered civil union, and they can marry, except Northern Ireland, but even there, recent developments show that the loyalists cannot stop the time. From 2000, Her Majesty's Armed Forces removed the ban on LGBT individuals to serve openly. The age of consent is equalised at 16 in England, Scotland and Wales. Adoption of children is possible in England and Wales. The LGBT community enjoys broad public support in the society, and after the election of 2017, 45 LGBTI people were elected as MPs, which is the current world record. According to the estimations of the YouGov, the proportion of non-heterosexual people in the UK is 7%.
If you are interested to live in the United Kingdom, you may read here more on the options:
- The most gay-friendly cities in the UK.
- Brexit and the UK Tier1 residency by investment program
- Tier 1 Investor Visa in the United Kingdom
Ask for a consultation regarding your immigration solutions in the UK here!