UK Investor Visa (Tier 1)

Due Diligence is a key step in obtaining an investor visa, permanent residency and British citizenship. Its results determine whether the UK Home Office will approve the investor’s application. Therefore, a certified anti-money-laundering officer of Immigrant Invest examines investor documents and warns of possible risks.

We are one of the few companies in the industry with an own Compliance Department. We confidentially check the applicant through international legal and business information databases.

If questions arise in the process of verification, due to which the investor’s application may be rejected, we offer other residence permit or citizenship for investment programs.

Immigrant Invest international and economic lawyers collect documents for the Investor Visa application. Necessary documents are also translated into English, apostilled, and notarized. An Immigrant Invest attorney helps you fill out the visa application form.

Application and documents are submitted to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office or visa center where the investor resides.

It takes about 3 weeks to review the application if the documents are submitted outside of the UK. If the investor submits the application to the Home Office in the UK, it takes up to 8 weeks to process.

Investor Visa is issued for 3 years and 4 months. After that, the visa can be extended for another 2 years or apply for permanent residency.

You can apply for permanent residency in the UK after obtaining Investor Visa:

• after 2 years — if the investor has invested £10 million or more;

• In 3 years — if the investor has invested 5 million pounds;

• after 5 years — if the investor has invested £2 million or more.

Permanent residency is granted to investors who fulfill the conditions for residency and integration into British society. Namely:

• Have spent less than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month reporting period from the date of the Investor Visa;

• Maintained investments and conduct business in the country;

• Proved proficiency in English at B1 level or above on the CEFR;

• confirmed knowledge of the British way of life by the Life in the UK test.

Investors pay a fee of £2,389 for each applicant when applying for permanent residency.

Permanent Residence Permit in the UK under the standard procedure takes about 6 months. But you can use an expedited procedure in which the application is considered in 2 or 5 working days.

An investor is entitled to apply for British citizenship after:

• 5 years after obtaining the Investor Visa — if invested £5 million or more;

• 6 years after receipt of the Investor Visa — if invested from 2 to 5 million pounds.

The British passport is obtained by investors who permanently lived in the country for more than 5 years. Of these, 12 months — on the basis of permanent residence.

Spend outside the UK allowed no more than 450 days over the 5 years and no more than 90 days in the year before applying for citizenship.

It takes about six months to obtain British citizenship.