To apply for an investor visa, you must be willing to invest £2 million or more in the UK and meet all the eligibility requirements.
You can make the application 3 months before your date of travel and you will get the decision in 3 weeks. If you want to get the decision quicker, you can pay an extra £500 and get it in 5 working days.
The investor visa will allow you to stay in the UK for a maximum of 3 years and 4 months. At the close of this period, you can extend the visa for another 2 years if you wish to. With an investor visa, you can work or study in the UK.
When applying for the investor visa, you must pay an application fee of £1,623 as well as the health surcharge.
What are the eligibility requirements?
You must
- Have at least £2 million to invest
- Be at least 18 years old
- Prove that the money is yours or your partner’s
- Have an account in a UK regulated bank
- Prove that your funds are disposable i.e., free to spend in the UK
Please note that when you apply for the visa, the funds can be in the UK or in any other country.
What documents should you provide?
- Passport and other travel documents
- A criminal record certificate from all the countries where you have stayed for 12 months or more in the last 10 years
- Tuberculosis test results, if you are from a country where it is required to take this test
Along with the above documents, it is necessary to submit evidence that you have the funds (at least £2 million) for investment.
If it’s your own money
- You must show how much you have and where it’s kept
- If you had the money for less than 2 years, you must show where the money came from
- If the money is not in the UK, you must show that the money can be transferred to the UK and converted to sterling
If it’s your partner’s money
- You must submit the certificate of marriage or civil partnership; if you’re not married or in a civil partnership, you must prove that you have been in the relationship for at least 2 years
- You must provide a statement from your partner showing that you have permission to use and control their funds. Along with this statement, you must provide a letter from a legal professional that the statement is valid.
Apart from showing evidence that you have the required funds, you must also show evidence that you have a UK bank account. To prove this, a letter from the bank is required.
The letter must be
- Written on the official letterhead of the bank
- Issued by an authorised official
- Dated within 3 months of the application
Most importantly, it must have your name and account number.
The letter must also confirm three things:
- You opened the account to invest £2 million or more.
- The bank is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
- Background checks for money-laundering have already been done.
How to Apply?
- Fill and submit the online application for the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa
- Go to the visa application centre. They will take your fingerprints and photographs. This is for the biometric residence permit
If you are already in the UK on another visa, you can switch to investor visa. To do so, you need to meet the eligibility requirements and have one of the following visas:
- Tier 1 (General)
- Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)
- Any Tier 2 category
- Student (including Tier 4)
For any other type of visa, you need to leave the UK and apply for the investor visa, if you are not certain if this is the right type of visa for your profile, contact our experienced immigration solicitors for guidance and help with the entire application process.
