UK Citizenship by Investment 2023.

Here is the UK Citizenship by Investment 2022/ 2023 for all the investors from different places willing to invest and gain UK citizenship.

The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is the primary route to obtain UK citizenship by investment, offering a fast-tracked path for investors to British citizenship.

What is the Tier 1 Investor visa?

UK Citizenship by Investment-This specialist investment visa allows holders and their dependents to reside in the UK and ultimately become eligible for UK citizenship where they satisfy the eligibility criteria.

Applicants, for example, will have to invest a minimum amount of investment into the UK and maintain that investment during their residency. You have to make investments in active and trading UK-registered companies, with no donation required. You may also be able to benefit from the non-domiciled tax regime for residents in the UK.

Application processing for the Tier 1 investor visa is typically faster than other routes, can be completed within as little as 4 weeks.

Compared with other UK immigration routes, the Tier 1 investor visa is also relatively relaxed in the activities visa holders are allowed to do.

A Tier 1 Investor visa permits the holder to live, work and study in the UK for up to three years and four months. The applicant’s spouse and any children under the age of 18 years can also apply to join the principal visa holder as dependants. Your children will be able to take advantage of the UK’s world-class education system.

However, holding a Tier 1 (Investor) visa does not allow you to receive public funds, such as benefits and tax credits, on the basis that you have sufficient private funds to be able to live in the UK.

In addition, you may not work professionally as a sportsperson or coach or, except in specific cases, train as a doctor or dentist.

You can come to the UK with a Tier 1 (Investor) visa for a maximum of 3 years and 4 months and you can apply to extend your Tier 1 (Investor) visa for a further two years.

Tier 1 (Investor) visa eligibility for UK Citizenship by Investment

For the Tier 1 investor visa to be open to you as a route to British citizenship by investment, you will need to satisfy the visa eligibility requirements. You must have at least £2 million to invest in the UK and be at least 18 years of age.

Your funds must be:

• held in one or more regulated financial institutions
• free to spend (‘disposable’) in the UK
  Your money can be in the UK or overseas when you apply.

You will not need to pass any English language requirements for the investor visa, although this is a requirement if you subsequently apply for ILR and citizenship.

Strict rules apply to the investment funds.

UK Citizenship by Investment 2022/ 2023

The investment amount being relied on for the application must be deposited in an account at a UK regulated bank. It must be in pounds sterling. You will need to prove the money belongs to either you or your husband, wife, unmarried or same-sex partner, and that the funds are disposable and available for use in the UK.

It must be invested in an actively trading company which is registered in the UK. It cannot be held in assets or property.

No later than 90 days after receiving your visa, the funds must be invested in share and/or loan capital in an actively trading company which is registered in the UK and an investment of at least £2 million needs to be maintained throughout the visa period, although it is permitted to withdraw income earned from the investment.

It is important that you consider these investments carefully as some types are not allowed under the visa terms, such as, investment in certain property companies and open-ended investment companies or OEICs.

If you decide to sell an investment, a new investment must be acquired for no less than the sold price. The new investment must be purchased by the earlier of the end of the reporting period or the date falling six months after the sale.

Although the funds do not need to be in the UK at the time of application, it is important that you check for any regulations or sanctions in the country in which they are held as these could cause difficulties in transferring the funds to the UK.

What is the application process for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa?

The application for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa cannot be made more than three months before you travel to the UK.

In order to apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa, you will in most cases need to make an online application.

Extensive documents and evidence to support your eligibility and that the investment funds meet the criteria must be provided as part of the application process. The applicant documents include:

• a valid passport with at least one blank page or another form of identification which can be used for travel; and
• a criminal record certificate.

A criminal record certificate is required to be provided in relation to any country in which you have lived for at least one year in the last ten years. This one-year period does not need to be continuous. The certificate must be recent, that is, provided within six months of your visa application.

Applicants from certain countries will also need to undertake a tuberculosis test and provide the results to the Home Office.

The investment fund documents primarily relate to evidencing the applicant’s ownership of the funds and comprise:

• Evidence of the amount and where it is held
• Confirmation of the source of the funds if the applicant has held them for less than two years
• Confirmation that the funds can be converted into pounds sterling and can be moved to the UK, assuming that they are held outside of the UK at the time of application
• Evidence that the applicant has a bank account with a UK regulated financial institution

UK Citizenship by Investment 2022/ 2023

If the funds belong to your spouse or partner, additional evidence will be required as follows:

• Proof that you and your partner have been in a relationship for over two years or are married, such as a marriage certificate, joint mortgage documents, joint bank account documents, child’s birth certificate showing both partners as parents, a life insurance policy stating the other partner as the beneficiary and so on;
• A declaration from your spouse or partner that you are permitted to control the funds in the UK; and
• A document from a legal adviser confirming that the permission declaration is valid.

A certified translation will also be required if any of the application documents are not written in English or Welsh.

In addition, you are required to submit your biometric details so that you can be granted a biometric residence permit.

The Home Office should inform you of its decision regarding your application within three to four weeks of your application date. In the event that any documents are not provided or are incorrect, the Home Office will contact you and require you to provide the correct documents within ten working days.

How much does a Tier 1 (Investor) visa cost?

The current application fee for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa is £1623. In addition, you will need to pay the Immigration healthcare surcharge for the duration of the visa.

Applying for UK citizenship by investment

A key feature of the investor visa is that it can lead to UK citizenship for the visa holder and their visa dependants in a shorter time than most other UK visa categories.

The holder of a Tier 1 (Investor) visa can apply to settle in the UK under Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (ILR) after a certain period of time. This qualifying period varies depending on the amount that you have invested in the UK. If you:

• Maintain your original £2 million investment, you can apply for ILR after five years;
• Increase your investment to £5 million, you can apply for ILR after three years; and
• Increase your investment to £10 million, you can apply for ILR after two years.

With 12 months of ILR, you then become eligible to apply to naturalize as a British citizen. To apply, you must:

• have been resident in the UK for at least five years (the residential qualifying period);
• have been physically in the UK on the exact day five years prior to the application date;
• not have been outside of the UK for more than 450 days in the residential qualifying period; and
• Not have been outside of the UK for more than 90 days in the previous 12 months.

You will also need to show you have passed the Life in the UK test, that you meet the English language requirement and that you satisfy the general grounds for admissibility such as passing the good character requirement.

If you are granted citizenship, you can apply for a British passport. A British passport enables you to travel visa-free to over 150 countries, including the USA under the visa waiver program.

Visa requirements for UK Citizenship by Investment

• Applicants for Tier 1 Investor and Innovator visas must comply with the following requirements:
• The main applicant must be at least 18 years old.
• All applicants must be in good Investors from some countries have to provide a negative tuberculosis test.
• Applicants must have clean criminal and immigration records.
• The main applicant can add dependents to their application: spouses, partners and minor children.
• Innovators need to prove English knowledge at level B2. Investors do not need to pass the language test.

What Kind of Investment The Applicant Has To Make for Tier-1 Visa?
The current application fee for a Tier-1 visa starts from £1623 which does not include the immigration healthcare surcharge. The United Kingdom also allows the applicant and his family member to obtain citizenship by investing £2,000,000.
It is usually seen that the Tier-1 visa initially provides a window of 30-days to the applicants, which is then extended to 40-months upon arrival. Within three months after entering the UK, investors are required to buy corporate shares or bonds of UK companies.
Another scenario states that the investors can extend the visa for two years, provided that the initial investment made is duly maintained. Apart from this, the qualifying period for citizenship is also proportional to the investment made by the immigrant:

Benefits of British Citizenship for UK Citizenship by Investment

• Having British citizenship provides applicants with all means of amenities.
• There are many Global Fortune 500 companies in and across London that help people to earn handsomely.
• The Equality Act in the UK protects equal rights when applying for a job, preventing discrimination based on nationality and gender.
• While medical services in the country are free for the citizens, prestigious universities help shape the career of students.
• Full rights to work and live in the UK.
• Access to one of the world’s best public health care services for free.
• The right to attend the country’s world class schools, universities and colleges.
• The right to travel visa-free to 156 countries.
• Comfort and secure living conditions.
• Favourable taxation regime for the UK residents.
• Top school and higher education.
• High-quality healthcare and social guarantees.
• Stable banking system that allows to secure and increase your savings.
• British passport in 5–6 years for an investor and their family.
• Visa-free access to 184 countries.

Conclusion

If you have invested 5 million, then you can apply ILR (Indefinite Leave To Remain) after three years and also if the investment you have made is around 10 million then ILR can be applied after two years.