United Kingdom · Residency by investment
Tier 1 (Investor) visa
Closed
Last verified July 2026
Closed to new applications with no notice on 17 February 2022, over concerns about security, illegitimately acquired wealth and links to corruption. The closure is permanent, and there is no successor route. The GBP 5m invite-only concept floated in 2026 is a proposal only.
This programme is closed. We keep the page up because agents still advertise it and clients still ask. Nothing below is available to new applicants.
Its closure, and the reasons given for it, tell the real story. The route had been used to launder reputations as much as money. That is why any revived UK investor visa will be invite-only, vetted, and steered away from property. It also explains the political ceiling on any 2026 revival. The same Home Office that killed the route must now be persuaded to rebuild it.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- £2M
- Total landed cost
- Historic: GBP 2m minimum investment for the 5-year route, GBP 5m for 3 years, GBP 10m for 2 years
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Physical presence
- Historic: no more than 180 days absent per year for settlement
- Family
- Historic: spouse or partner and children under 18
- Permanent residency
- Historic: 5, 3 or 2 years by investment level
- Citizenship
- Historic: 6 years total (settlement plus 12 months)
- Language test
- B1 English plus Life in the UK test
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- closed to new applications since 17 February 2022
What can go wrong
- Some advisory firms still market UK investor visa services. There is no such route, and there has not been one since February 2022.
- Existing holders on extension and settlement pathways are unaffected. But an earned settlement reform, if it goes ahead, could extend their qualifying periods.