Closure of the Tier 1 Investor route
23 February 2022
As of 4:00pm on 17 February 2022, the Home Office have closed the Tier 1 (Investor) route with immediate effect to all new applicants. The closure of this route comes following security concerns over whether applicants had acquired their wealth legitimately and whether they were associated with wider corruption.
Applications that had been submitted and were pending prior to 17 February are unaffected and will be decided in accordance with the Immigration Rules in force on 16 February 2022.
Those already in the UK under the Tier 1 (Investor) route will be able to continue to extend their stay and settle in the UK. However the announced changes will also mean a gradual winding down of the route in its entirety. The rule changes brought in this month have now also introduced a deadline for applications for further leave to remain under this route – all extension applications must now be made by 17 February 2026 and the deadline for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) applications under this route will be now be 17 February 2028. After these dates respectively, the route will be closed entirely.
The Home Office have announced that they will review other existing visa routes and are considering broadening the existing Innovator visa category to encourage UK investment as an alternative to the Investor visa. No changes are however expected to be announced until autumn 2022 at the earliest – leaving a period of time with no obvious alternative route for such applicants. The Home Office have indicated an intention that future settlement applications should be conditional upon applicants executing an investment strategy which can show genuine job creation and other tangible economic impacts and that holding UK investments will no longer be enough to obtain settlement alone.
These articles are from the February 2022 issue of Employment and Immigration Law Update, our monthly newsletter for HR professionals. To download the latest issue, please visit the newsletter section of our website. For further information please contact a member of Birketts’ Immigration Team.
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at February 2022.