Back in March this year, the UK Government made a number of changes to the Immigration Rules. In particular, the Rules were amended to prohibit investment into UK Government bonds by Tier 1 (Investor) migrants who applied for their visa on or after 29 March 2019. As a result, qualifying investments were - and continue to be - restricted to investments made by way of share capital or loan capital in active and trading UK registered companies.
As of 31 October 2019, further provisions will be inserted into the Rules which relate to those who obtained Tier 1 (Investor) status on or after 6 November 2014 but prior to 29 March 2019 and who wish to extend their stay or settle in the UK as follows:
- applicants must move any qualifying investments in UK Government bonds before the date of their application and:
- before 6 April 2023 – for those who wish to extend their stay as a Tier 1 (Investor); or
- before 6 April 2025 – for those who wish to apply for settlement (also known as indefinite leave to remain (“ILR”)).
However, for those who were granted Tier 1 (Investor) status under the rules in place before 6 November 2014 (i.e. by way of investing a minimum of £1 million), applicants may still:
- apply to extend their stay under the same category up to and including 5 April 2020;
- apply to settle in the UK up to and including 5 April 2022.
In the event that an applicant does not meet the requirements to make an application in the same category before the relevant date (as above), they will need to consider switching into a different visa category or making an Investor extension or ILR application which meets all the revised requirements of the Rules at the date of application.
If you are a Tier 1 (Investor) Migrant who applied before 29 March 2019 and wish to consider your options, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team.
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
©Gherson 2019
Solicitor in our corporate and complex case teams
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