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New Immigration Investor Routes to the UK for High Net Worth Applicants

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Release Date:
16 March 2011

IMPORTANT: This briefing note is only intended as a general statement of the law and no action should be taken in reliance on it without specific legal advice. Release Date: 16 March 2011

Damian Green MP, the Immigration Minister, has announced today that from 6 April 2011, two new routes will be available to High Net Worth (“HNW”) applicants wishing to reside in the UK.

The changes will allow a faster route to Indefinite Leave to Remain (“ILR”) for those able to invest greater sums in the UK. These changes came after extensive lobbying from this firm with the assistance of the wealth management community to find solutions to the “cash-rich, time - poor” clients we serve.

New Investor Routes

  1. Those who are able to invest at least £5 million in the UK will qualify for ILR after 3 years, with a reduced period of residency of 6 months in each year.
  2. Those who are able to invest at least £10 million in the UK will qualify for ILR after 2 years, again with an annual 6 months residence requirement.

A reduced period of 5 years to citizenship (from the current 6 years) will be available for applicants under either of the above.

Current Investors

Investors who applied for entry to the UK under the £1 million route within the last 2 years may wish to switch into the above new categories in order to benefit from the expedited time frames to ILR and citizenship. You may wish to alert any of your clients who have applied under the £1 million Investor category within the last 2 years in case they wish to benefit from the enhanced provisions.

Investors already residing in the UK

As with the £1 million route, the investments must be custodised in the UK. However, we are currently in discussions with the UK Border Agency to negotiate for custody to remain overseas where required by a client or their financial advisors.

The Immigration Group is more than happy to speak with you about these new provisions which may be of interest to your current and future clients. If you would like to discuss this further please contact Kamal Rahman at kamal.rahman@mishcon.com. Or alternatively please feel free to contact our Immigration Group on +44 20 7440 7139.