Home Office ministers sent shock waves through the private wealth legal community last week with the sudden decision to suspend the Tier 1 investor visa route. The rationale involved growing concerns over money laundering and financial crime. Officials were going to try to improve the scheme, which allows foreign citizens to receive British residency and a route to citizenship in exchange for investing at least £2 million here. The immigration minister went as far as to say: “These new measures will make sure that only genuine investors, who intend to support UK businesses can benefit from our immigration system.”Suspending such a long-standing visa category without any prior notice was surprising, especially given the political and economic uncertainty in the UK and the debacle involving…

Source: The Times December 16, 2018 21:33 UTC