Business & Finance

The Vintage Magazine is delighted to continue our relationship with DKLM, and to welcome their continued presence as ‘Business Members’ of The Vintage Magazine, because they are a diverse, friendly and commercial City Law firm with numerous specialities, and we hope that our readers will make use of their wide range of services, because they are an excellent firm with an impressive reputation.  Their latest newsletter addresses the issues of being a foreigh investor.

 

Updates on UK Tier 1 (Investor) Visa

 

The UK has always been an attractive place for foreign investment. In the last few years, the UK Government has introduced new immigration rules which effectively roll out the red carpet for foreign investors. These rules offer significant incentives for high net worth individuals looking to settle in the UK. The Tier 1 (Investor) category is for high net worth individuals making a substantial financial investment to the UK. The Home Office has made the following changes to the Tier 1 (Investor) that came into effect on 6 April 2015:-

 

 

 

Fei Yang

Senior Associate Solicitor (Head of Immigration & China Development)

 

  •  Prospective investors now are obliged to open a UK regulated investment account before making an initial application. Under previous immigration rules, overseas investors were only required to open an investment account in the UK after their Tier 1 (Investor) visas had been granted and they had entered the UK.
  • The minimum age of applicants is being increased from 16 to 18. This change reflects the Home Office’s concern over whether applicants under the age of 18 can be wholly in control of their own funds and investments.
  • Applicants will no longer need to invest additional capital if they sell part of their investments at a loss but will still be required to maintain all their capital within their investment portfolios. Buying and selling investments will continue to be permitted providing the investor does not withdraw any capital.
  • The restrictions on investments made in companies principally engaged in property investment, property development or property management remain unchanged.

 

By way of reminder, the followings changes were also implemented from 6 November 2014:-

 

  • The minimum investment threshold has been raised from £1 million to £2 million.
  • The entire investment amount of £2 million must be made by way of UK Government bonds, share capital or loan capital in active and trading UK registered companies. Under previous immigration rules, 25% of £1 million investments funds could be used to purchase properties in the UK.

 

We at DKLM would be delighted to assist you with your immigration enquiry. We have extensive experience in helping overseas investors plan their journey to the UK and to obtain UK residency and citizenship. Our experienced immigration team has an outstanding reputation for acting on behalf of individuals and businesses to achieve highly successful results.

Please feel free to contact Ms Fei Yang on +44(0)20 7549 7451 or at f.yang@dlkm.co.uk to discuss your immigration enquiry.

Contact Details

For further information, please contact:

DKLM Solicitors

City House, 3 Cranwood Street, London, EC1V 9PE

T +44 (0)20 7549 7888

F: +44 (0)20 7549 7889

E: info@dklm.co.uk

W: www.dklm.co.uk

Twitter @DKLMLLP

Friday, May 1st, 2015