UK Tier 1 Investor Visa

The UK Tier 1 (Investor) visa was a legacy route for high-net-worth people who wanted to live in the UK after making a substantial qualifying investment. It wasn't a tourist option and it wasn't a casual move for remote workers. The Home Office closed it to new applicants on 17 Feb. 2022 and only limited legacy applications for existing holders are still possible under later deadlines.

Back when it was open, the route was built for adult investors with serious capital. Applicants needed at least £2 million in personal funds under their control and the money had to sit in a UK-regulated bank account for investment. The Home Office also said applicants didn't need to prove English language ability or maintenance funds, because the route assumed they'd be supporting themselves through their investments.

The big attraction was settlement. Unlike a visitor route, Tier 1 (Investor) could lead to longer stay and, eventually, settlement if the investment and residence rules were met. Dependants could also apply to join the main applicant. That said, it was never a simple passive-money shortcut and the government tightened the category over time before shutting it to new entrants.

By contrast, the Standard Visitor route is for short stays only, usually up to 6 months and it covers tourism, family visits, certain business activities and study up to 6 months. It doesn't allow living in the UK long term, working for a UK company or self-employment in the UK market and it doesn't give a path to settlement.

For existing Tier 1 (Investor) holders, the deadlines matter. Extension applications had to be made before 17 Feb. 2026, while settlement applications can still be made before 17 Feb. 2028 if the person meets the legacy rules. There’s no confirmed official investor visa replacement in the current government guidance, despite occasional chatter about a new route.

• Original purpose: Residence in the UK through qualifying investment.
• Minimum investment: £2 million.
• Who it fit: Wealthy investors who could satisfy due-diligence and source-of-funds checks.
• Current status: Closed to new applications, with only limited legacy cases still running.

The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is closed to new applicants. The Home Office shut the route on Feb. 17, 2022, so there’s no current way to newly qualify for it, no matter how much money you’re prepared to invest. There isn’t a replacement “pure investor” route that works the same way.

That means this section is really only for people who already held Tier 1 (Investor) leave before the closure. If you’re one of them, the route still exists in a limited form for extensions and settlement under transitional rules. If you’re applying fresh, this category isn’t open to you.

For existing holders, the usual investor profile was an overseas national with enough money under their control to make a qualifying investment in the UK. Family members, including a spouse or partner and children under 18, could hold dependant leave and continue with the main applicant where that status already exists. The rules did not set a blanket nationality ban, but the Home Office could refuse cases on security or character grounds.

The financial side only matters for people already inside the route. The core requirement has been to hold at least £2 million in qualifying investments, with higher investment levels historically linked to faster settlement. Funds had to be disposable in the UK, held with a UK-regulated financial institution and invested in qualifying share or loan capital in active UK trading companies within 3 months of entry or visa grant.

Existing holders also need to be able to show the paperwork behind the money. That usually means evidence like portfolio reports, bank statements, a bank letter for the UK account used to make the investment and, where relevant, proof of the source of funds if they weren’t held for 90 consecutive days.

• Identity documents: Passport and current biometric residence permit.
• Investment evidence: Portfolio report, bank statements, bank letter or accountant evidence.
• Source of funds: Records showing the money was held for 90 days or documents showing where it came from.
• Partner funds: Marriage or civil partnership evidence, a control declaration and a legal adviser’s letter.
• Settlement extras: Absence records, English language proof and a Life in the UK test pass.

The deadlines are the awkward part. Guidance used by practitioners says existing Tier 1 (Investor) holders can generally apply to extend until Feb. 17, 2026 and apply for settlement until Feb. 17, 2028. The official route is now closed, so if you’re outside those transitional windows, this category is off the table.

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The Tier 1 (Investor) visa route is closed to new applicants. The Home Office shut it to fresh initial applications at 4 p.m. GMT on Feb. 17, 2022 and any new application made after that point is void. What’s left is a winding-down route for people who already held or very recently held, Tier 1 (Investor) leave.

That means the paperwork rules still matter, but only for a narrow group. Existing holders can still apply for extension until Feb. 17, 2026 and for settlement until Feb. 17, 2028. The Home Office says only specified documents will be accepted, so sloppy evidence gets rejected fast.

What you’ll usually need

• Application form: The online Tier 1 (Investor) form for either entry clearance or further leave to remain.
• Passport or travel document: Your current valid passport or other accepted travel document, to prove identity and nationality.
• Biometrics: Fingerprints and a photo, submitted after you get the Home Office biometrics letter.
• Investment evidence: Portfolio reports, bank statements or a bank letter showing at least £2 million in qualifying funds and, where relevant, proof of the UK investments already made.
• UK bank account letter: Confirmation from a UK-regulated bank or certain FCA-regulated firms, that you’ve opened an account for investing and passed due diligence checks.
• Source-of-funds documents: Only needed if you haven’t held the money for at least 2 consecutive years.
• Criminal record certificate: Required for the main applicant and adult dependants applying for entry clearance, for each relevant country where you’ve lived for 12 months or more since age 18 in the last 10 years.

The money side is strict. Depending on when your original leave was granted, the qualifying investment threshold is either £1 million under the older rules or £2 million under the later ones, but current extension and settlement cases are judged under the legacy guidance. Funds must be your own, under your control, freely transferable to the UK and in a regulated financial institution.

If the cash hasn’t been held for 2 years, you’ll also need proof of where it came from. The Home Office accepts documents tied to gifts, sales, business activity, inheritance, divorce settlements, awards or winnings, but the exact supporting paperwork has to match the source. It’s a fussy system and there’s no shortcut around it.

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The Tier 1 Investor route is closed to new applicants. That means there’s no fresh application fee, no new investment threshold and no way to start a brand-new investor case through this route now. The only people who still deal with Tier 1 Investor costs are existing holders, plus their dependants, when they apply for extensions or settlement before the Home Office deadlines.

For legacy applicants, the old investment rules still matter. The historic minimum was £2 million in qualifying UK investments, with accelerated settlement previously available at £5 million and £10 million. Those are capital thresholds, not income tests, so there’s no monthly earnings figure to meet.

What you may still have to pay

• Home Office visa fee: The official fee calculator still shows a Tier 1 Investor fee of $2,799 per person for some overseas locations. The public guidance doesn’t give a clean, fixed GBP figure for closed-route extensions or ILR, so the exact amount needs to be checked in the online application journey.
• Immigration Health Surcharge: Each applicant pays the standard IHS for their visa length. The Investor pages don’t publish a route-specific rate and the amount is worked out automatically during the application.
• Super priority service: An extra £1,000 per applicant if you want a faster decision, usually next working day or within two working days after biometrics.
• Legal and advisory fees: These aren’t set by the government. Specialist immigration help, investment advice, translations, notarisation and document scanning can add a lot and the bill depends on the firm and how complex your portfolio is.

The annoying part is that the public fee guidance for this closed route isn’t neatly maintained. So if you’re an existing Tier 1 Investor holder, the safest move is to run your application through GOV.UK or the official fee calculator and check the price before you pay.

One more thing, these costs apply per person. If you’re including dependants, the visa fee, health surcharge and any priority service charges usually stack up fast.

The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is closed to new applicants. You can’t start a fresh application for this route and the Home Office shut it to new entrants on 17 Feb. 2022. What’s left is for existing Tier 1 investors only, either an extension or settlement and even that route is winding down.

If you already hold or recently held, Tier 1 (Investor) leave, the deadlines are tight. Extension applications are only accepted up to 17 Feb. 2026 and settlement applications only up to 17 Feb. 2028. After that, the route closes completely.

Who can still apply

To extend, you generally need to be a current Tier 1 (Investor) migrant or have had your last grant of leave in that category within the Home Office’s allowed window. You also need to show that you’ve kept the qualifying investment in place for the full period of leave.

The core investment rules depend on when you first applied, but the standard threshold for this route is **£2 million** in qualifying UK investments. For some earlier applicants, government bonds and older rules can still matter, so the exact test depends on your original grant of leave.

Fees and timing

• Extension fee: £2,000 for the main applicant
• Dependants: £2,000 each for a partner or child
• Priority service: £500 extra for a decision within 5 working days of your UKVCAS biometric appointment
• Standard processing: usually within 8 weeks for in-country applications

You’ll also need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for each year of leave granted. The surcharge rate changes and the official Tier 1 (Investor) guidance doesn’t lock in one figure, so check the current amount before you submit anything.

How the application works

• 1. Complete the online application for extension or settlement
• 2. Pay the fee and the health surcharge
• 3. Book and attend a UKVCAS biometric appointment if you’re applying in the UK
• 4. Submit evidence that your qualifying investment has been maintained

The paperwork is less about personal finances and more about proving your money stayed in the right place. If your portfolio trail isn’t clean, this route gets messy fast. That’s the trade-off with a closed investor category, the rules are still there, but they’re getting stricter and more time-limited by the year.

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The Tier 1 (Investor) route is closed to new applicants. Only people who already hold this visa and their dependants, can still use it for extensions or settlement. The clock is now doing most of the work, because there are hard deadlines coming up.

Extension deadline: 17 Feb. 2026. After that, the Home Office won’t accept any more renewal applications for this route.

If you already have Tier 1 (Investor) leave, a successful extension gives you 2 more years. The official fee is £2,000 per person, plus the immigration health surcharge. There’s also a priority option for an extra £500, which the Home Office says should get you a decision within 5 working days of your UKVCAS appointment.

• Standard processing: usually within 8 weeks of the application date, once biometrics are done.
• Priority processing: usually within 5 working days of your UKVCAS appointment.
• Main fee: £2,000 per applicant.
• Priority service: £500 extra.

The paperwork isn’t light. You’ll need a valid passport or travel ID, TB test results if your country requires them, a criminal record certificate from any country where you’ve spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years and investment portfolio reports from a UK-regulated financial institution. Any document not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation.

The investment test depends on when your visa was first granted. The rules are different for people who got their initial visa before 6 Nov. 2014 and those who got it later and the old government bond rules have their own dated cutoffs. This is one of those cases where the fine print matters, because getting the wrong cohort rules can sink an application.

Settlement is still possible for existing holders, but that window closes too. The route is set to stop accepting settlement applications on 17 Feb. 2028. So if you’re still on this visa, the real question isn’t whether you can stay forever, it’s how much time you’ve got left before the route shuts down completely.

The Tier 1 Investor visa doesn’t get you a tax break. Holders are taxed under the same UK residence, foreign-income and reporting rules as everyone else, with no special income-tax exemption just because they hold this route.

What decides your UK tax bill

UK tax residence is usually decided under the Statutory Residence Test, not by your visa stamp. Spend 183 days or more in the UK in a tax year and you’ll normally be UK tax resident. You can also become resident through other tests, such as having a UK home for more than 90 days and using it for at least 30 days or working full-time in the UK for 365 days, subject to the detailed rules.

If you don't meet an automatic residence test, HMRC looks at your ties to the UK, including family, accommodation, work and how many days you’ve already spent here. The more ties you have, the fewer days you can spend before you become resident. That part can get messy fast, so don’t guess.

Foreign income and the old remittance basis

For UK tax residents, the general rule is that worldwide income and gains are taxable. Up to tax year 2024/25, some people who were UK resident but non-UK domiciled could use the remittance basis, which meant foreign income and gains were taxed only when brought into the UK. HMRC also had a remittance-basis charge for some long-term residents.

From tax year 2025/26, domicile is being ignored for income-tax and capital-gains purposes and the remittance basis is being abolished. A new residence-based relief regime is replacing it, but the final shape still depends on the legislation and HMRC guidance that follow. The practical point is simple, your visa doesn’t change the tax rule, your residence status does.

Reporting and treaty relief

If you’re UK resident and have foreign income or gains, you may need Self Assessment, including foreign income pages, even if foreign tax has already been paid. Double-taxation treaties can reduce or reallocate tax, but they work off residence and source of income, not visa type.

• UK resident: usually taxed on worldwide income and gains, subject to any valid relief.
• Non-resident: foreign income and gains are generally outside UK tax, though UK-source income can still be taxed.
• Cross-border income: treaty relief and foreign tax credit rules may apply, but they need checking case by case.

For most Investor visa holders, the real issue isn’t immigration. It’s how long you stay in the UK and where your income comes from.