Tier 1 Investors

This page caters for South Africans (hereafter referred to as “applicants”) that have access to a minimum of £2,000,000 (Two Million Pounds) cash savings in their personal capacity. More importantly, these funds need to be transferable to the UK. 

OPPORTUNITY TO GET A BRITISH PASSPORT 

The biggest value added offering this visa has is that applicants (and their immediate family dependents) can earn British nationality with this visa and they can get a British passport.

The expectations (for an applicant to qualify for a British passport) is quite clear. Applicants (and their immediate family dependents) have to live continuously in the UK for 6 years.

Often in these cases, applicants merely wish to purchase the British passport (as opposed to needing to commit to living in one country). Unfortunately no country can afford to give its nationality purely based on one transaction. The theory is that a country can benefit more if the applicant resides in their country.

TRAVEL ALLOWANCE

The definition of “continued UK residence” is defined as 185 days per annum (or more).

Therefore applicants are afforded 180 days travel allowance per year. This caters for applicants that are looking to adopt a sparrow lifestyle (and chase summer in each hemisphere year round).

The theory is based on tax compliance. If an applicant spends the majority of a year in one country, they are liable to pay tax to that countries government. The majority of a year is seen as 185 days.

INVESTMENT EXPECTATION

Naturally Investors want to know more about the expected commitment that the British government has, to make this opportunity available.

In order to explain this process, it is best to first take the whole immigration process into consideration. It is important to note that the end goal is getting a British passport.

The British government tries to distract Investors with the potential to invest more and earn “permanent resident status quicker”. Being a UK permanent resident does not help the Investor with crossing borders to other countries (and it is very restrictive). A British passport however makes international travel a breeze. Hence, we personally view the “quicker permanent residence” incentive offering as a distraction as opposed to a benefit.

For an Investor to best capitalize on this opportunity, the end goal should be getting a British passport (and finding out how to do it efficiently). This approach theoretically has the least amount of administration (and cost) and it takes the exact same time to qualify for British nationality.

We acknowledge that cost is not a factor in these cases however limiting the administration and presenting the lowest amount of commitment should hopefully be appreciated.

The whole visa process consists of 4 stages.

• • Stage 1: Entry Clearance
  • Stage 2: Extension
  • Stage 3: Permanent Residence
  • Stage 4: British nationalization

Regardless of the Investors access to investment funds, the expectations of the Investor visa are as followed:

In Stage 1, applicants merely have to evidence that they have access to the required cash savings. With that, applicants (and their dependents) will qualify.

In Stage 2, to qualify for the extension of the applicants visa, they have to evidence that their investment funds were transferred to a UK bank account. From there, applicants then have to evidence that they have invested into UK businesses (and that they have share capital in UK registered businesses). What is important to note is that applicants have to demonstrate that the full investment fund has been invested in UK firms.

Stage 3, to qualify for permanent residence, emphasis is placed on time spent in the UK (continued UK residence) for 5 years.

Stage 4, to qualify for British nationalization, applicants have to spend one more year in the UK (6 continuous years). At this stage, applicants are awarded a Certificate of British nationalization.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you are sitting down and reading this and saying to yourself: “I am South African, I have access to the required investment funds, I am considering giving the UK a chance and I like what I am reading“. Then we would like to put up our hand and say “We would like to help you“.

The above serves to create awareness of the opportunity and that Move Up is best able to help for those looking to prioritize getting a “backup” plan.