The mandatory requirements to be met when submitting a UK Tier 1 Investor visa are: a) the applicant has £2m cash funds under his/her control held in a regulated financial institution and disposable in the UK; b) he/she has opened an account with a UK regulated bank for the purpose of investing not less than £2m in the UK; c) provide a “clean” criminal record certificate from any country where the prospective migrant has lived for more than 12 months in the past 10 years.
The Tier 1 Investor visa is one of the most straightforward schemes in the UK Immigration Rules. We currently have no refusals in our practice. However, in light of the above and our experiences, we have seen applicants being refused on the following reasons:
a) not sufficient/adequate evidence to show ownership of funds: the UKVI requires a bank letter for funds held overseas and specific information need to be provided.
b) if an applicant wishes to rely on £2m funds held under his/her name for 90 days (in order not to provide evidence pertaining to the source of funds), he/she needs to make sure that the 90 days are continuous without any gap and that the balance has not dropped. Also, the end of 90-day period must be within 31 days prior to the date of online application.
c) the UK bank account must support investment rather than simply accept a deposit. If the bank account is for deposit purpose only, then it might not meet the requirement. The UK financial institution must be registered with FCA and it is important to note that not all financial institutions are accepted by the UKVI.
You might feel more secure when seeking expert legal assistance to prepare/present your application due to the large amount of funds involved. Also, if you are not located in the UK, it might be difficult to find a regulated financial institution which understands the requirements of Tier 1 Investor visa and is familiar with the process. Please feel free to contact me if you need assistance on this matter.
