U.K. suspends fast-track visa scheme for wealthy investors |
Anti-corruption campaigners have welcomed a decision by the British Home Office to temporarily suspend a fast-track visa scheme for wealthy investors — that has been used by many Indians — but have called for urgent action against those found to have invested suspicious wealth in the U.K. The British government will suspend the Tier-1 (Investor) visa, which enables its holders to gain a swift route to settlement in the U.K., until new safeguarding rules are brought in in 2019, British media reported. Eighty-two Indian nationals applied for an investor visa through this route between 2008 and March 2018, according to Transparency International. The scheme, which is open to those who invest at least £2 million in U.K. government, shares or businesses, offers a faster route to settlement in the country. Those who invest over £10 million can apply to settle after two years, while those who invest over £5 million can do so in three years.While the U.K. government had sought to position the visa scheme as part of its strategy to attract the “brightest and the best”, campaigners have long warned that it provided a means for the super wealthy internationally to launder money in the U.K.
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