UK residence by investment: the Tier 1 Investor visa is gone

Status in September 2026: the Tier 1 Investor visa no longer exists

The UK investor visa, Tier 1 (Investor), closed to new applicants on 17 February 2022. The rule change took effect on the day it was published, skipping the usual 21 days between laying changes before Parliament and their commencement: the government did not want a last-minute rush of applications. The official rationale was national security and illicit finance, and the decision came as the crisis around Ukraine escalated.

In January 2023 the Home Office reported to Parliament on its review of the route. It examined 6,312 investors and adult dependants who obtained status between 30 June 2008 and 6 April 2015, when a regulated UK bank account became mandatory. The government accepted that a small minority fell into a high-risk group and drew a general conclusion: immigration based on passive wealth has inherent problems in both security and economic value. Nobody plans to bring the visa back.

The key point for September 2026: the UK has no route that grants residence simply for putting money in. Not for property, not for bonds, not for a deposit. The Innovator Founder business visa, often marketed as the replacement, works differently: the Home Office caseworker guidance explicitly requires refusal where an applicant is only investing in a company and not running it. If someone offers you a UK investor visa today, ask which route they mean. It is almost certainly Innovator Founder under another name.

A full overview of UK programmes is on our United Kingdom: citizenship, residence, taxes and visas page. In 2026 residence for passive capital in Europe is offered by Greece and Hungary, among others; the full list is in our residence by investment overview.

Dollar amounts use market rates, rounded up: 1.333 dollars per pound on 17 October 2026 and 1.1229 dollars per euro on 20 October 2026.

What happens to existing Tier 1 Investor holders

The closure did not cancel existing status, but it set hard dates. They sit in Part 6A of the Immigration Rules: an extension under paragraph 245ED had to be made before 17 February 2026, and an ILR application under paragraph 245EF must be made before 17 February 2028. ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) is permanent residence in the UK.

For ILR the investment must be maintained in qualifying assets in an account managed by an FCA-regulated firm. Absences must not exceed 180 days in any rolling 12-month period, and you need the Life in the UK test and English at B1 or above (B2 for applications made on or after 26 March 2027) unless exempt. Family members must meet their own requirements and do not get ILR automatically with the investor. The ILR fee has been about $4,300 per person since 8 April 2026.

The practical advice is simple: apply for ILR as soon as you qualify and do not wait for 2028. There is no fallback extension any more, and the settlement reform has not been adopted, so it is not yet clear how it will treat closed routes. Our analysis of the reform is in UK ILR after 10 years.

Innovator Founder: a business visa instead of an investor visa

Innovator Founder has operated since 13 April 2023 and replaced two visas at once, Start-up and Innovator. The old $67,000 (50,000 pounds) minimum is gone: there is no fixed threshold, and whether you have enough money is judged against your business plan. But this is a founder visa, not an investor visa. The business must be new, innovative, viable and scalable, and the applicant must be the sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team with a day-to-day management role. You cannot join a business that is already running: under Home Office guidance you can join a company registered at Companies House only if it has not started trading.

The decisive stage is endorsement, meaning approval of the business idea by an organisation authorised by the Home Office. On the list dated 7 August 2026, three private bodies accept new applications: UK Endorsing Services, Innovator International and Envestors Limited. The fourth is the government-run Global Entrepreneurs Programme of the Department for Business and Trade, which works only with founders it has invited. Dozens of legacy endorsing bodies from the Start-up and Innovator era, including universities and accelerators, no longer take new applicants and only support their existing clients. For the start-up visa that existed until 2023, see our UK start-up visa page.

What has changed since launch. From 25 November 2025 (Statement of Changes HC 1333), students who have completed their course can switch to Innovator Founder without leaving the UK; before that, in-country switching was mostly limited to PhD students. Visa fees rose on 8 April 2026. The Home Office revises the endorsing body list regularly, so check it again before you apply. You still cannot switch in-country from a visitor visa, a short-term student visa or several other temporary categories.

Requirements and endorsement

A separate filter is the fit and proper person test. The Home Office may refuse if you are the subject of serious civil or criminal investigations or proceedings for corruption, money laundering, fraud or tax evasion, or if you have ever been disqualified from acting as a director or carrying out regulated financial activities in any country. The endorsing body also confirms in its letter that it sees no sign of illicit or unexplained wealth. For people with an opaque history of capital, this is the most common real barrier.

Each member of a founding team needs their own endorsement and must meet every requirement in their own right. The business plan must be yours: caseworkers check whether a person has been added to someone else's project to obtain a visa. Once granted, you can work not only in your own company but also in employment at RQF level 3 or above, except as a professional sportsperson.

What it costs: fees and mandatory payments

Figures are from the Home Office fee table in force from 8 April 2026. For one adult applying from abroad for 3 years, the mandatory minimum works out as about $1,800 visa fee, $4,200 health surcharge for three years, $1,400 for endorsement and at least $1,340 for two contact point meetings, roughly $8,740 (endorsing body fees are quoted excluding VAT). The visa fee and surcharge are paid separately for a partner and each child.

The largest cost is the business itself: product, team, office, marketing and living in one of the most expensive regions in Europe. How much money is enough is decided by the endorsing body against your plan, and a thinly funded plan will simply be rejected. On top come business plan preparation, legal and accounting support, and document translations. A Murblz specialist gives a budget for your specific project in a free consultation; we do not quote market averages.

The process and timelines step by step

Home Office timings are standard targets, not guarantees. The visa is granted for 3 years. If the endorsing body withdraws its support, the Home Office will normally cut your leave to 60 days. If the endorsing body is removed from the list or gives up its status and you were not involved in any wrongdoing, leave is cut to 90 days so that you can find a new endorsing body or switch to another route.

Documents and family

For the endorsing body: the business plan, financial model, CV and evidence of experience, and evidence of the origin of the money that will go into the business.

For the visa: a valid passport, the endorsement letter, proof of B2 English (a test with a Home Office approved provider, a degree taught in English, or nationality of a listed majority English-speaking country), bank statements covering 28 days, a tuberculosis test certificate if you live in a country on the Home Office list, and marriage and birth certificates for family members. Foreign documents must come with English translations.

Family. A partner is a spouse, civil partner, or someone you have lived with for at least 2 years. Children must be under 18 and unmarried; over 18 only if they already hold dependant status. The family can apply with you or later. Family members may study and work, except as a professional sportsperson or coach, but cannot access most public funds.

A detail people often miss: the founder can get ILR after 3 years, but the partner only after 5 years. Children usually settle once both parents hold ILR, so in practice also after 5 years. For ILR a partner needs B1 English in speaking and listening until 26 March 2027, and B2 after that date.

ILR after 3 years: the seven endorsement criteria

The founder can apply for ILR after 3 years of continuous residence on the Innovator Founder visa. Absences must not exceed 180 days in any 12 months, and the Life in the UK test is mandatory unless you are 65 or over. You need a new endorsement letter confirming significant achievements against the plan, that the company is registered at Companies House with you as a director, that the business is active, trading and sustainable for at least the next 12 months, and that you play a key management role. Above all, at least two of seven criteria must be met.

A criterion cannot be counted twice: $140,000 (100,000 pounds) of investment is one criterion, not two. Each job must have existed for at least 12 months with at least 30 hours a week. If several founders of the same company apply for ILR, the results are shared: two founders relying on the 10-jobs criterion need 20 jobs. If the numbers are not there after three years, you can extend for another 3 years with a fresh endorsement, but the business must be trading and show significant progress.

Settlement reform and the path to citizenship

On 20 November 2025 the government published the consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement. It proposes raising the baseline qualifying period for ILR from 5 to 10 years, with reductions and additions. For Innovator Founder and Global Talent, 3 years of residence would earn a 7-year reduction, so the 3-year timeline should survive. But mandatory conditions would apply to everyone: B2 English, the Life in the UK test, taxable income above $17,000 (12,570 pounds) a year for 3-5 years, and no debts to the state, the NHS or from litigation.

Status on 24 September 2026: the consultation closed on 12 February and no new rules have been laid. Statement of Changes HC 584 of 3 September 2026 comes into force in stages from 8 October and does not change ILR timelines on the main routes. On 15 September the Home Secretary told a parliamentary committee that the policy would be published later this year. Transitional arrangements for people already on the path to ILR have not been announced. One thing is settled: B2 English for ILR on most routes applies from 26 March 2027.

Citizenship. After ILR you generally need to hold that status for 12 months (spouses of British citizens do not have to wait). You need at least 5 years of residence in total, absences of no more than 450 days over 5 years and no more than 90 days in the last year, plus B1 English and the Life in the UK test. For a founder who gets ILR after 3 years, the realistic minimum to a passport is about 5 years from arrival if the absence limits are respected. Citizenship reform has been promised through separate legislation and has not happened yet.

The UK allows dual citizenship, but check your own country's rules: Russian citizens, for example, must notify the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs of a second citizenship or residence permit within 60 days. More on our page about UK citizenship by naturalisation.

Company and bank account in the UK

• Company registration - online with Companies House, a fee of about $140 since May 2024, usually in 1-2 working days. A UK address and details of persons with significant control are required.
• Bank account - UK banks open a business account faster once the director is in the country with a visa and address; electronic money institutions help before the move.
• Tax registration - the company registers for corporation tax, and above the threshold for VAT.
• First hires - jobs for settled workers count towards settlement, so the hiring plan is built in from the start.

Taxes for a UK resident

A residence permit does not create taxes by itself, tax residence does, and moving on an Innovator Founder visa almost always makes you tax resident. The key change of recent years is the abolition of the non-dom regime from 6 April 2025.

The four FIG years end at roughly the same time a founder reaches ILR, and from then on worldwide income is taxed at ordinary rates. Company ownership, trusts and foreign assets are worth reviewing with Murblz specialists before the move, not after. Scotland sets its own income tax rates. A comparison of regimes is in our taxes by country section.

Alternatives in the UK and nearby

If the goal is specifically the UK, a wealthy person without a UK employer has few options. If the British environment, the English language or residence through capital in Europe matters more, the choice is wider.

A word on Ireland. It shares the Common Travel Area with the UK, and Irish citizens live and work in the UK without visas or permission. That makes an Irish passport through naturalisation a lawful, if slow, way to gain the right to live in both the UK and the European Union. All investment programmes are collected in our residence by investment section, and visas for professionals and founders in talent and start-up visas.

Which option fits whom

• You have capital but do not want to run a business. There is no UK visa for you. Look at Jersey if you want a British environment and accept a minimum tax, or at European Union golden visas.
• You have a new idea, sector experience and B2 English. Innovator Founder. Budget for launching the business, not just for the fees.
• You are recognised in your field: publications, awards, notable products. Global Talent is often simpler and cheaper, with no endorsing body overseeing a business.
• You already hold Tier 1 Investor. Apply for ILR as soon as you qualify; the final date is 17 February 2028.
• You run an established company abroad. UK Expansion Worker to launch a UK branch, then a switch to another route.
• The main goal is a passport with the right to live in Europe. European Union investment programmes or the path to Irish citizenship.

Uncomfortable truths and risks

• Endorsement is the main filter. Refusals at this stage are common, and every attempt costs about $1,400. An endorsement letter does not guarantee a visa: the Home Office can refuse on suitability grounds or if it doubts that the business plan is yours.
• Your status depends on the endorsing body. Withdrawal of support or the loss of the body's licence cuts your leave to 60 or 90 days.
• ILR is earned through results, not time. $1.4 million (1 million pounds) in revenue or 10 jobs within three years is a high bar for a start-up. An extension is possible but also requires progress.
• The rules keep moving. The settlement reform has not been adopted, transitional measures have not been announced, and the English requirement for ILR rises from March 2027.
• Property does not give status. Buying a house in London opens no visa.
• Ready-made business plans and guaranteed endorsement are a red flag. The plan must be original and yours; templates are filtered out by endorsing bodies and the Home Office alike.

Every way to get residency in the UK

This is one route. All the other grounds for residency in the UK, with conditions, amounts in dollars and timelines, are compared on How to get residency in the UK in 2026: every route.

What actually works instead of the investor visa

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