Few political questions excite the British public more at present then those around immigration. Much of the support for the UK Independence Party, which won its first seat in Parliament recently, is because of its uncompromising stance on immigration.
Much of the debate, of course, concerns unskilled workers who are perceived as either taking jobs from local people, or of claiming state benefits without paying into the system via taxation. But at the top of the scale, too, there are worries that some of those coming into Britain on Investor Visas, may not have the financial backing which they claim to have.
The British Government has now announced measures aimed at tightening up the visa system. For those looking for an Investor Visa there is a very simple, but highly significant change: the minimum investment threshold is being doubled from £1m to £2m.
But the changes do not stop there. Previously, only 75% of the investment sum had to be invested in specific forms, such as share or loan capital in active and trading UK companies, or in UK Government bonds. Now, the full amount must be invested in this way. Furthermore, the required investment sum can no longer be invested in property or sourced as a loan, which has been the case up until now.
There is some relief, though, for those who are prepared to put up the £2m investment. If the market value of the migrant’s investment falls below the £2m mark, the investor will have to purchase new qualifying investments only if they sell part of their portfolios and the value falls below the investment threshold. Previously, they would have had to top them up as soon as the value fell below the required level.
And there is welcome news for those who have already started the process of obtaining an Investor Visa: not only are the changes not backdated, but also they will not apply if and when these investors apply for extensions or for indefinite leave to remain.
Among other changes announced by The Minister of State for Immigration and Security, James Brokenshire, in Parliament on 16 October, is a speeding-up of the appeals process for those studying in Britain on student visas. From now on, appeals will be dealt with within 28 days rather than 12 weeks, making for a swifter and less expensive procedure for those with justifiable appeals.
An important lesson of the new changes is that those considering applying for Tier 1 Visas, or student visas for their children, should seek sound and reliable legal advice, of the kind which Oracle Capital Group is well placed to provide. It has long been a maxim of English law that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. Clients of Oracle Capital Group can rest easily on this score.
Expert comments:
Yuliya Andresyuk, Head of Legal Services at Oracle Capital Group:
“The announced changes to come into effect as of November 6, 2014 are not entirely unexpected and are quite clearly politically motivated. The government is trying to cleverly balance the expectation of average public by curtailing immigration into the UK (and therefore, access to various social services by the immigrants) and the need for the country to have access to fresh capital.
I do not think though that those changes would have any significant or noticeable impact on the level of immigration, since presumably those applicants who had easy access to a million pounds sterling, would probably be able to come up with an additional million for investment. Alternatively, the distribution of applications would shift with more applications being submitted under Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route.
I do not believe that we have seen the end of tightening immigration rules. I think that we may expect the UK Border Agency to be much more intrusive and discerning with the applications.”
Alexander Lapidus, Legal Manager to Oracle Capital Group, on Tier 1 Investor visa changes:
“Following published on 28 February 2014 official report of the Migration Advisory Committee (“MAC”), who had been asked to consider whether ‘the investment thresholds were appropriate to deliver significant economic benefits for the UK’, we all expected that the minimum financial threshold for Tier 1 Investor visa will be increased to £2 million anytime this year.
An investor route to enter UK has been around for decades and suggested changes aim to improve clarity, consistency with other Immigration Rules and customer service as well as to reflect current situation with immigration practice and adapt it, for example, with the property market prices (you can’t anymore buy a reasonable property in Central London for £250,000 and as such there is no need to split your investment 75/25).
We welcome several changes aimed to easy process of reviewing and resolving case-working errors by replacing long appeal process by more straight forward and quicker administrative review. Administrative review will also be available for persons refused leave to remain where they do not have a right of appeal”.
Sergey Bulatov, Global Head of HR at Oracle Capital Group, on Tier 2 visa changes:
Additionally, there are a few changes concerning Tier2 visas, most importantly in Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) and General Categories. Although insignificant, they manifest a step forward to further tightening immigration control and prevention of visa abuse.
From now on, an assessment of whether a genuine vacancy exists is being added to Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) and Tier 2 (General). This change empowers Entry Clearance Officers and caseworkers to refuse applications where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the job described by the sponsor does not genuinely exist, has been exaggerated to meet the Tier 2 skills threshold, or (in respect of Tier 2 (General)) has been tailored to exclude resident workers from being recruited, or where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not qualified to do the job.
Although this looks more like a declaration, it is clear that the authorities are well aware of the gaps in the system and are ready to take decisive steps to remedy that.
There is, however, some good news for those extending their stay under the Tier 2 (General) category where the applicant is continuing to work in the same occupation for the same sponsor. Such applicants are exempt from the Resident Labour Market Test. Currently the exemption only applies if the applicant still has current leave as a Tier 2 (General) Migrant when they make their extension application. The change will enable them to benefit from the extension if their previous leave as a Tier 2 (General) Migrant expired no more than 28 days before they make their extension application”.
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