A number of European countries offer residency schemes (so called "golden visas") on favourable terms to non-EU high net worth individuals to encourage investment in their country: effectively selling residency and citizenship to raise money for the government.
Does the UK offer a similar type of golden visa? Whilst the UK does offer a simplified visa application for members of certain Arab states and similar concessions for Chinese visitors have been announced, recent proposals, if pushed through, will generally make it more onerous for foreign high net worths to acquire a UK visa through the investment route, requiring them to make substantial payment towards UK public services. In this article first published in Spear's magazine on 25 February 2014, Henry Moss, a senior associate in the Private Client team at Wedlake Bell, discusses the proposals and why the UK is taking a different stance to its European counterparts.
"Hard-hit EU countries resort to selling passports to HNWs"
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
