An IMGlobalWealth.news Report
Britain is considering a new investor visa aimed at attracting wealthy foreign nationals and directing their capital into high-growth sectors, as the government seeks to strengthen investment and economic growth ahead of the October Budget.
Chancellor John Healey is considering several possible models, Bloomberg reported on Friday, 16 October 2026, citing people familiar with the discussions. The government has not formally confirmed the deliberations, and no new investor route has been announced or incorporated into the UK Immigration Rules.
One option was developed by the Institute for Public Policy Research. It would require applicants to invest £5 million over five years through a vehicle overseen by the state-owned British Business Bank. The capital would be channelled into innovative and expanding companies.
The proposed £5 million would comprise £3 million paid initially, followed by £1 million after two-and-a-half years and another £1 million after five years. The IPPR estimates that a programme accepting about 100 applicants annually could eventually generate approximately £425 million in investment each year and add as much as £900 million to the economy.
“The decisive questions, including eligibility, residence rights, tax treatment, investment safeguards and any route to permanent settlement, have not been formally determined”
The IPPR model would not provide accelerated access to permanent settlement or citizenship. Applicants would be required to satisfy the same residence requirements as other migrants.
A separate proposal from Foreign Investors for Britain would combine a minimum £2.5 million investment in qualifying British assets with an annual £200,000 contribution to the Treasury. Participants would receive greater certainty over the taxation of overseas income, gains and non-UK assets for up to 15 years.
From Passive Capital to Targeted Investment
The discussions represent a possible reconsideration of British policy, although any new programme would differ significantly from the former Tier 1 Investor route.
Introduced under the points-based immigration system in 2008, Tier 1 initially required an investment of £1 million. The threshold increased to £2 million in November 2014. Investments of £5 million and £10 million could shorten the qualifying period for permanent settlement to three and two years respectively.
The government closed the route with immediate effect on 17 February 2022. It cited concerns that some applicants had acquired their wealth illegitimately or were associated with corruption. An official assessment also concluded that the programme’s economic benefits were insufficient to offset its exposure to illicit finance and the use of complex arrangements designed to circumvent genuine investment requirements.
Any successor would consequently be expected to impose substantially stronger source-of-funds checks and direct capital towards productive businesses rather than predominantly passive investments.
Britain Reassesses Its Appeal to Mobile Wealth
The debate follows a wider transformation of Britain’s tax treatment of internationally mobile residents. On 6 April 2025, the UK abolished the remittance-basis system previously available to non-domiciled residents.
It was replaced by a residence-based system offering qualifying new arrivals complete relief from UK tax on foreign income and gains during their first four years of tax residence, provided they had not been UK residents during the preceding 10 years. www.gov.uk
The reforms prompted warnings from wealth advisers that some established foreign residents could relocate. The government has maintained that the changes will raise additional revenue, even after allowing for migration and other behavioural responses.
A carefully controlled investor programme would represent an attempt to reconcile two objectives: maintaining tighter immigration and financial-crime safeguards while strengthening Britain’s competitiveness as a destination for international entrepreneurs and capital.
For now, the options remain policy proposals. The decisive questions, including eligibility, residence rights, tax treatment, investment safeguards and any route to permanent settlement, have not been formally determined.
