Bloomberg has reported that the UK is weighing a new visa that would give three years of residency to wealthy individuals investing at least £5 million ($6.7 million) in the country, as the nation seeks to revive its global attractiveness.
Entrepreneurs and other globally mobile individuals would need to fund so-called priority areas such as fast-growing UK businesses under the proposals, sent by government bodies to wealth advisers recently canvassing them on the idea. The “invite only” program would be subject to enhanced vetting and open the path to permanent residency after three years.
Commenting, Marc Acheson, Global Wealth Specialist at Utmost, a leading provider of insurance-based wealth solutions, said:
“While this proposal is clearly welcome, the UK is on the back foot having experienced a sustained flight of wealth following the abolition of the non-dom regime at the Autumn Budget 2024 and the ever-expanding scope of inheritance tax.
“While the premise is well intentioned, for it to be effective and considered seriously by internationally mobile wealthy individuals, it needs to form part of a broader package of measures and a more competitive tax regime that encourages people to put long-term roots down in the UK. Much like the four-year FIG regime which replaced the non-dom regime, this proposal initially appears short-term in nature.
“The key challenge for the government is that the battleground for attracting wealth has become highly competitive and jurisdictions such as Italy and Switzerland have emerged as clear winners in the race to attract the wealthy by offering stable, competitive and long-term tax regimes as they seek to broaden their tax bases.”
