Sadly, UK Tier 1 Investor visa is now abolished. It is no longer possible to apply under this UK visa category. This blog post is left unaltered for historic purposes only.

You may be a British national who has non-British parents residing outside the UK or an EU national who wants to make it easy for your parents to join you in the UK.

Depending on your parents’ age, they may be no longer economically active. They may be relying on pension payments or savings or monthly contributions from you that may help them meet their monthly costs and provide for their essential needs.

Your parents may be of ill health and may require for your personal care and attention to be provided by you.

Depending on your UK immigration status, there may be several options that you will be looking to explore when considering a Tier 1 Investor visa route to the UK.

You are British: what are UK immigration options for your parents? 

If you are a British citizen and have no European (EU) connection, such as yourself or family member or partner, the UK immigration rules make a deliberate effort to make it impossible to bring your non-British parents over to join you in the UK.

The premise is that if your parents are based overseas and depend on you for financial support or medical care in their home country, you may hire the necessary care staff to care for them in their home country instead of bringing them to the UK.

This legal premise is nearly impossible to defeat and the large rejection rate of such applications is extremely high. Therefore, the best first step is to consider other options before you process a UK immigration application based on the family connection alone.

Normally, suitable alternatives to pursue, are:

• Skilled worker visa;
• Representative of overseas business visa;
• Tier 1 Innovator visa;
• Tier 1 Investor visa.

Skilled worker visa requires the applicant to be economically active and sponsored for employment by the UK employer who has a sponsor license.

Representative of an overseas business visa requires to be employed by an overseas business that does not have any established business activity in the UK, such as a branch or a subsidiary.

Representative of overseas business visa is now replaced with Global Business Mobility – UK Expansion Worker visa. This visa may help to move to the UK short-term, but it is no longer possible to secure long-term residence rights in the UK under this visa.

Tier 1 Innovator visa requires for the business idea to be approved by the authorised endorsing body and the minimum business investment of £50,000 to be made. There are also additional savings requirements attached to the entrepreneur.

Tier 1 Investor visa is a viable option if its requirements can be met even if the applicant is not economically active.

Therefore, if you and your parents are able to meet the requirements set out for the Tier 1 Investor visa, this may be the best possible choice for your parents to join you in the UK.

You are an EU national living in the UK and have a settled status 

If you are an EU (EEA/Swiss) national who arrived in the UK before the 31st December 2021 and secured your settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS), you may be able to bring your parents to the UK without much hassle.

You will need to demonstrate that your parents are dependent on you for financial or medical reasons and based on the required evidence your parents may be eligible to join you in the UK. You will be able to apply for EUSS Family Permit outside the UK for your parents to join.

However, if your parents are self-sufficient and meet the requirements of the Tier 1 Investor visa, they may explore this UK immigration route instead.

You are an EU national arriving from the 1st January 2021 

You are new to the UK. You have no prior UK immigration history and have not secured your settled or pre-settled status. This means that you may be exploring a Tier 1 Investor visa yourself together with your parents.

If this is the case then you will need to submit two different applications. One for yourself (and your own family) and your parents. You will have to make sure that this option is right for you and your own family and your parents. You will need to meet the necessary requirements.

Tier 1 Investor visa for your parents

Tier 1 Investor visa may be the right choice for your parents who want to join you in the UK if:

• You are British and your parents are not, but meet the requirements to apply for Tier 1 Investor visa;
• You are an EU national, you have secured your settled or pre-settled status, but your parents are financially self-sufficient and do not rely upon you to meet their financial or medical needs;
• You are an EU national arriving from the 1st January 2021.

Book a call with me to discuss your UK immigration application. Submit your UK immigration enquiry here if you need assistance with any UK immigration application.

You will be first guided to a payment page when you choose “book a call” option. After making the payment, you will be able to choose the most convenient date and time for our Zoom meeting. You can report a payment issue here.

Saule Voluckyte, M.A.E.S, LL.B, FAIA

I have been working exclusively with UHNWI in Mayfair, London since January 2008. I built specialist knowledge and expertise required to serve ultra high net worth individuals investing, operating and relocating to the UK or Switzerland.

Within the industry, I am the single adviser who is able to traverse the different areas of expertise and bring a comprehensive approach across: global structuring, UK immigration, international taxation and FOREX to develop their global wealth strategy, while they build, grow and expand their wealth worldwide.

Previous experience as one of the senior advisors for the government, made me a go-to person when delicate and uncomfortable scenarios involving heads of state need to be handled with care and preserve privacy.