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

Parents want to give the best head start to their children in life. Why not start them off with the Tier 1 Investor visa while they are studying in the UK?

Here are the benefits for your child to enter the UK under the Tier 1 Investor visa:

• Studying in the UK – ability to choose the university of their choice freely (even the ones that do not have the sponsor licence to recruit foreign students);
• Working in the UK – ability to choose an employer freely, the employer does not need to have the sponsor licence to employ your child);
• Earning long-term residence rights in order to remain in the UK long-term;
• Fast Tracking to British citizenship;
• Completing UK immigration requirements in the shortest amount of time possible (in 2, 3 or 5 years).

Explore our blog posts on Tier 1 Investor visa:

5 Signs That the UK Investor Visa is the Right Choice for You

Relocating to the UK under Tier 1 Investor visa: 3 Important Considerations

7 Alternatives to Tier 1 Investor visa UK immigration route

Tier 1 Investor visa: mainland UK or explore Guernsey and Jersey

UK Investor visa for European (EU/EEA/Swiss) nationals

Therefore, here are some important considerations to start off your child with a Tier 1 Investor visa:

1. British Student visa and Graduate route expect students to leave and does not allow to settle in the UK and gain long-term residence rights

Typically, students who come to the UK apply for the student visa. The student needs to look for the university who has secured sponsorship rights with the Home Office in order to be eligible to recruit overseas students to the UK.

British student visa is meant to be temporary. It does not intend to create long-term residence rights in the UK. The students are expected to leave upon graduation.

They can also choose a different programme or university to continue to study in the UK. However, very specific requirements apply and the process if the student is not academically driven is not as simple.

The government responded to a widespread criticism of its immigration policies in relation to the graduates who came to study from overseas and introduced the Graduate route.

The purpose of the Graduate route is to allow graduates to stay in the UK for a couple of more years. 2 years is the maximum duration. It does not create any long-term residence rights for the students or any other rights to remain in the UK.

Eventually, students who came to study at the British universities are expected to leave.

2. UK Investor visa creates long term residence rights to live in the British Isles

The purpose of the UK Investor visa is to encourage ultra high net worth individuals to settle long-term in the British Isles. 

This means it is the purpose of this visa to create long-term residence rights that lead to indefinite leave to remain and eventually if the requirements are met to British citizenship.

3. UK Investor visa fastracks to British citizenship

There are not many UK immigration categories that may lead to being awarded British citizenship.

However, if you apply for the UK Investor visa, you may be able to fast track it if certain specific requirements are met.

This usually goes down to the level of the investment being made initially and the required number of days being spent in the UK.

As a parent you may not only choose the best British universities globally for your child to be educated in, but gain long-term residence rights in the UK and fast track to British citizenship.

What better head start a parent may give to their child?

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.