UK scraps investor visa scheme amid Russia concerns

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) - The British government on Thursday brought an end to its Tier 1 Investor Visa scheme over security concerns relating to transfer of Russian dirty money into the UK.

The decision by the Home Office was implemented with immediate effect and is applicable to all nationalities.

“I have zero tolerance for abuse of our immigration system. Under my New Plan for Immigration, I want to ensure the British people have confidence in the system, including stopping corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities,” said Home Secretary Priti Patel.

“Closing this route is just the start of our renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance. We will be publishing a fraud action plan, while the forthcoming Economic Crime Bill will crackdown on people abusing our financial institutions and better protect the taxpayer,” she added.

The so-called ‘golden visa’ scheme, launched in 2008, allowed foreign investors with a British bank account and a minimum of £2 million a fast-track access to live in the UK.

There have been, however, increasing concerns of the growing links with Russia and the funneling of tainted cash into UK banks. The concerns have been highlighted in recent weeks as tensions rise with Moscow given its military buildup on the border with Ukraine.

“As we enter into what could be a generation or longer of quite acute competition with Russia, all of the things that have become normal in Anglo-Russian relations over the last 30 years will be up for review. And that is, I think, what the home secretary and her team are looking at the moment,” Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said in a statement.

In the first decade of the scheme, up to 700 ‘golden visas’ were issued to Russian millionaires, according to an investigation by The Times newspaper.