Chancellor John Healey will not take forward a new investor-visa route for wealthy foreign nationals in next week’s Budget, the Financial Times reported on 21 October, reversing a plan the Treasury had been examining since at least mid-October. The shelved proposal would have let foreign investors commit at least £5 million to British innovation funds administered by the state-owned British Business Bank, in exchange for UK residence rights and a potential fast-track to citizenship. Treasury officials confirmed to the Financial Times that Healey will not include the idea in his first Budget, due on 28 October.
The proposal had been drawn up by former business secretary Peter Kyle and Varun Chandra, an adviser to the previous prime minister, with funds intended to flow into strategic sectors such as life sciences, defence technology and artificial intelligence. Healey has also ruled out raising capital gains tax and cutting the mansion-tax threshold from £2 million to £1.5 million, the Financial Times reported, part of a broader pattern of the Chancellor stepping back from measures targeting wealthy residents ahead of the Budget.
The reversal follows the collapse of the UK’s former dedicated investor-visa route, which the Boris Johnson government scrapped in 2022 amid scrutiny over money laundering and oligarch wealth. Advisers to the current government had said the new route would carry strict rules targeting active investors rather than passive wealth, but immigration lawyers say the political sensitivity around “golden visa” schemes remains a barrier. John Kiely, head of immigration at law firm Howard Kennedy, called a credible investment route “a no-brainer” that could be justified to voters if tied to real economic impact. Zoe Jacob, a partner at Boodle Hatfield, said many prospective clients had been waiting for a new investor-visa announcement before committing to relocate; in its absence, wealthy individuals wanting to move to the UK must rely on skilled-worker visas, which restrict their ability to manage business interests beyond their sponsored role.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Downing Street advisers are reported to remain interested in other ways to attract wealthy individuals to Britain, though the focus for this Budget has shifted to fiscal devolution and infrastructure investment. The UK’s existing four-year exemption on UK tax for new arrivals’ foreign income and gains is unaffected by this decision. Outside government, Reform UK has floated a “Britannia Card” concept — a flat annual fee for non-doms in exchange for tax relief on foreign assets — but that idea remains outside the mainstream policy discussion. For now, there is no dedicated investor-visa route into the UK, and Healey’s decision means that will not change on 28 October.
References
Bloomberg – Healey Considers New UK Investor Visa for Wealthy Foreigners / Streamline – Chancellor Healey abandons plans for wealthy investor visa in upcoming UK Budget
