UK proposes an invite-only £5 million investor visa with a three-year route to settlement

The British government is consulting on a new investor visa that would grant three years’ residence to foreign nationals committing at least £5 million (about US$6.7 million) to priority sectors of the economy, Bloomberg reported on 19 May 2026. The new version of the UK investor visa is designed as an invite-only route, with enhanced due diligence and a path to settlement after three years.

Proposed structure

The proposal was drawn up by the Office for Investment — a cross-departmental unit attached to the Prime Minister’s office at 10 Downing Street, working with the Treasury and the Department for Business and Trade — and circulated to private financial advisers to gauge opinion. Documents seen by Bloomberg describe qualifying investment as flowing into sectors classed as priorities, among them fast-growing British businesses.

Real estate is explicitly excluded from the list of qualifying assets. The restriction targets the speculative capital that drew criticism under the former Tier 1 (Investor) route — a programme the previous government closed on 17 February 2022 on national security grounds, according to the notice published byUK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)on the GOV.UK portal.

According to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, the new route would apply thorough vetting to limit money-laundering risk. The old Tier 1 programme required a minimum of £2 million and granted settlement after five years, with an accelerated three-year route for a £5 million investment and two years for £10 million. The new proposal keeps the £5 million threshold but removes the lower tiers altogether.

Political context

Whether the proposal will be implemented remains an open question. The financial advisers received the documents before Labour suffered heavy losses in the local elections, leaving Prime Minister Keir Starmer under considerable pressure over his leadership. Should Mr Starmer fail to see off the internal challenge, the initiative could be shelved.

Several Labour MPs have opposed the plan to tie settlement rights to income levels. In November 2025 the British government announced an accelerated route for those earning more than £125,000 — granting Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after three years rather than the standard five.

Economic pressure

The British government’s reconsideration of a golden visa model it once rejected reflects mounting economic pressure. The non-domiciled (non-dom) tax regime, in place for more than two centuries, was formally abolished on 6 April 2025. Business Secretary Peter Kyle has publicly acknowledged that higher taxes under Labour have prompted some ultra-wealthy residents to leave.

According to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report published by advisory firm Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, the UK lost 10,800 millionaires in 2024, a rise of 157% on 2023. The same report forecasts that the UK could lose a further 16,500 millionaires in 2025 — the largest outflow of wealth recorded in a decade. The United Arab Emirates, Italy and Türkiye are the destinations benefiting from the shift.

How it compares with other programmes

The £5 million level places the British visa well above the residency by investment programmes commonly used in Europe and the United States.The Portugal Golden Visastarts at 500,000 EUR through the investment fund option, theGreece Golden Visaranges from 250,000 to 800,000 EUR, while the United StatesVisa EB-5applies a standard threshold of US$1,050,000.

Bloomberg describes the invite-only structure as unprecedented among existing golden visa programmes — a British government spokesperson confirmed that the Global Talent Taskforce is “looking at every option” to attract investment. In November, Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s second budget also referred to a package of “tax incentives” intended to attract high-calibre talent, although the details have yet to be published.

In parallel, the British immigration system has tightened in other areas: the English language requirement was raised to level B2 in January 2026, and the earned settlement model has extended the standard ILR route from five to ten years for most migrants.