The Financial Times reported on 27 June that the Labour government had discussed reviving a "golden visa" route for wealthy investors, with Business Secretary Peter Kyle supportive and resistance from the Home Office and Treasury. The paper reported that the proposal under discussion would involve a GBP 5mn investment and could offer settled status after three years and citizenship after five.
The baseline is clear. GOV.UK says new Tier 1 Investor visa applications are no longer accepted, although some existing visa holders can still apply to extend or settle. The Home Office announced on 17 February 2022 that it had closed the route over security concerns and as part of a wider effort to tackle illicit finance. Caseworker guidance updated in November 2025 still says the route is closed to new initial applications made after 4pm on 17 February 2022.
That history is why the question is not simply whether wealthy applicants would come. The old Tier 1 route allowed high-net-worth applicants to secure a UK immigration pathway by investing in the country. Its closure was a political judgement that the screening and public-interest case no longer justified the risk. Any revival would have to answer the same criticism with a different design.
The reported design is meant to answer that weakness directly. Bloomberg has described the proposal as invite-only, with enhanced due diligence, no property investment as a qualifying asset, and capital steered into fast-growing or strategic sectors. The Financial Times reported the same broad policy argument from supporters: Britain is competing for globally mobile wealth and talent, but any route would have to avoid becoming a vehicle for politically exposed or illicit money.