The government’s “golden visa” scheme, which was meant to lure super-rich investors, has been targeted by people with suspected criminal links as well as 10 Russian oligarchs to gain a foothold in the UK, a review has disclosed. Suella Braverman, the home secretary, said “a minority” of more than 6,000 individuals who used the tier 1 (investor) visa route were “potentially at high risk” of having obtained wealth through corruption, illegality or organised crime – and that many were still under investigation by the police. Ten Russian businessmen who were sanctioned after the invasion of Ukraine had also used the visa scheme, she added. But the government’s response, which emerged in a written ministerial statement, has been described as “totally inadequate” and “a cover-up” by opposition MPs. Many had blamed the scheme for allowing Kremlin-backed oligarchs to enter UK public life.
The tier 1 visa route, whereby wealthy individuals could buy the right to live in the UK by investing in British-registered companies, was shut in February after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid fears that the system was being abused. Until then, for £2m, foreign nationals could be granted a visa, with more benefits the higher the investment and a “steady path” to achieving “much-prized UK citizenship”. For seven years between 2008 and 2015, which has been called the “blind faith” era, there were minimal checks on the source of funds, applicants did not need a UK bank account and there were no specific money-laundering checks. A review was commissioned by the Home Office in 2018 with a commitment to publish the findings after the Salisbury poisonings. In a ministerial written statement, Braverman said the Home Office examined 6,312 tier 1 migrants and their adult dependants who obtained leave between the launch of the route on 30 June 2008, and the introduction on 6 April 2015 of a requirement to open a regulated UK bank account. “The review of cases identified a small minority of individuals connected to the tier 1 (investor) visa route that were potentially at high risk of having obtained wealth through corruption or other illicit financial activity, and/or being engaged in serious and organised crime,” Braverman said. “UK law enforcement have access to this data and are taking action as appropriate under their operational remits… A range of actions has and is being considered including, where appropriate, immigration action. “Whilst unable to comment specifically due to operational sensitivity of work – as an example of the range of actions we are taking I can say that we have already sanctioned 10 oligarchs who had previously used this route as part of our extensive response to Russian aggression in the Ukraine.” During the period examined by the review, the onus was on financial institutions to carry out anti-money laundering checks but those institutions were relying on the golden visas as a mark of legitimacy. About 68% of all of the golden visas awarded to people from China and 85% to people from Russia were issued during this period. Braverman said the review found that the scheme “attracted a disproportionate number of applicants from the countries identified in the UK’s National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing”. The review also found “evidence of high-risk applicants seeking out and exploiting financial institutions that had the weakest customer due diligence controls”, she said. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said Braverman’s statement was a “totally inadequate response to very serious corruption and criminality concerns about the government’s golden visas”. She said: “[Ministers] have provided no answers to the most basic questions Labour raised a year ago, including how many golden visas have been revoked, how many recipients have been granted citizenship and what is the security threat arising from serious and organised criminals who used the route to enter the UK. She added: “It is disgraceful for the home secretary to dodge scrutiny.” The Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokeswoman, Layla Moran, said: “This stinks of a cover-up. For years, the Conservative government promised they’d publish the golden visa review – so we can understand just how Putin’s cronies have exploited this route into our country. “After a five-year wait, they haven’t even published the review – just a short statement about the review. It’s farcical.”