Ten oligarchs who used ‘golden visa’ route to UK are on sanctions list

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Ten Russia-backed individuals who were put on the UK’s sanctions list after the invasion of Ukraine had used a “golden visa” route for the super rich to move to the UK, Suella Braverman has disclosed.

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.

The disclosures have been made in a written ministerial statement on Thursday after a long-awaited review of the visa scheme, which many had blamed for allowing Kremlin-backed oligarchs to gain a foothold in the UK.

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. Information on all high-risk individuals has been discussed with the Home Office’s independent operational partners. 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.