Following the events in Eastern Europe, the UK has decided to review the set of rules allowing wealthy investors to live in the country on a so-called “tier one investor visa”, which in the recent past attracted a number of wealthy Russian and other international investors to settle there, The Financial Times reports.

The country is preparing to abolish the so-called “golden visa” regime over the next few weeks amid calls to stop the flow of “dirty money” into the UK.

Such visas are currently under review, especially after Britain’s relations with Russia deteriorated following the 2018 poisoning case of the Skripal family in Salisbury.

The tightening of rules in this area began back in 2015, when it became necessary to provide evidence of at least £2 million to invest in the UK, and checks were introduced on how applicants obtained such money. From 2019, a new rule was added that applicants must also have proof of a UK bank account.

But it looks like even this way of settling in Foggy Albion will soon come to an end: according to the national government, the system could be used by those involved in laundering illicit funds, and plans are already underway to abolish visas as soon as possible.

In 2020, the country’s parliamentary intelligence and security committee warned that “exploitation of the UK’s investor visa scheme” was attracting many wealthy Russians. They believe that “the UK has provided the perfect mechanisms for the reuse of illegally obtained funds, becoming a ‘self-service laundry for offshore wealth’.”

For example, in the year to September 2021, the government issued 798 investor visas, 82 of which were issued to Russians and 210 to Chinese nationals.

“These Tier 1 visas were a ‘gilded invitation’ to launder money in the UK,” said Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who sits on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. – The UK must end its dependence on dubious money. I can’t understand why the Home Secretary didn’t get rid of them much earlier.”

By April, the government is due to give its final opinion on the matter. Back in 2018, the country’s former Home Secretary Amber Rudd asked the government to review the basis on which more than 700 wealthy Russians were allowed to settle in the UK under the scheme, but officials have been silent for several years.

The country’s Home Office said: ‘We reformed the Tier 1 visa scheme in 2015 and 2019 to tackle ‘dirty money,’ and we have not ruled out making further changes. As part of our work to prevent corruption, we are reviewing all Tier 1 investor visas issued prior to these reforms and will report our findings in due course.”