Priti Patel is set to ditch the so-called golden visa scheme in a bid to clamp down on “dirty” money flowing into the UK from Russia and elsewhere.
The home secretary is set to scrap the existing Tier 1 investor visa scheme used by oligarchs and billionaires next week, The Independent understands.
The government is under growing pressure to take action over suspected dirty money linked to Vladimir Putin’s regime, amid fears it will undermine sanction efforts over the Ukraine crisis.
On Wednesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed that the government has not “looked closely enough” at Conservative donations to examine possible links to Moscow influence.
Sir Keir called for further sanctions, urged the government to bring forward its economic crime bill and said any Tory donations “that have any link to Putin should be looked at very, very carefully”.
Ms Patel is said to have long-standing concerns that the Tier 1 scheme introduced back in 2008 to fast-track residency for wealthy entrepreneurs had been exploited by those from hostile states.
Applicants for Tier 1 visas must invest at least £2m in the UK in return for residency rights, and can then apply for citizenship.
The Home Office was due to publish a review of the scheme, including a detailed look at the thousands of Tier 1 visas already granted.
But Mr Patel has brought forward a decision to scrap the scheme due to the heightened scrutiny over Russian money and security issues, according to The Times.
US state department officials recently told the newspaper of their “frustration” at the UK government’s failure to tackle the flow of Russian funds into the city dubbed “Londongrad”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We reformed the Tier 1 visa route to crack down on dirty money and we have not ruled out making further changes.”
The spokesperson added: “As part of our work to prevent this route from corruption we are reviewing all Tier 1 investor visas granted before these reforms were made, and will report on our findings in due course.”
The government has tightened sanctions legislation aimed at targeting both “individuals and organisations” in Russia. But foreign secretary Liz Truss has not revealed the package of measures planned.
Tory MP John Penrose, Mr Johnson’s anti-corruption chief, has been among the senior figures to have warned the government not to delay an economic crime bill aimed at a more fundamental overhaul.
There are hopes the legislation will be used to expose the use of Russian shell companies to buy British property.
Earlier this week, Mr Johnson promised the bill would be brought forward soon and will “hit” companies laundering Kremlin-linked Russian money through Britain.
The prime minister vowed to “open up the Matryoshka doll” to find out who owns companies and properties operating domestically.
Tom Tugendhat, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said it was time to clean out money from British politics that had originated in Russia. “Frankly, get it out and get it out now,” he said.
