From the UK, US and across the European Union, more than 100 Russian diplomats are being expelled in a coordinated response to the poisoning by nerve-agent of a former Russian spy in the UK. Over 25 countries have expelled Russian envoys in the past two days, in solidarity with the UK.
For Theresa May it marks a political triumph with the EU in particular, in difficult times after the British Prime Minister presented allies with the evidence that convinced them it was likely Russia was to blame for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury earlier in March. Russian has denied involvement.
However, the Prime Minister isn’t stopping there.
Bloomberg Politics note:
There are a number of rich Russians with millions invested in London, a lot of it in real estate. There have been signs that the U.K. government might be looking into ways of targeting those oligarchs, that might also be Putin allies.
These rich Russians usually apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa that works for those who want to invest 2 million pounds or more in the U.K. May said she’s cracking down on “illicit and corrupt finance” and hinted she could tighten the rules that allow foreign nationals to apply for these visas.
She said Home Secretary Amber Rudd “is looking at the question of the Tier 1 investor visa and its operation,” as the system is known. “We continue to look at what steps, any further steps that we can take in this area,” she said.
These high level T1 investment visas in the UK are similar to the EB-5 visa route that exists in the US, which has recently been extended “as is” until September of this year.
Zoe Bantleman of Richmond Chambers offers considered insight to these Tier 1 (Investor) developments in her recent article, which we highly recommend reading.
