[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Tens of thousands
| ...twelve thousand, actually, as we discover on reading deeper into the article — those Mail reporters are awfully excitable... |
of so-called 'golden visas' have been granted to wealthy foreign investors, including more than 6,000 to Chinese and Russians, since the 'backdoor' scheme was launched 12 years ago.
Those eligible for the government's tier one investor visa, which launched in 2008,
| ...Labour’s Gordon Brown was prime minister then, dear Reader, if you wondered whose bright idea this was... |
must have at least £2million in investment funds and a UK bank account.
With that the can work or study in the UK for up to five years, while also being eligible to apply to settle in the country after making further investments.
Today it was revealed 14 Conservative ministers, including six in the Cabinet, have accepted tens of thousands of pounds in donations from Russian oligarchs.
| How many Labour MPs have done the same? |
All of the donations are legal under electoral rules and have been properly declared.
But there are concerns that the 'golden visa' scheme can be exploited, because not enough background checks are made on applicants.
Between July 2008 and March 2020 there were 12,175 tier one investor visas granted, according to analysis of Home Office figures. |