I am delighted to see that the pent-up demand created by the post COVID-19 lockdown period has come to fruition. This comes as no surprise to our regular readers as noted in our previous update where we anticipated this spike. Also, true to our previous crystal ball prediction ‘The Americans are coming’, the number of applicants with US nationality accounted for 10% of all Investor Visas issued, and I anticipate this to be a new trend. Having spoken to a number of these American applicants about their motivations to migrate to the UK, as we are now able to look after them with the launch of our US desk, politics always crept up in conversations. On top of which, Investor Visa applicants’ decision making remains influenced by two key factors. Firstly, education which I personally believe is for most nationalities. Secondly, it seems that lockdown has highlighted an obvious fact, which is the strategic position of the UK’s time zone (GMT). Our new way of working seems to involve less international travel, and it is to the advantage of the more discerning as they no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to have a call with Australia or the West Coast of the United States.
Further analysing the statistics, again China & Hong Kong SAR were by far the leading nationality of applicants accounting for 45% of all Investor Visas issued. Another interesting feature was the interest from Indian nationals who historically preferred the entrepreneur route.
Looking to the future, there are lots of new changes on the horizon; a new immigration system, EU departure, COVID-19 to name but a few. We are saying farewell to Rafael who has written many of these notes, as he is leaving the Investor Visa space to focus on Wealth Management. Thank you and best wishes in your new chapter.
With all this said, I am very optimistic and reiterating my previous comment that we will see a slightly higher mean average of Investor Visa applicants. In fact, on a departmental note, we are expanding our team and will announce more soon.