(Image source from: News18.com)

254 Indian millionaires took the UK Golden Visa route in 12 years:- A total number of 254 Indian millionaires used the 'Golden Visa' process to settle down in the United Kingdom and they made large investments in the country after the route was opened in 2008 as per the report. The report was released by the anti-corruption charity in the United Kingdom on Monday. The report also said that Indians are ranked seventh of the super-rich to pick up the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa and 254 Indians took the path between 2008 and 2020. China is on the top of the list with 4106 millionaires. China is followed by Russia (2526), Hong Kong (692), the United States of America (685), Pakistan (283) and Kazakhstan (278). All these countries are ahead of India. 223 billionaires of Saudi Arabia took up the chance and 206 millionaires from Egypt utilized the opportunity and stood in the top ten list.

All these have been issued visas along with the residency rights in the United Kingdom and more than half of them are under review. The Golden Visa offers a chance for wealthy businessmen and individuals to buy a right to live in the United Kingdom if they invest in the companies that are registered in the country. These individuals have to invest 2 million pounds to get an immediate right to live in the UK for three years and this can also be extended for two more years. All those who can invest 10 million pounds can be fast-tracked to remain within two years. Indian businessman Nirav Modi who was involved in a Rs 13,000 crores scam is said to be living in the United Kingdom on an Investor Visa that is applied in the year 2015.

The route was quite easier and 2 million pound investment is not a difficult task for such businessmen. The UK Home Office now tightened the norms for this category and announced a review three years ago. Susan Hawley, Executive Director of Spotlight on Corruption said that the Golden Visa in the UK posed as a significant chance for corrupted, money laundering fraudsters and this turned out to be a risk for the country.