The Tier 1 Investor visa was once a significant route for high-net-worth individuals seeking to live and invest in the UK. While the route is now closed to new applicants, it continues to have ongoing relevance for employers, HR teams and sponsor licence holders managing existing Tier 1 Investor visa holders within their workforce, or dealing with historic right to work checks, extensions, settlement applications or compliance audits.
Many organisations wrongly assume that the closure of the route removes employer exposure. In practice, legacy visa holders remain subject to the Immigration Rules, and employers remain exposed to right to work enforcement, civil penalties and reputational risk if compliance is mishandled.
What this article is about:
This is a compliance-grade Tier 1 Investor Visa guidance article for employers, focusing on the current legal status of the route, what UK immigration law still requires, and how employers should manage workforce risk, right to work duties and Home Office scrutiny when employing individuals with historic Tier 1 Investor leave. It explains what the law requires, what employers must actively monitor, and what happens if compliance decisions are wrong.
Section A: Is the Tier 1 Investor Visa still open, and why does it still matter to employers?
What is the current legal status of the Tier 1 Investor visa?
The Tier 1 (Investor) visa route closed to new applicants on 17 February 2022 following a Home Office policy decision driven by national security, illicit finance and abuse concerns. No new entry clearance or switching applications are permitted.
However, the route has not disappeared entirely. Transitional provisions allow existing Tier 1 Investor visa holders to apply for extensions and, where eligible, apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), provided they meet the historic requirements under the Immigration Rules.
For employers, this means Tier 1 Investor visas still appear in the labour market, particularly in senior, investment-linked or founder-level roles.
1. What the law requires
Under the Immigration Rules, Tier 1 Investor visa holders who were granted leave before closure retain lawful status until expiry and may continue working in the UK, subject to the conditions attached to their visa. Employers must treat Tier 1 Investor leave as time-limited immigration permission, carry out statutory right to work checks in line with Home Office guidance, diarise visa expiry dates and follow-up checks, and avoid assuming investor status removes employment law or immigration risk.
The Home Office does not apply relaxed enforcement simply because a route is closed.
2. What employers must decide and monitor in practice
Employers should actively identify whether any existing staff hold Tier 1 Investor leave, the expiry date of that leave, whether the individual intends to apply for extension or ILR, and whether alternative immigration routes may be required if settlement is refused.
Critically, Tier 1 Investor visa holders do not require sponsorship, which can create blind spots in HR systems that are otherwise sponsor-focused.
3. What happens if employers get this wrong
Failure to correctly manage legacy Tier 1 Investor visas can result in illegal working penalties, criminal liability where illegal working is knowingly facilitated, loss of statutory excuse due to invalid or outdated right to work checks, reputational damage during Home Office audits or public enforcement action, and disruption to senior leadership or investment-linked roles if leave expires unexpectedly.
The Home Office routinely reviews historic compliance during sponsor licence audits, including how employers handled non-sponsored but time-limited workers.
Section A summary
Although closed to new applicants, the Tier 1 Investor visa remains legally and commercially relevant for employers. Organisations employing historic visa holders must actively manage right to work compliance, expiry monitoring and workforce planning. Treating the route as obsolete is a compliance error that can trigger enforcement action and operational disruption.
Section B: Who can still rely on the Tier 1 Investor Visa, and what are the eligibility risks for employers?
Which individuals can still lawfully rely on the Tier 1 Investor route?
Only individuals who were granted Tier 1 Investor leave before 17 February 2022 can still rely on this route. No new applicants can enter the category, and no switching into Tier 1 Investor is permitted from within the UK.
From an employer perspective, Tier 1 Investor visa holders will typically fall into one of three groups: individuals holding time-limited Tier 1 Investor leave approaching expiry, individuals applying for a final extension under transitional rules, and individuals applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain under the historic criteria.
Employers should not assume that historic grant automatically leads to settlement. A material number of Tier 1 Investor ILR applications fail due to investment compliance errors, which can have direct workforce consequences.
1. What the Immigration Rules still require for extensions and settlement
Although closed, the Tier 1 Investor route remains governed by the legacy provisions of the Immigration Rules, including the historic investment thresholds and qualifying periods.
Depending on when the individual entered the route, settlement eligibility may require a qualifying investment of £2 million, £5 million or £10 million, continuous investment in qualifying UK investments for the required period, evidence that the funds were lawfully sourced and remained invested, and compliance with absence limits and the general grounds for refusal.
For employers, the key risk is that settlement eligibility is not guaranteed, even where the individual has worked lawfully for years.
2. Employer decision-making risks around extensions and ILR
Employers frequently make operational assumptions that create risk, including assuming a Tier 1 Investor visa holder will manage their own immigration position, failing to plan for the possibility of ILR refusal, not factoring immigration outcomes into succession planning, and allowing senior roles to become immigration-dependent without contingency.
Where a Tier 1 Investor visa holder fails to secure extension or settlement, the employer may face sudden loss of a senior or specialist worker, leadership or investment disruption, emergency recruitment or restructuring costs, and reputational exposure if the individual is a public-facing executive.
Immigration law does not require employers to sponsor Tier 1 Investors, but commercial reality still demands workforce planning.
3. What employers must actively monitor
From a compliance standpoint, employers should ensure they maintain accurate records of Tier 1 Investor visa expiry dates, conduct follow-up right to work checks before leave expires, obtain confirmation where an in-time extension or ILR application has been submitted, understand whether Section 3C leave applies during pending applications, and seek early legal advice where refusal risk exists.
Failure to monitor these points can result in employing an individual without valid permission, even where an application was attempted but invalid.
4. What happens if employers get this wrong
If an employer continues employment after Tier 1 Investor leave has expired and no lawful extension is in place, the consequences include loss of the statutory excuse against civil penalties, exposure to fines for illegal working, increased scrutiny in future Home Office audits, and heightened risk of sponsor licence action if the employer is licensed.
The Home Office increasingly expects employers to understand legacy visa risks, not just current sponsored routes.
Section B summary
Only historic Tier 1 Investor visa holders can still rely on the route, and eligibility for extension or settlement is not automatic. Employers must treat Tier 1 Investor status as a time-limited and risk-bearing immigration position, requiring active monitoring, contingency planning and defensible decision-making to avoid sudden workforce disruption and enforcement exposure.
Section C: What are an employer’s right to work duties when employing a Tier 1 Investor Visa holder?
Why Tier 1 Investor visas still create right to work risk
Tier 1 Investor visa holders have permission to work in the UK without sponsorship, which often leads employers to treat them as low-risk from an immigration compliance perspective. This assumption is incorrect.
From a Home Office enforcement standpoint, right to work duties apply identically to Tier 1 Investor visa holders as they do to any other time-limited migrant worker. The fact that the route is closed does not reduce enforcement expectations.
1. What the law requires under right to work legislation
Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 and associated Home Office guidance, employers must carry out a compliant right to work check before employment starts, verify that the individual has valid immigration permission, conduct repeat checks where leave is time-limited, and retain prescribed evidence to establish a statutory excuse.
For Tier 1 Investor visa holders, this will typically involve a digital right to work check using the Home Office online service or, where permitted under transitional arrangements, a manual check.
Employers must not rely on historic documentation without confirming current immigration status.
2. What employers must do in practice
In operational terms, employers should ensure that Tier 1 Investor visa holders are flagged as time-limited workers in HR systems, visa expiry dates are diarised with sufficient lead-in time, repeat right to work checks are scheduled and completed correctly, and evidence of checks is retained in the required format.
This applies regardless of seniority, shareholder status or historic investment role.
3. Common employer mistakes identified in Home Office audits
Home Office compliance visits frequently uncover errors such as assuming Tier 1 Investor status is permanent, failing to conduct follow-up checks before visa expiry, accepting informal confirmation instead of formal application evidence, misunderstanding Section 3C leave and continuing employment unlawfully, and allowing work to continue after refusal while appeal or review rights are unclear.
These errors often arise because Tier 1 Investor workers sit outside sponsor management systems, making them easier to overlook.
4. What happens if the employer gets it wrong
If an employer employs a Tier 1 Investor visa holder without valid permission to work, enforcement consequences may include civil penalties of up to £45,000 per illegal worker, criminal liability where illegal working is knowingly facilitated, public naming and reputational harm, increased Home Office scrutiny of wider workforce practices, and potential sponsor licence suspension or revocation if the employer is licensed.
The Home Office does not differentiate between sponsored and non-sponsored workers when assessing illegal working risk.
Section C summary
Tier 1 Investor visa holders create real right to work risk for employers precisely because they fall outside sponsorship frameworks. Employers must actively manage right to work checks, expiry monitoring and evidential compliance to maintain a statutory excuse and avoid enforcement action.
Section D: What enforcement, sponsor licence and commercial risks arise for employers employing Tier 1 Investor Visa holders?
How the Home Office views Tier 1 Investor compliance risk
The closure of the Tier 1 Investor route has increased, not reduced, Home Office scrutiny. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) now treats Tier 1 Investor cases as part of its wider enforcement agenda around legacy immigration routes, financial transparency and historic compliance failures.
For employers, this means Tier 1 Investor visa holders can become a trigger point during sponsor licence compliance audits, illegal working investigations, wider workforce enforcement action, and intelligence-led reviews linked to corporate governance or investment activity.
UKVI caseworkers routinely examine how employers have managed non-sponsored but time-limited migrants, particularly where seniority, ownership or control is involved.
1. What the law and sponsor guidance require from licensed employers
While Tier 1 Investor visa holders do not require sponsorship, employers that hold a sponsor licence are still expected to demonstrate effective right to work systems across the entire workforce, consistent treatment of sponsored and non-sponsored migrants, robust record-keeping and compliance governance, and proactive immigration risk management at senior HR or board level.
Sponsor guidance makes clear that systemic compliance weaknesses, even outside sponsored routes, can justify sponsor licence suspension, downgrading or revocation.
2. Employer decision-making risks in practice
Employers frequently expose themselves to risk by allowing Tier 1 Investor visa holders to assume roles without HR oversight, failing to integrate investor visa holders into immigration compliance systems, ignoring settlement or extension refusal risk until too late, and treating investor visa holders as outside immigration governance structures.
These risks are amplified where the individual is a director, shareholder, founder or senior executive, and where their departure would disrupt operations, funding or client confidence.
3. Cost, disruption and reputational exposure
Where compliance fails, employers may face sudden loss of key personnel due to visa expiry or refusal, recruitment delays caused by emergency immigration planning, operational instability at senior leadership level, public enforcement outcomes damaging corporate reputation, and regulatory scrutiny extending beyond immigration into wider governance.
In regulated sectors, immigration compliance failures can also trigger secondary regulatory consequences.
4. What employers should implement to mitigate risk
From a defensible compliance perspective, employers should include Tier 1 Investor visa holders in workforce immigration audits, integrate right to work monitoring into board-level risk oversight, obtain early legal advice on extension and ILR risk, plan alternative immigration routes where settlement is uncertain, and document decision-making to evidence compliance intent.
Immigration compliance is assessed on systems and behaviour, not intent.
Section D summary
Tier 1 Investor visa holders present a disproportionate compliance and commercial risk if mismanaged. Employers must treat the route as part of their broader immigration risk framework, particularly where sponsor licences, senior leadership and regulatory exposure are involved. Failure to do so can result in enforcement action, licence consequences and operational disruption.
FAQs: Tier 1 Investor Visa Guidance for Employers
1. Can employers still hire someone on a Tier 1 Investor visa?
Yes, but only if the individual already holds valid Tier 1 Investor leave granted before the route closed on 17 February 2022. Employers cannot recruit new workers under this route, but they may lawfully employ existing visa holders for the duration of their permission, subject to compliant right to work checks.
From a compliance perspective, employers must treat Tier 1 Investor visa holders as time-limited workers, not permanent hires.
2. Do Tier 1 Investor visa holders need sponsorship?
No. Tier 1 Investor visa holders do not require sponsorship and are not managed through the Sponsor Management System.
However, this does not reduce employer obligations. Right to work compliance, record-keeping and follow-up checks apply in full, and failures can still result in civil penalties and sponsor licence action where applicable.
3. What happens if a Tier 1 Investor visa holder’s extension or ILR application is refused?
If an extension or ILR application is refused and no appeal or administrative review with suspensive effect is pending, the individual may lose the right to work immediately.
Employers must be prepared to suspend or terminate employment lawfully, avoid continuing work without valid permission, and manage contractual, leadership and reputational consequences.
Assuming settlement is guaranteed is a common and costly employer error.
4. Does Section 3C leave protect the employer?
Section 3C leave can extend a worker’s permission only if a valid, in-time application has been made and remains undecided.
Employers must verify that an application was validly submitted, made before visa expiry, and that no decision has been issued.
Relying on informal confirmation or assumptions about Section 3C leave often results in illegal working findings during audits.
5. Can employing a Tier 1 Investor visa holder affect a sponsor licence?
Yes. Even though the route is unsponsored, poor right to work systems or workforce monitoring failures can justify sponsor licence suspension or revocation.
UKVI assesses sponsor compliance holistically. Weaknesses involving non-sponsored migrants are frequently relied on to demonstrate broader compliance failures.
6. Are Tier 1 Investor visa holders restricted in the work they can do?
Generally, Tier 1 Investor visa holders have broad permission to work, including as directors or employees. However, employers must still ensure the work aligns with the individual’s immigration conditions, does not breach the general grounds for refusal or public policy considerations, and that changes in role do not mask underlying immigration risk.
Where senior or regulated roles are involved, additional scrutiny is common.
7. Should employers be planning alternative visa routes?
Yes, in many cases. Where settlement risk exists, employers should assess whether sponsorship under another route may be required, whether the role meets Skilled Worker or alternative criteria, and timing risks around sponsor licence availability and application windows.
Failing to plan early can result in avoidable workforce disruption.
Conclusion: Employer compliance priorities for Tier 1 Investor Visa holders
The Tier 1 Investor visa is no longer open to new applicants, but it continues to carry material immigration, workforce and regulatory risk for employers. Organisations that treat the route as obsolete or low-risk expose themselves to illegal working penalties, sponsor licence consequences and avoidable operational disruption.
For HR professionals, business owners and sponsor licence holders, Tier 1 Investor Visa Guidance must be understood in its current legal context. Existing visa holders remain subject to time-limited permission, strict extension and settlement rules, and full right to work enforcement. Employers remain responsible for monitoring status, conducting compliant checks and planning for adverse immigration outcomes.
The Home Office increasingly assesses immigration compliance on a systems and governance basis, not on whether a route is sponsored. Weak handling of Tier 1 Investor visa holders can be used to evidence broader compliance failures, particularly during sponsor licence audits.
Defensible employer decision-making requires active identification of Tier 1 Investor visa holders in the workforce, rigorous right to work processes and follow-up checks, early assessment of extension and ILR risk, contingency planning where settlement is uncertain, and documented compliance oversight at senior HR or board level.
Handled correctly, Tier 1 Investor visa holders can remain a lawful and valuable part of the workforce. Handled poorly, they present a disproportionate enforcement and reputational risk that employers can no longer afford to overlook.
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 Investor Visa | A former UK immigration route for high-net-worth individuals making qualifying investments in the UK, closed to new applicants on 17 February 2022, with transitional provisions for certain existing holders. |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) | Permanent permission to live and work in the UK without immigration time limits, subject to meeting eligibility requirements and not falling for refusal under the general grounds. |
| Section 3C Leave | A statutory extension of immigration permission where a valid application is made in-time and remains pending, allowing the person to continue in the UK on the same conditions until the application is decided and any in-country appeal or administrative review is concluded where applicable. |
| Right to Work Check | The prescribed check an employer must carry out to confirm an individual has permission to work in the UK, helping establish a statutory excuse against civil penalties for illegal working. |
| Statutory Excuse | A legal defence available to employers against a civil penalty for illegal working, achieved only by conducting compliant right to work checks in the correct form and within the required timeframes. |
| Sponsor Licence | Home Office permission for an organisation to sponsor eligible migrant workers under sponsored routes, subject to compliance duties, record-keeping and reporting obligations. |
| UKVI | UK Visas and Immigration, the Home Office directorate responsible for immigration decision-making, sponsorship compliance and enforcement action. |
Useful Links
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Immigration Rules (archived Tier 1 provisions) | GOV.UK – Immigration Rules |
| Employer Right to Work Checks | GOV.UK – Right to work checks |
| Sponsor Guidance: Compliance duties | GOV.UK – Sponsorship guidance |
| Civil penalties for illegal working | GOV.UK – Employer penalties |
| Home Office announcement on Tier 1 Investor closure | GOV.UK – Policy announcement |
