A proposed UK "golden visa" would grant settled status after three years and citizenship after five for individuals investing £5 million in British businesses — four years after the previous investor route was scrapped. The Financial Times has learnt the idea is live inside the Labour government, but it faces resistance from the Home Office and the Treasury.

Business secretary Peter Kyle has told colleagues that Britain is in a "brutal fight for global talent" and argues officials can design a system that stops the pathway becoming a vehicle for "oligarchs' wives and crooks". One ally of Kyle said: "Peter believes it is possible to develop a scheme for people who genuinely want to invest in Britain and to have a social contract with people who want to come here with extreme wealth."

What would the new scheme offer?

Under the proposal as sketched out in government discussions:

• A £5 million investment in British businesses
• Settled status in the UK after three years
• British citizenship after as little as five years

Nothing has been announced. A government spokesperson said: "We are determined to make the UK the best place to do business, whilst protecting our national security." A government official briefed on the discussions added: "We are looking at options to attract investment."

Who discussed it, and when?

The Cabinet Office hosted a meeting on June 10 under conditions of strict secrecy, where the government's Global Talent Taskforce invited professional services firms, tax experts, economists and civil society groups. Attendees were sworn to secrecy. Groups present included Transparency International, Spotlight on Corruption, wealth advisory firms Withers, Mishcon de Reya, and accountants Blick Rothenberg.

Experts opposed to the idea say officials have developed it within government over the past year. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a think-tank with strong links to Labour, has worked with law firm Mishcon de Reya on ideas for a new scheme. Their report is due soon.

Why was the old route scrapped?

In 2022, then home secretary Priti Patel closed the Tier 1 investor visa as part of a crackdown on Russian money after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "Closing this route is just the start of our renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance," she said at the time. The Home Office had issued 2,581 investor visas to Russian citizens since the scheme launched in 2008.

Who supports bringing it back?

Immigration lawyers argue current visa routes poorly serve, for example, wealthy Americans leaving the Trump administration, and that this cohort needs a version of an investor visa. Steven Bostock, partner at Mishcon de Reya, said the firm had seen "consistent client desire for an investor visa since the last scheme ended". The firm said: "There is currently a gap in the UK's immigration system for high-net-worth individuals who are willing to make substantial investments in the UK."

The IPPR believes a scheme could address fraud risks, potentially by excluding foreign nationals from some countries.

Who is against it?

Tax experts at the June 10 meeting gave "robust" feedback that a route for "oligarchs and their wives" would represent serious backsliding. One government insider said: "The Treasury is sceptical about whether it would do anything to boost growth. The idea isn't going anywhere." Andy Burnham, the left-of-centre prospective prime minister, may also resist a red carpet for super-rich foreigners.

Anti-corruption campaigners are alarmed. "This would be reputationally disastrous for the UK and would shred any credibility that the UK is serious about tackling dirty money," warned Susan Hawley of Spotlight on Corruption.

Do investor visas actually work?

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, concluded in a paper last year that investor visas in high-income countries like the US and UK "often fail to deliver expected economic benefits". She said they often attract "lifestyle migrants" — families of Russian or Chinese oligarchs who use London's schools, shopping and legal security while their husbands keep making money at home.

The EU has pressured member states to clean up similar schemes, and Australia abandoned a comparable route. Hawley warned of a "domino effect" if the UK reverses course. One meeting attendee offered a blunt verdict: "There are better ways to tempt overseas investors."

No official announcement, eligibility rules, cap or application deadline exist yet. The proposal remains under internal government discussion, with the outcome undecided.