Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's link with Jersey looks to have hit an obstacle in the form of a delay in the UK government approving his visa.
Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported that the UK had not yet renewed the visa, which the newspaper said had expired, meaning Abramovich missed Saturday's FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Chelsea - the club he owns.
The article alleged that the visa hadn't been denied, but was being held up amid the current UK scrutiny of wealthy Russians following the poisoning in March of ex-Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, with a rare nerve agent in Salisbury.
Mr Abramovich will need the visa if he is to take up an offer of residency in Jersey - although the States won't comment publicly on individual cases, senior sources have told Express that a request for 'High Value Residency' in Jersey by Mr Abramovich has now been accepted.
However, a valid UK visa is a requirement for that move.
Roman Abramovich visa limbo shows UK’s ‘unfriendly’ climate https://t.co/JnzZsj7F1l
— Financial Times (@FT) May 21, 2018
When questioned by Express, Locate Jersey set out the general process that wealthy immigrants, such as Mr Abramovich, would have to follow in order to be accepted:
If Roman Abramovich does end up moving to Jersey, he would be required to buy or rent a house valued in excess of £1.75m or an apartment worth at least £900,000 - but that shouldn't be too much of a problem: in the recent Sunday Times Rich List, he was recorded as having a net worth of £9.333Bn, which only increased by £1.28Bn in the last year.
Pictured: Sunday Times list of wealth CI residents.
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