'Golden visas' for millionaire foreign investors have been axed with immediate effect amid concerns about dirty money linked to Russia.
Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed she was scrapping the Tier 1 investor visa route, which grants fast tracked residency to the super-rich who invest more than £2m in the UK.
The scheme, which was introduced in 2008, attracted concerns it was open to abuse by criminal gangs and wealthy investors from hostile countries.
The Home Office said some cases had "given rise to security concerns, including people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption".
The announcement comes as ministers faced pressure to act over money and assets linked to the Kremlin in the UK.
Tensions have ratcheted up over Russian aggression against Ukraine, with the UK accusing Moscow of orchestrating "false flag" attacks to justify an invasion.
More than 100,000 Russian troops are massed around Ukraine's borders, prompting grim warnings from the US, the UK and other Western allies of an imminent invasion.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "I have zero tolerance for abuse of our immigration system. Under my New Plan for Immigration, I want to ensure the British people have confidence in the system, including stopping corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities.
"Closing this route is just the start of our renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance.
"We will be publishing a fraud action plan, while the forthcoming Economic Crime Bill will crackdown on people abusing our financial institutions and better protect the taxpayer.
The Liberal Democrats said the Government shout revoke visas already given to "Putin's cronies".
Party foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said: “Shutting the door to Putin’s cronies is not enough - too many of them have already walked through it with virtually no questions asked.
“The Government must immediately publish the long overdue report into those who currently hold and came here on these visas.
"It’s time to kick out associates of the Kremlin who have used golden visas to launder their dirty money, and reputations, in our country."
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Tories had "failed to stamp out the influence of Russian money in the UK" for years.
"We've been waiting for years for the outcome of the review into Golden Visas which must now be published immediately so we can see the scale of the problem," she said.
"It has taken international condemnation of our failures to stamp out Russian dirty money for the Home Secretary to act. But this must go further with a plan to stop illicit finance coming into the UK."
Labour former minister Chris Bryant has previously called for a full review of the scheme after accusing the Government of "giving out golden visas to dodgy Russian oligarchs" and allowing a "backdoor loophole" to funnel dirty money into the UK.
A report by the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2018 accused ministers of risking national security by "turning a blind eye" to the Russian "dirty money" flowing through the City of London.
Ms Patel was a member of the committee at the time.
It comes after Labour leader Keir Starmer said the Tories must return £2.3m of Russia-linked cash donated to the party.
Mr Starmer accused Boris Johnson of turning a "blind eye" to the Kremlin's influence in the UK.
