The British government has announced the cancellation of the Tier 1 Investor Visa Program, also referred to as the Golden Visa, due to concerns that it could encourage fraud and illicit funding, The Hill reported.

"The Home Secretary has taken decisive action to shut the Tier 1 Investor visa route to all new applicants from all nationalities with immediate effect," the U.K.'s Home Office said. "While work has been done to reform the route in order to prevent abuse, the Home Office has acted to close it today."

The visa allowed individuals and their families to temporarily reside in the UK if they had invested at least £2 million in the country.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said by closing the Tier 1 visa program she hopes British citizens will be able to trust the country's immigration system.

"Closing this route is just the start of our renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance," she said. "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."