14 Percent Fall in Work, Family, Other Visas: Home Office

File photo of a UK Border sign at Manchester Airport in Manchester, England, on Dec. 28, 2022. Peter Powell/PA

The number of visas issued to foreign workers, international students, people joining family, and those granted leave via settlement schemes has dropped by 14 percent in one year, according to government figures.

Home Office figures published on Thursday showed that the UK granted 1.23 million visas (1,234,817) in the year to June 2024 to foreign nationals who entered via those legal routes, down from 1,435,372 on the previous year.

Of those, some 1.6 million visas were granted to workers, students, and family members and dependents. The largest proportion was for work visas, with 546,774 being granted, up slightly from 538,222 in the year to June 2023.

In terms of student visas, 530,496 were issued, down from 656,589 on the previous 12 months. Some 84,403 family visas (up from 75,131) and 4,007 visas for dependants joining or accompanying others (down from 5,167) were also granted.

In the year to June 2024, a further 69,137 were granted permission to come to the UK by other legal visa schemes and settlement programmes.

The Home Office issued 28,419 permits under the Ukraine visa schemes, down from 89,226 on the previous year and 22,306 were granted to British National (Overseas) status holders from Hong Kong (down from 37,160). A further 14,363 visas were issued under the EU Settlement Scheme, down from 28,899, and another 4,049 were granted under other settlement schemes (down from 4,978).

Net Immigration

In May, the Office for National Statistics published data showing that net migration had fallen by 10 percent last year to 685,000 after having hit a record high of 764,000 in 2022.

James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary and Conservative Party leadership candidate, said the drop in visas was proof that measures he had put in place to bring down immigration were working.

“When I said I was going to cut migration, I meant it,” Cleverly said, adding: “The actions I took as home secretary are working. I reformed visas and cut net migration … that’s the inheritance I left Labour.”

Ben Brindle, researcher at the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said: “Visa numbers dropped in the last few months of the Conservative government and emigration has also been rising. In theory, this should mean a decline in net migration over the coming year.

“But the precise scale of it is hard to predict: we don’t yet know how many of the recent student arrivals will remain in the UK long term, and any bounce-back in health and care visas would also slow the decline.”

There was a particular drop in health and care worker visas, falling by 26 percent on the previous year to 89,095. The trend had also been observed in May, with the Home Office suggesting at the time it was due in part to restrictions on bringing dependents—rules which also impacted foreign students coming to the UK.

Labour had pledged in its manifesto to reduce net immigration—though did not set a target—and Brindle said “the strong indication is that Labour will be able to meet its commitment to reduce net migration from the unusually high levels the UK has recently seen, primarily due to trends that were already in train well before they were elected.”

Third of Asylum Seekers Crossed Channel

The Home Office also released figures for asylum and illegal immigration.

In the year ending June 2024, 38,784 people had entered the country illegally, 81 percent (31,493) of which had arrived by crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The number of small boat landings was down 29 percent on the year ending June 2023, when arrivals were at 44,460.

Afghans were the most common nationality to illegally enter the UK via small boat, representing 18 percent of landings. The next most common nationalities were Iranian (13 percent), Vietnamese (10 percent), Turkish (10 percent), and Syrian (9 percent).

Nearly all (99 percent) of the illegal immigrants who arrived by boat made a claim for asylum and this cohort comprised of nearly one-third (31 percent) of total asylum claimants for the year to June 2024.

Refugee Status Approvals Triple

Figures also revealed that 67,987 people were granted refugee status in the year to June 2024, more than three times the 21,436 approved in the previous 12 months.

In terms of applications, 75,658 claims were made relating to 97,107 people, which is down from the year to June 2023, when 82,275 applications were made relating to 102,371 people.

The number of applications and people had peaked in the year to March 2023, when 83,045 applications were made for 102,878 people—the highest levels since 2002.

However, there were still a total of 118,882 asylum seekers awaiting an initial decision on their application at the end of June 2024. Despite the high number this is still down by 32 percent from 175,457 at the end of June 2023, which was the highest figure since records began in 2010.

PA Media contributed to this report.