The UK government recently released its latest immigration data for the year ending June 2024, showing a total of 1.16 million visas granted for work, study, and family reasons, including dependents. The report revealed sharp decreases across key visa categories, with work visas for main applicants down by 11% and study visas for foreign students dropping by 13% compared to the previous year.
These figures cover short and long-term visas, visa extensions, and changes, as well as settlement and citizenship grants for those already residing in the UK.
Work visas see a drop
There were 286,382 visas granted to main applicants across all work categories in the year ending June 2024. This marked an 11% drop compared to the previous year but was still more than double the figure from 2019.
One notable decrease came from ‘Health and Care Worker’ visas, with 89,095 issued to main applicants. This represents a 26% drop compared to the previous year, with the period from April to June 2024 showing an 81% fall compared to the same quarter in 2023.
While the ‘Skilled Worker’ category has more than doubled since 2021, it saw a slight drop of 3% in the most recent year, with 88,653 visas granted to main applicants.
Dependants of workers were also a large group, with 260,392 visas granted in the year ending June 2024. Health and care worker dependants accounted for 69% of these. Meanwhile, the number of ‘Temporary Worker’ visas stood at 77,419, including 34,332 for seasonal workers and 24,091 issued under the Youth Mobility Scheme.
Fewer study visas for foreign students
Foreign students were granted 432,225 sponsored study visas in the year ending June 2024, which was 13% fewer than the previous year but still 61% higher than 2019. Two-thirds (65%) of these were for master’s level courses.
A sharp drop was seen in the issuance of visas to dependants of students. Between January and June 2024, only 11,675 visas were issued to student dependants, a reduction of 81% compared to the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, main applicants saw a 23% fall in the same time frame.
Family visas on the rise
There was a notable increase in family-related visa applications, with 98,906 submitted in the year ending June 2024, representing a 40% jump from the previous year.
People arriving in the UK through family visa routes are more likely to settle in the country long-term compared to those coming for work or study. According to the 2023 Migrant Journey report, 62% of those who entered the UK on family routes since 2007 had been granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) within five years, and this figure rose to 83% after 10 years. By contrast, only 21% of work visa holders and 7% of student visa holders obtained ILR after a decade.
Settlement and citizenship figures
In terms of settlement, 137,020 people were granted settlement in the UK in the year ending June 2024. This is a 17% rise from the previous year, where 117,023 received settlement status.
British citizenship was granted to nearly a quarter of a million people (246,488) during the same period, an increase of 37% compared to the year ending June 2023, when 180,243 people were granted citizenship.
Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK
In the year ending June 2024, 93,342 people were offered a safe and legal (humanitarian) route to come to, or remain in, the UK.
There were 39% fewer visas granted on a safe and legal (humanitarian) routes in the year ending June 2024 when compared to the previous year, largely due to the reduction in the use of Ukraine Scheme Visas and Extensions
First Published: Sep 16 2024 | 4:55 PM IST
