Recently, the official immigration statistics for the year ending June 2022 were published by the Home Office.
The latest issue delivers the most current figures correlating to individuals coming to the UK or extending their stay, acquiring citizenship, applying for asylum and being detained or deported from the United Kingdom. The figures reveal the number of visas approved for work, family, and study grounds, including data on the latest visa routes where these are operational.
Let’s review the key findings of the report.
Work visas
331,233 work-related visas were approved in the year ending June 2022 (including dependants). When compared with the year 2019, this was an increment of 72%.
Of all work-related visas ‘Worker’ visas accounted for two-thirds (67%) and were given 216,450 grants. This is nearly double (+96%) in comparison to similar routes in 2019, with the growth propelled by the launch of the ‘Skilled Worker’ visa in 2020.
There were 87,266 grants for Skilled Worker visas and 96,249 grants for Health and Care Worker visas. Grants for these visas have increased every quarter since their introduction in December 2020, and now in total, they represent over half (55%) of all work visas granted.
Grants from ‘Temporary Worker’ routes have also grown by 67% to 72,526, after a rise on the available number of visas through the ‘Seasonal Worker’ route, from 2,500 in 2019 to 40,000 in 2022.
All categories of work visas witnessed an across-the-board increase in comparison to 2019. This is the highest number of work visas given in any 12-month period since the data series started in 2005.
New work visas for 2022
In the initial 6 months of 2022, the Home Office introduced a few new immigration routes for individuals desiring to work in the United Kingdom. The latest statistics presented the number of applications received by the new routes until the end of June 2022.
High Potential Individual route:
This route was launched on 30 May 2022. There were 83 applications for this visa, including 40 grants and 6 dependants, until the end of June 2022.
Global Business Mobility routes:
In April 2022, five Global Business Mobility routes were launched. Until the end of June 2022, there were:
- 2,927 grants for the Senior or Specialist Worker visa (main applicants)
- 49 grants for the Graduate Trainee visa
- 3 grants for the Secondment Worker visa
- 2 grants for the Service Supplier visa
- 0 grants for the UK Expansion Worker visa
Study visas
In the year ending June 2022, 486,868 Sponsored study visas were granted (to both main applicants and their dependants). This was above 71% compared to 2019.
The year ending June 2022 was the highest recorded number for Sponsored study visas. The substantial increase represents both a recovery from lower numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic and a boost during the pre-pandemic period.
In this period, the most common nationalities that were granted sponsored study visas were the following.
- Indian nationals (117,965 grants)
- Chinese nationals (115,056 grants)
- Nigerian nationals (65,929 grants)
Family visas
There were 303,553 visas and permits given for all family grounds in the year ending June 2022, more than 61% compared to 2019, mainly due to growth in dependants of individuals arriving with work or study visas, and the dependants of the recently introduced British Nationals (Overseas) route.
From this number, there were 36,470 family-related visas granted, 34% less than 2019; in the year ending June 2022, nearly three quarters (71%) of family-related visas granted were to partners, with the rest being for children or other dependants.
There were 226,443 dependants of individuals arriving in the UK on different types of visas, up 180% since 2019. There was substantial growth in grants to dependants of Sponsored study visa holders and dependants of the ‘Worker’ visa category. This number also comprises 30,489 dependants of the BN(O) route main applicants.
Settlement
There were 122,266 settlement in the UK application decisions for the year ending June 2022, which was a 13% growth from the last year and above 29% in 2019. Of these, 120,770 (99%) followed with grants.
In the latest year, there were increments in settlement grants in the ‘asylum’, ‘family’, and ‘other’ categories but fewer to applicants who were in the United Kingdom for work reasons.
Citizenship
There were 179,963 British citizenship applications in the year ending June 2022, which was more than 3% from 2019.
Applications for citizenship by non-EU nationals have stayed considerably steady since 2014, whilst EU nationals’ applications grew up to mid-2021. EU nationals accounted for more than a quarter (27%) of all citizenship applications in the previous year compared to 12% in 2016.
Increments in citizenship applications from EU nationals since 2016 would probably reflect individuals desiring to secure their status in the UK after the EU referendum and the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU.
This is the end of today’s blog update. We hope you found this blog useful. Please don’t forget to support us by subscribing to our newsletter and sharing this blog with your friends and family on Facebook, Whatsapp, and Twitter.
