UK Immigration Post Brexit – Increase in Number of Indians and Chinese Getting Visas

EU nationals getting UK visa post Brexit is at the lowest
Indians and Chinese accounted for about 47% of the total tourist visas
Indians were given the highest number of tourist visas in the year ending September 2018
Indians were awarded 33% more student visas
Indians were given 55% more work visas

UK immigration post Brexit has witnessed some drastic changes. The UK’s negotiations over its exit from the EU have affected migration to the UK. While the net migration of EU nationals is at its lowest, the number of migrants from India to the UK has increased dramatically. Read on to find out more.

With negotiations underway for the UK exit from the EU or Brexit as it is popularly known, a number of EU citizens are slowly leaving the UK. On the other hand, this has resulted in an increase in the number of visas being issued to Indians.

UK Immigration Post Brexit – Some Interesting Facts

Tourist Visas to UK post Brexit

From the Buckingham Palace to the Roman Baths, the UK has a number of tourist sites. In the year proceeding September 2018, Indians were granted the largest number of tourist visas to the UK. This amounted to 468,923 visas.

Indians and Chinese accounted for about 47% of the total tourist visas granted for the year.
The year before that, Indians were granted 41,224 fewer visas.

Student Visas to UK Post Brexit

There was also an increase of 33% in the number of Indian students heading to the UK for higher studies. Indian and Chinese students accounted for around 50% of all the student visas granted.

Family Visas to UK Post Brexit

The number of family-related visas awarded to India citizens increased by 881 to 3,574 in the same period.

Similarly, the number of EEA family permits granted to Indians also increased by 4,245 to 8,360.

Pakistan dominated the visas in this category with an additional 1,895 Pakistani nationals being given visas as compared to the previous year.

Work Visas to UK Post Brexit

55% of Tier 2 skilled work visas were given to Indians. This reflected an increase of 15% or 2,266 visas since the preceding year.

EU Net Migration Post Brexit

In contrast to the growing number of migrants from India, net migration from the EU has been at its lowest since 2012. The difference between the number of arrivals and departures of EU citizens in the UK was about 273,000 last year.

However, the number of EU citizens registering for British citizenship increased by 43,545. This marks an increase of 32% since the previous year.

All of this is a direct response to the uncertainty around Brexit and the issue of border controls between the UK and EU.