Official Statistics

Monthly monitoring of entry clearance visa applications

Updated 13 June 2024

Next update due: 11 July 2024

On 4 December 2023, the Home Office announced changes to visa rules intended to reduce immigration and published further details on 21 December.

These changes have now come into force, following 2 sets of Immigration Rules changes released on 19 February and 14 March as follows:

• from 1 January 2024, international students were no longer able to bring dependants on all but postgraduate research courses and courses with government-funded scholarships
• from 11 March 2024, social care workers arriving from overseas are no longer allowed to bring dependants (that is, partners and children) on their visa
• from 4 April 2024, the baseline general salary to be sponsored for a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa increased from £26,200 to £38,700, while the ‘going rate’ minimum salary specific to each job has also gone up significantly
• a list of jobs for which it is possible to sponsor someone for a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa at a reduced minimum salary was reduced and renamed the Immigration Salary List
• from 11 April 2024, the minimum income normally required to sponsor someone for a spouse/partner visa was increased from £18,600 to £29,000

For more information please see: Reducing Net Migration Factsheet – May 2024.

Policy changes are one of a range of factors that can impact visa application volumes. The application data in this release provides provisional numbers of people with an intention to enter the UK for work and study reasons. Finalised numbers of visa applications and grants are published quarterly in the Immigration system statistics release.

Figure 1: Monthly applications for ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Health and Care Worker’ visas, January 2022 to May 2024

Figure 1 shows:

• the monthly number of Health and Care Worker visa applications from main applicants increased between February 2022 and August 2023, from 4,100 to 18,300, following the introduction of care workers on the route; applications have decreased since August 2023, falling to 2,900 in May 2024
• applications for dependants on the Health and Care Worker route increased in-line with main applicants, peaking at 23,300 in August 2023; applications have decreased since December 2023, falling to 5,900 in May 2024
• the monthly number of Skilled Worker visa applications from main applicants were broadly stable between January 2022 and March 2024 at around 6,000 applications per month; applications increased to 10,100 in April 2024, before returning to 6,900 in May 2024, closer to the typical monthly average
• applications for dependants on the Skilled Worker route were broadly in-line with main applicants, but increased between November 2023 and January 2024, from 4,300 to 8,100; the number of applications has fallen slightly since, reaching 5,900 in May 2024

Figure 2: Monthly applications for ‘Sponsored study’ visas, January 2022 to May 2024

The monthly number of Sponsored study visa applications from main applicants tend to peak between July to September before the start of the academic year. It will be necessary to await the peak in student applications for the next academic year before we can see the full effect of recent policy changes and any other impacts.

Figure 2 shows:

• applications from main applicants in January to May 2024 (59,100) were 11% lower than January to May 2023
• there were 9,700 applications from dependants of students between January and May 2024, 79% fewer than January to May 2023; this followed the rule changes that came into effect in January 2024 which prevent students from bringing dependants, with the exception of those studying postgraduate research courses or courses with government-funded scholarships

Table 1: Monthly applications for ‘Skilled Worker’, ‘Health and Care Worker’ and ‘Sponsored study’ visas, from January 2022 to May 2024

		Skilled Worker		Health and Care Worker		Sponsored study
		Main applicants	Dependants	Main applicants	Dependants	Main applicants	Dependants
2022	Jan	4,100	2,700	3,700	4,000	31,100	11,000
	Feb	4,600	3,100	4,100	4,400	9,600	6,800
	Mar	5,300	3,600	5,300	5,200	6,200	6,000
	Apr	4,800	3,500	5,000	5,200	9,100	5,200
	May	5,700	4,100	5,600	6,000	14,100	5,300
	Jun	6,700	4,800	7,100	7,300	31,500	8,000
	Jul	6,600	4,800	7,300	7,500	85,000	14,800
	Aug	6,900	4,700	8,100	8,700	144,200	23,600
	Sep	6,100	4,100	7,900	8,700	76,600	18,300
	Oct	5,800	3,900	8,000	8,300	11,300	10,200
	Nov	6,100	4,200	9,700	10,100	24,700	14,800
	Dec	5,600	3,900	9,900	10,600	46,200	19,800
2023	Jan	5,300	3,800	11,300	12,900	26,900	17,500
	Feb	5,100	4,000	13,100	14,600	5,200	7,500
	Mar	5,600	4,500	14,300	16,700	7,800	7,900
	Apr	4,700	3,900	12,200	15,100	9,500	6,000
	May	5,900	4,800	14,600	19,300	16,900	7,800
	Jun	6,200	5,000	14,600	19,300	38,900	9,100
	Jul	6,500	4,900	16,200	21,600	81,900	12,300
	Aug	6,900	4,900	18,300	23,300	147,100	25,100
	Sep	5,500	4,100	12,900	18,400	83,500	22,500
	Oct	6,400	4,900	14,400	22,700	10,400	12,000
	Nov	6,100	4,300	9,800	19,400	14,800	9,700
	Dec	6,100	5,500	6,400	21,300	30,600	8,000
2024	Jan	6,900	8,100	4,700	19,800	25,500	3,400
	Feb	6,100	6,900	3,100	16,300	3,700	1,700
	Mar	6,100	4,800	2,400	13,200	4,800	1,600
	Apr	10,100	6,500	2,200	6,400	9,600	1,600
	May	6,900	5,900	2,900	5,900	15,500	1,400

Source: Monthly entry clearance visa applications: data tables, May 2024 - Monthly_Vis_01

Notes:

1. Figures are provisional management information from live operational systems drawn on the date of reporting and are subject to change.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Applications from dependants may relate to main applicants who applied in previous months. Dependants of care workers and senior care workers are still eligible to apply if their related main applicant applied prior to 11 March 2024.
4. These statistics will be updated on a monthly basis until the end of 2024, after which we will review the user need for monthly updates. The quarterly Immigration system statistics provide detailed information on visa applications and outcomes.