National statistics

Removals and voluntary departures

Published 27 August 2015

Valid: 27 August to 25 November 2015

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The figures in this section relate to numbers of people, including dependants, leaving the UK either voluntarily when they no longer had a right to stay in the UK or where the Home Office has sought to remove them. While individuals removed at a port of entry have not necessarily entered the country, their removal requires action by the UK Border Force and Home Office, such as being placed on a return flight, and is therefore detailed below.

The numbers of people leaving the UK by the various types of departure (enforced removals; refused entry at port and subsequent departures; and voluntary departures) are given below. The voluntary departures figures for the latest period are provisional and rely upon retrospective data-matching exercises that result in future upward revisions.

All data below relate to the year ending June 2015 and all comparisons are with the year ending June 2014, unless indicated otherwise.

1. Key facts

Enforced removals from the UK increased by 1% to 12,609 in the year ending June 2015 compared with the previous year (12,539).

The number of passengers refused entry at port and who subsequently departed has increased by 12% in the year ending June 2015, to 16,519 from 14,772 for the previous year. While the figure is lower than that in 2004 (36,167), the number refused entry at port and subsequently departing has been increasing slowly since 2012.

In the year ending June 2015, there were 24,849 voluntary departures. This category has represented the largest proportion of those departing from the UK since the end of 2009. The comparison with the previous 12 months’ figure has not been included due to the retrospective nature of data-matching exercises that are undertaken in counting for some voluntary departures. This means that the figures for the latest periods are particularly subject to upward revision as matching checks are made on travellers after departure (see the section ‘About the figures’).

Removals and voluntary departures by type

Year	Total enforced removals	Total refused entry at port and subsequently departed	Total voluntary departures (1)	Assisted Voluntary Returns (2)	Notified voluntary departures (3)	Other confirmed voluntary departures (1)(4)	Other confirmed voluntary departures as a % of voluntary departures
Year ending June 2011	14,931	16,639	25,064	3,386	6,618	15,060	60%
Year ending June 2012	15,110	14,236	29,234	3,618	7,519	18,097	62%
Year ending June 2013	14,159	14,266	30,817	3,955	6,715	20,147	65%
Year ending June 2014	12,539	14,772	30,879	3,815	9,766	17,298	56%
Year ending June 2015 (1)	12,609	16,519	24,849	1,607	12,266	10,976	44%
Change: latest year (5)	+70	+1,747
Percentage change	+1%	+12%

Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics April to June 2015, Removals table rv 01 q.
(1) The figures for total voluntary departures and confirmed voluntary departures for the latest periods are particularly subject to upward revision as matching checks are made on travellers after departure (see the section ‘About the figures’), so care should be taken when interpreting these figures.
(2) Assisted Voluntary Return: where financial assistance is provided.
(3) Notified voluntary departures: where a person notifies the Home Office that they have departed. This includes those removed from detention facilities.
(4) Other confirmed voluntary departures: where a person has been identified as leaving when they no longer had the right to remain in the UK, either as a result of embarkation controls or by subsequent data-matching on Home Office systems. Embarkation controls (where immigration officers interview departing foreign nationals to establish their immigration status and confirm the person’s embarkation) ceased from June 2014.
(5) Comparisons with the previous 12 months for voluntary departures have not been included here due to the retrospective nature of data-matching exercises. These figures will be subject to upward revision in future releases.

The number of enforced removals had steadily declined since 2012, although there was a 1% increase in the year ending June 2015 (12,609) compared with the previous 12 months (12,539). Data for the calendar year 2014 was at its lowest level since the series began in 2004.

The number of people refused entry at port and subsequently departed is considerably lower in recent years than at the beginning of the data series in 2004. There was a sharp decrease from 31,859 in the year ending June 2009 to 13,871 in the year ending September 2012. There is no single cause identified for this fall, although a fifth (21%) of the decrease was due to a fall in the number of nationals of Afghanistan being refused entry and subsequently removed (-3,720). The overall falls are likely to be due to a combination of factors, including tighter screening of passengers prior to travel and changes in visa processes and regimes; for example, South African nationals have been required to have a visa for any length or type of visit to the UK since July 2009.

The number of voluntary departures had been growing for most of the past decade until the year ending March 2014. This coincides with the Home Office improving its contact management with migrants and its ability to track those that are leaving the UK. The figures include individuals who have been identified by administrative exercises as those who have overstayed their leave, and then subsequently left the UK without informing the Home Office. This identification process allows the Home Office to focus better its resources on those who remain in the UK. The figures for the last three quarters of 2014 and the first two quarters of 2015 show a steep decline. However, due to the retrospective nature of data-matching exercises, the data on voluntary departures are usually subject to upward revision as additional checks are made on travellers after departure.

Long-term trends in removals and voluntary departures by type, by rolling year

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics April to June 2015, Removals table rv 01 q.
(1) Voluntary departure figures for recent quarters should be treated as provisional due to the retrospective nature of data-matching exercises.

Of the 24,849 voluntary departures in the year ending June 2015, 49% of those departing were categorised as notified voluntary departures, 44% as other confirmed voluntary departures and 6% as Assisted Voluntary Returns (AVRs).

Individuals can be removed or depart voluntarily more than once in a period. For example, in the year ending June 2015 there was 1 person refused entry at port and subsequently departed 8 times during the period.

2. Asylum and non-asylum enforced removals

In the year ending June 2015, there were 4,189 enforced removals of people who had unsuccessfully sought asylum, down 4% from the previous year (4,351). This figure is 64% lower than the peak in 2004 (11,743) when this data series began. This long-term decrease in the enforced removal of those seeking asylum reflects the lower number of asylum applications since 2002.

In the year ending June 2015, 67% of total enforced removals were non-asylum cases (8,420), up from the previous year (8,188) but down from the peak of 10,070 in 2008.

3. Removals and voluntary departures by nationality

The highest number of enforced removals in the year ending June 2015 was for Pakistani nationals (1,681; 13% of the total). The second highest was for Albanian nationals (1,095; 9% of the total).

The highest number of passengers refused entry at port and subsequently departed was for United States nationals (1,921; 12% of the total). The second and third highest numbers were for Albanian (1,381; 8% of the total) and Brazilian (793; 5% of the total) nationals. United States and Brazilian nationals who are not coming to the UK for work or for 6 months or more do not need to apply for, and be issued with, a visa prior to arrival. The first time that they can be refused entry will therefore be on arrival in the UK.

The highest number of voluntary departures in the year ending June 2015 was for Indian nationals (6,041; 24% of the total), who have also shown the largest decrease compared with the previous year (-945 or -14%). The second highest number was for Pakistani nationals (3,611; 15% of the total) voluntary departures.

For nationals of the European Union there were 25% more enforced removals (3,407) in the year ending June 2015 compared with the previous 12 months (2,731); nearly 50% more passengers refused entry at port and subsequently departed (1,644 compared to 1,108); and 25% more voluntary departures (553 compared to 441). Increases in the removals of EU nationals comprise the removal of more criminals and those not exercising Treaty Rights

4. Departures by ‘harm’ assessment

The harm matrix was introduced in 2007 for monitoring the Public Service Agreement (PSA) that then was applied to measure performance in removing the most harmful people first. However, interest in this topic remains despite PSAs being abolished; ‘higher harm’ assessments include people who have committed serious criminal and immigration offences.

In the year ending June 2015, 12,609 enforced removals and 24,849 voluntary departures were subject to an assessment for a harm rating, of which 17% and 1% respectively were assessed as ‘highest harm’. This is similar to the previous year, when 16% of enforced removals and 1% of total voluntary departures were assessed as ‘highest harm’.

5. Foreign national offenders

The Home Office removes foreign national offenders using enforcement powers or via deportation. In the year ending June 2015, provisional data show that 5,414 foreign national offenders (FNOs) were removed, a 6% increase on the previous year (5,131). This number has been steadily increasing since the year ending March 2012 (4,539).

6. Data tables:

Data referred to here can be found in the following tables:

Removals and voluntary departures vol. 1: tables rv 01 to rv 03 q.
The following tables are included in this volume:
rv 01 Removals and voluntary departures by type and asylum / non-asylum
rv 01q Removals and voluntary departures by type and asylum / non-asylum
rv 02 Removals and voluntary departures by type, asylum / non-asylum, age at departure date and sex
rv 03 Removals and voluntary departures by country of nationality and type
rv 03q Removals and voluntary departures by country of nationality and type

Removals and voluntary departures vol. 2: tables rv 04 to rv 04 q.
The following tables are included in this volume:
rv 04 Removals and voluntary departures by country of nationality, age and sex
rv 04 q Removals and voluntary departures by country of nationality, age and sex

Removals and voluntary departures vol. 3: tables rv 05 to rv 08 q.
The following tables are included in this volume:
rv 05 Removals and voluntary departures by country of nationality and destination
rv 05 q Removals and voluntary departures by country of nationality and destination
rv 06 Removals and voluntary departures by country of destination and type
rv 06 q Removals and voluntary departures by country of destination and type
rv 07 Removals of foreign national offenders
rv 08 Enforced removals and voluntary departures by harm assessment category
rv 08 q Enforced removals and voluntary departures by harm assessment category