Immigration Statistics: October to December 2012

Question 1

1. Summary points, quarter 4 2012

Accepted Answer

Work, study and family-related immigration of non-EEA nationals continued to fall in 2012. There were further falls in visas issued and admissions for study, work and family reasons, and also fewer extensions of stay and fewer permissions to stay permanently (settlement). The recent falls for work and study are likely in part to be due to policy changes relating to these reasons for entry, which came into effect in 2011.

Work

There was a 3% fall in work-related visas issued (to 145,138) largely relating to very highly skilled workers and an 11% fall in grants of permission to stay permanently (to 62,204). However, there was a 5% increase in grants of extensions of stay (to 141,007).

Study

There were 22% fewer sponsored student visa applications, with a 3% increase for the university sector, contrasting with falls for the further education sector (-62%), English language schools (-69%), and independent schools (-14%). There was a corresponding 20% (-52,066) fall in student visas issued mainly relating to falls for Indian (-17,604) and Pakistan (-24,668) nationals, although there was an increase for Chinese nationals (+4,856).

Before entry

There were 507,701 visas issued (excluding visitor and transit visas), a fall of 10% and the lowest annual recorded figure using comparable data available from 2005.

Asylum

There were 21,785 asylum applications, a rise of 10%, driven by rises in the latter half of 2012 and by particular nationalities, including Pakistan (+844), Syria (+637), India (+531), Bangladesh (+437) and Albania (+419). However, this remains well below the peak in 2002 (84,132).

Citizenship

There was a 9% increase in people granted British citizenship in 2012 (to 194,344), largely accounted for by grants on the basis of residence (up 13% to 107,196, the highest number since records began in 1962) or on the basis of marriage (up 10% to 39,138).

Detention

During the fourth quarter of 2012, 61 children entered detention, higher than the fourth quarter of 2011 (45) but well below the third quarter of 2009 (322); the recent rise reflects greater use of Cedars pre-departure accommodation which opened in August 2011 in conjunction with the new ‘Family Returns Process’.

Removals and voluntary departures

There were 4% fewer enforced removals (to 14,435), and 14% fewer passengers refused entry at port and who subsequently departed (to 13,529). There was a 2% fall in voluntary departures (to 25,997).

For additional summary points see the full summary in the Statistical News Release).

Question 2

2. Data tables

Accepted Answer

Listing of the data tables included in Immigration Statistics October to December 2012

Question 3

3. Work

Accepted Answer

3.1 Introduction

This topic brief describes non-EEA nationals who are coming to the UK to work or who are in the UK for work. It explains trends in the numbers of such people who are issued with visas, admitted, granted extensions to stay, or who are given permission to stay permanently (known as settlement), as well as the number of long-term migrants i.e. those intending to stay for at least 12 months for work.

3.2 Key facts

In 2012, there were 3% and 11% falls for work-related visas issued (145,138) and permissions to stay permanently (62,204) compared with 2011, and a 5% increase in work-related extensions of stay (141,007). In the year ending June 2012 there were 12% fewer work-related admissions (142,000) compared with the previous 12 months; and similarly work-related long-term immigration fell 3% to 49,000 (with those indicating they had a definite job unchanged and smaller numbers ‘looking for a job’). The 145,138 work-related visas issued in 2012 were the lowest 12-monthly total recorded using comparable data available from 2005.

Recent falls for work-related visas, admissions and immigration are likely to be partly due to policy changes that came into effect from 2011. The 5% (+6,630) increase in grants of extensions can be explained by an increase in grants (+18,486) for skilled individuals (Tier 2), partly offset by a fall in grants (-8,507) to highly skilled individuals (Tier 1) under the post-study work route. The post-study work route was closed to new applications on 6 April 2012 but existing applications continue to be processed (see below and the User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics).

Including dependants, the 3% fall for work-related visas (-4,172) was largely a result of lower numbers issued to highly skilled individuals (Tier 1) (falling 21% from 22,819 to 18,010), which in turn was mainly due to the closure of the Tier 1 ‘general’ route in December 2010 (falling from 11,930 to 5,947). By contrast, there was a 3% increase in visas issued for skilled individuals (Tier 2) from 66,432 to 68,108, whilst visas issued for youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5) increased 1% from 37,943 to 38,296.

In 2012, there were 3% more sponsored visa applications (main applicants) for visas as skilled individuals (Tier 2) than 2011 (from 39,508 to 40,740). The majority of the 40,740 certificates related to the Information and Communication (17,451), Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (7,317) or Financial and Insurance Activities (5,325) sectors.

In 2012, there were 5% more sponsored visa applications (main applicants) as youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5) than in 2011 (increasing from 38,232 to 40,296), the large majority of which related to the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (29,636) and Education (4,075) sectors.

Trends in work-related immigration, 2005 to 2012.

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Tables be.04.q, ad.02.q, ex.01.q and se.02.q; Office for National Statistics.

The above chart shows that International Passenger Survey (IPS) estimates of non-EU immigration are substantially lower than work-related visas and admissions. However, the IPS estimates follow a broadly similar trend with increases in all three series between 2005 and 2006, followed by subsequent falls. Two reasons why IPS estimates of immigrants for work are lower than figures for work visas issued or passenger arrivals are that the IPS figures exclude any workers who intend to stay for less than a year and exclude dependants. Further reasons are described in the User Guide.

Top 10 non-EEA nationalities issued work-related visas, 2012 (Total 145,138).

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table be.06.q.w.

For work-related visas and admissions the highest numbers relate to Indian, Australian and United States nationals. For 2011 data the top ten nationalities are the same, apart from a difference in the tenth place - Nigeria is tenth for admissions - though the order differs.

Some of the differences in the ranking between visas and admissions data for 2011 may be due to timing differences e.g. some visas granted in 2011 may be used in 2012. Additionally, some individuals admitted within the creative and sporting category (part of Tier 5) do not need a visa, and this largely explains the higher number of admissions (estimated at 26,000) of United States nationals compared to numbers issued with a visa.

Top 10 nationalities granted an extension to stay for work, 2011 (excludes dependants)

(Total 96,798)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table ex.02.w.

Data for grants by nationality in 2012 are planned to be published in Immigration Statistics April-June 2013, due to be released in August 2013 when further analysis of 2012 data are made.

For 2011 data, the nationality breakdown for those granted extensions is in some respects different to the top ten nationalities rankings for admissions and for visas, notably with Nigeria, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka accounting for the third, fifth, eighth and ninth highest number of extensions for work.

Analysing the data in Table ex.02.w further, the main explanation is that most of these Nigerian, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan nationals were granted extensions as highly skilled individuals under the (Tier 1) post-study route. Since they originally entered via a study route, they are not prominent in the nationality rankings for work-related admissions and visas. Turkish nationals also have special provision to switch into the ‘work route’ under the European Community Association Agreement with Turkey.

3.3 Permission to stay permanently (Settlement)

Some individuals who are admitted to the UK to work can become eligible to stay permanently after 5 years.

There was an 11% (-7,688) fall in work-related grants to 62,204 in 2012 continuing the fall from the peak of 84,347 in 2010. This decrease follows a broadly rising trend in work-related grants that had partly reflected an increase in the number of people admitted in work categories 5 years earlier. The dip in the number of work-related grants in 2006 and 2007 reflects a change in the qualifying period from four to five years, delaying grants that would otherwise have occurred earlier.

The nationality profile for grants of permission to stay permanently in 2011 (the latest available settlement data by nationality) differs slightly to the profile for grants of work visas in 2011, with seven of the top ten nationalities also in the top ten nationalities issued with visas for work. A notable difference was South Africa, ranked fourth for permission to stay permanently. Analysing the data in Table se.03 further, reveals that the most common of the qualifying categories for South Africans was ‘Commonwealth citizens with a United Kingdom born grandparent taking or seeking employment’.

As part of the application process for visas and extensions, individuals must obtain a certificate of sponsorship from an employer. This release contains tables cs.01 to cs.05 in the Before entry topic tables, providing information on the number of employers registered and their sponsor rating. The tables also provide data on the nationality and industry sector of those (main applicants) using certificates.

UKBA Register of sponsors

An employer may be counted more than once in the total if registered separately to sponsor both Tier 2 and Tier 5 individuals or registered for more than one sub-Tier. Altogether there were 26,179 employers on the register on 2 January 2013, 8% higher than 30 December 2011 (24,317). On 2 January 2013, 29,305 employers were registered for sponsoring skilled individuals (Tier 2) and 3,921 employers for youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5).

Skilled individuals (Tier 2)

In 2012, there were 3% more sponsored visa applications (main applicants) for visas as skilled individuals than 2011 (from 39,508 to 40,740). The majority of the 40,740 certificates related to the Information and Communication (17,451, up 4%), Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (7,317, up 2%), Manufacturing (2,317, up 3%), Education (2,037, up 52%), Financial and Insurance Activities (5,325, down 4%) and Accommodation and Food Service Activities (441, down 45%) sectors. These sectors also accounted for most (70%) of the 27,815 certificates used for applications for extensions.

Youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5)

In 2012, there were 5% more sponsored visa applications (main applicants) as youth mobility and temporary workers than in 2011 (from 38,232 to 40,296). The large majority of these 40,296 certificates related to the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (29,636, up 6%) and Education (4,075, up 10%) sectors. The total number of extensions in 2012 for Tier 5 was 397, the relatively small numbers reflecting the rules relating to extensions for such workers.

3.5 Staying in the UK

The Migrant Journey Third Report reported that 40% of migrants issued with skilled work visas in 2006 appear to have legally remained in the immigration system or have settled in the UK after five years. After 5 years 11% had some form of valid leave to remain and 29% had been granted permission to stay permanently (settlement). This is a reduction from 47% for migrants issued skilled work visas in 2004. Source: Home Office, Migrant Journey Third Report.

3.6 Data tables

Data on immigration for work, sourced from Home Office administrative systems, can be found in the following tables:

Before entry (Before entry tables be.01 to be.04q and Before entry table be.06.w and Before entry tables cs.01 to cs.05q)
Admissions (Tables ad.02 to ad.03 and ad.03.w)
Extensions (Tables ex.01 to ex.02)
Settlement (Tables se.01 to se.05)

3.7 About the figures

There are a range of measures that can be used to monitor those, subject to immigration control, coming to the UK to work. These include:

issues of visas for entry clearance, providing information of those intending to come
admissions data, providing information on migrants at the border
numbers of people allocated national insurance numbers, providing an indication of migrants entering the labour market
estimates on non-EU immigration from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) on migrants intending to stay for at least a year for work purposes

In addition, grants of (in-country) extensions of stay for work purposes provide information on migrants in-country, while work-related grants of settlement provide a measure of longer-term migration.

Trends in extensions and in permission to stay permanently will depend on admissions and immigration in previous years.

Figures for immigration in this topic relates to non-EU nationals whilst other figures (visas, admissions, extensions, permission to stay permanently) relate to non-EEA nationals.

These various statistics and research can appear to give different pictures of immigration for work. Often this is because the latest data for different measures cover different time periods. In addition, they also count different aspects of the immigration process, with some showing intentions or permissions, while others show actual events.

The ‘Before entry’, ‘Admissions’ and ‘Settlement’ sections of the user guide include a discussion on the differences between the various data sources presented on immigration for work.

Data includes dependants unless stated otherwise.

The user guide provides further details on the topics related to work including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database or from surveys. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide. The ‘Work’ section details changes made in immigration legislation affecting these data including the closure in December 2010 of the Tier 1 (General) category for new applicants for entry clearance, and changes to Tier 1 (highly skilled) and Tier 2 (skilled) from April 2011.

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional (IPS data are final for 2011).

Figures for admissions and immigration are estimates rounded to the nearest thousand.

‘Office for National Statistics international migration statistics’, and ‘Office for National Statistics labour market statistics’ (including employment rates and changes by country of birth and by nationality).

‘National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals entering the UK’ are published by the Department for Work and Pensions. On 20 January 2012, the department published a report on ‘Nationality at point of National Insurance Number registration of DWP benefit claimants: February 2011 working age benefits’.

The Migration Advisory Committee publish reports, Migration Advisory Committee reports and publications on the ‘UKBA website’.

Salt, J., 2011, International Migration and the United Kingdom: Report of the United Kingdom SOPEMI Correspondent to the OECD, 2011, London: Migration Research Unit.

Question 4

4. Study

Accepted Answer

4.1 Introduction

This topic brief focuses on non-EEA nationals who are subject to immigration control and who come to or who are in the UK to study.

For those students subject to immigration control, administrative information is available on visas, extensions to stay and records of student admissions (number of journeys). The International Passenger Survey (IPS), run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also provides estimates of long term immigration of students to the UK (those arriving with the intention of staying for a year or more).

4.2 Key facts

The numbers of visas issued, admissions and long-term immigration for study have continued to fall since mid-2011. There was a 20% (-52,066) fall in study visas issued in 2012 (209,804) compared with 2011. Study-related admissions and long-term immigration fell 30% and 19% respectively in the year ending June 2012 compared with the previous 12 months (from 303,000 to 212,000, and from 183,000 to 148,000).

Most of the 52,066 (-20%) fall in visas issued for study (excluding student visitors) related to Asian nationals (falling 48,020), with falls of 24,668 (-69%), 17,604 (-50%), 3,537 (-72%) and 3,402 (-53%) for Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi nationals. However, there were increases for some Asian nationalities; particularly notable was an increase of 4,856 (+9%) for Chinese nationals.

In 2012 there was a 22% fall in the sponsored visa applications (main applicants) to study, to 210,111 from 270,684 in 2011. However, the change was not uniform; there was a 3% increase for the university sector and falls of 62%, 69% and 14% respectively for the further education sector, English language schools and independent schools.

The falls in study-related immigration since the middle of 2011 are consistent with large scale changes to the student visas system from April 2011.

In contrast to other falls, in 2012, there was an 11% increase in student visitor visas issued to 68,372. However, student visitors are normally only allowed to stay for up to six months (11 months for English language schools) and cannot extend their stay.

Long term trends in student immigration

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December 2012, Tables be.04.q and ad.02.q; Office for National Statistics. (1) Excludes student visitors who are allowed to come to the UK for 6 months (or 11 months if they will be studying an English language course) and cannot extend their stay. (2) For periods prior to the year ending September 2008, the count of student admissions is not comparable as there was no specific category for student visitors who may then have been recorded as either students or visitors.

The above chart shows that IPS long term estimates, while being substantially lower, follow a broadly similar trend to student visas issued and passenger arrivals, with steeper increases in all three series during 2009. Two of the reasons why IPS estimates of students arriving are lower than figures for student visas issued or passenger arrivals are that the IPS figures exclude: the many students who intend to stay for less than a year; and dependants of those immigrating for the purposes of study.

Despite the general trend being similar, there are instances where the trends in visas issued, admissions and IPS estimates occasionally diverge. This apparent discrepancy could be due to the potential for a margin of error that is inherent in sample surveys, together with possible changes in the proportion intending to stay for more than a year and the time difference between a visa being issued and the individual arriving.

4.3 Visas

The number of entry clearance visas issued for study (excluding student visitors) fell by 20% (-52,066) from 261,870 in 2011 to 209,804 in 2012.

Most of the 52,066 (-20%) fall related to Asian nationals (falling 48,020), with falls of 24,668 (-69%), 17,604 (-50%), 3,537 (-72%) and 3,402 (-53%) for Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi nationals. However, there were increases for some Asian nationalities; particularly notable was an increase of 4,856 (+9%) for Chinese nationals.

Nearly two thirds of study visas issued in 2012 were issued to Asian nationals (63%, 132,085), followed by nationals of the Americas (11%, 22,618), Middle East (10%, 21,584) and Africa (10%, 20,617).

Top 10 nationalities issued entry clearance visas for the purposes of study, 2012

(Total 209,804)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October to December 2012, Table be.06.q.s

The top 10 nationalities accounted for over two thirds (70%) of all study visas issued in 2012, with the top 5 nationalities (China, India, United States, Nigeria, Pakistan) accounting for over half (53%).

4.4 Student visitors

Student visitors are issued with a visa for a maximum 6 month duration or, following a recent change in the rules, in a very small number of cases for 11 months if studying an English language course. Student visitors are not counted as long-term migrants and cannot extend their stay, so they are not included in other sections of this briefing.

In 2012, 68,372 student visitor visas were issued, 11% more (+6,966) than 2011. The number of visas issued to student visitors has increased steadily since the category was introduced in September 2007. Most of the 6,966 increase related to Asian nationals (increasing 3,593), with increases of 1,759, 596 and 827 for Chinese, Japanese and South Korean nationals. There was also an increase for Libyans (+1,492).

Top 10 nationalities issued student visitor visas, 2012

(Total 68,372)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October to December 2012, Table be.06.q.s

The top 10 nationalities accounted for over two thirds (70%, 47,865) of the 68,372 student visitor visas issued in 2012.

Although there has been a 6,966 increase in student visitor visas issued in 2012 at the same time as a fall in study visas by 52,066, the pattern of these changes for individual nationalities does not indicate a clear or consistent relationship. The nationalities accounting for most of the 52,066 fall in study visas issued (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) have seen only small changes in the number of student visitor visas issued, numbering +73, +20, +8 and -12 respectively.

There were 262,000 student visitor admissions in 2011. Of those arrivals admitted as student visitors in 2011, nearly half (44%) were from the United States (115,000) with Brazil the next largest nationality (7%, 19,300).

Six of the top 10 nationalities for student visitor admissions were non-visa nationalities (including the United States and Brazil). The main factor that accounts for student visitor admissions being much higher than visas issued is that non-visa nationals do not need to obtain an entry clearance visa if they wish to come to the UK as a student visitor for up to 6 months and so are included in the admissions data unlike the visas data.

4.5 Admissions

Latest data show that there were 30% (-91,000) fewer study-related admissions in the year ending June 2012 (212,000) than in previous 12 months (303,000).

4.6 Immigration for study

For the year ending June 2012, there were an estimated 19% fewer long-term study-related migrants (148,000) than in the previous 12 months (183,000).

Source: ONS, Long-Term International Migration / International Passenger Survey

4.7 Extensions of stay

There were 27% fewer study-related grants of extension in 2012 (87,195) compared with 2011 (119,303).

As part of the application process for visas and extensions, individuals must obtain a confirmation of acceptance for studies from a sponsoring educational institution. On 2 January 2013 there were 1,898 educational institutions on UKBA’s register, 4% lower than 30 December 2011 (1,983). This continues the falls seen since the published series began for 3 October 2011 (2,370).

The decrease in the number of sponsoring educational institutions is consistent with the introduction of new accreditation criteria and conditions of status for educational sponsors from April 2011.

Long term trends in study-related sponsored visa applications for visas by sector

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December 2012, Table cs.07.q

There were 22% fewer study-related sponsored visa applications in 2012 (210,111) compared with 2011, but the change is not uniform across the education sector. There were 3% more sponsored visa applications for the university sector (UK-based Higher Education Institutions, to 156,537), and falls of 62%, 69% and 14% respectively in the further education sector (Tertiary, further education or other colleges to 31,587), English language schools (to 3,589) and independent schools (to 13,937).

There were also corresponding falls of 25% (-76,274, to 234,684) and 20% (-52,066, to 209,804) in study-related visa applications and visas issued in 2012 compared with 2011.

There were 79,718 sponsored applications for extensions in 2012, 26% less than in 2011. There was a corresponding 27% fall in study-related grants of extension in 2012. The fall in sponsored applications for extensions included falls of 18%, 31% and 64% respectively for the university sector (to 46,113), the further education sector (to 28,134) and English language schools (to 1,759).

4.9 Staying in the UK

The Migrant Journey Third Report reported that one in 5 (18%) migrants issued student visas in 2006 appear to have legally remained in the immigration system or settled in the UK after 5 years. After 5 years 17% had some form of valid leave to remain and 1% had been granted permission to stay permanently (settlement). This is a reduction from one in four (25%) migrants issued student visas in 2004. Source: Home Office, Migrant Journey Third Report.

4.10 Data tables

Data on student immigration, sourced from Home Office administrative systems, can be found in the following tables:

The Office for National Statistics publishes data on student immigration, International Migration.

4.11 About the figures

There are a range of measures that can be used to monitor those, subject to immigration control, coming to the UK to work. These include:

issues of visas for entry clearance, providing information on those intending to come
admissions data, providing information on migrants at the border
estimates on non-EU immigration from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) on migrants intending to stay for at least a year for study purposes

In addition, grants of (in-country) extensions of stay for study purposes provide information on migrants in-country.

Trends in extensions and in permission to stay permanently will depend on admissions and immigration in previous years.

Figures for immigration in this topic relates to non-EU nationals whilst other figures (visas, admissions, extensions) relate to non-EEA nationals.

The various statistics for those coming to the UK to study can appear to give different pictures of student immigration. Often this is because the latest data for different measures cover different time periods. In addition, they also count different aspects of the immigration process, with some showing intentions or permissions, while others show actual events.

The Before entry, Admissions and Extensions sections of the User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics include a discussion on the differences between the various data sources presented on immigration for study. The user guide also provides further details on the topics relating to study including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being estimated from samples or based on data sourced from an administrative database or from surveys.

For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

Data for entry clearance visas and admissions excludes student visitors unless stated otherwise. The student visitor category provides for persons who wish to come to the UK as a visitor and undertake a short period of study. Visa data on student visitors include those who applied on the ‘short-term student’ endorsement prior to the introduction of the ‘student visitor’ endorsement in September 2007. For admissions short term students were classified as visitors prior to September 2007, so for consistency and comparability over time they are excluded from study-related totals.

Data include dependants unless stated otherwise.

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional (2011 IPS data is final).

Figures for admissions and immigration in this briefing are estimates rounded to the nearest thousand.

Statistics on students in Higher Education Institutions including analysis of overseas student numbers are available from published statistics released by The Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA).

Question 5

5. Family

Accepted Answer

5.1 Introduction

This topic brief focuses on non-EEA nationals who come to the UK for family reasons.

For those subject to immigration control, administrative information is available on visas, extensions of stay, records of admissions (number of journeys) and permission to stay permanently (known as settlement). These differentiate between the ‘family route’ and dependants of other migrants. The International Passenger Survey (IPS), run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also provides estimates of long-term immigration for all those who state their main reason for migrating to the UK is to accompany or join someone else including family members and have the intention of staying for a year or more.

5.2 Key facts

In 2012, there were 10%, 3% and 16% falls for family-related visas issued (40,925), extensions of stay (16,700) and settlement (45,323). There was also a 14% fall in the number of visas issued to all other dependants (excluding visitors) in 2012 (70,672) compared with 2011.

In the year ending June 2012 there were 18% fewer family-related admissions (29,500 compared to 36,100 a year earlier). Over the same period IPS long-term estimates for those accompanying or joining others in the UK were 47,000 in the year ending June 2012 compared with 60,000 in the year ending June 2011. However, changes over the last three years in the IPS estimates have not been judged to be statistically significant.

Decreases in the number of visas issued to dependants coming to the UK are, in part, consistent with changes to the rules governing visas issued to those coming to the UK for work or study and their dependants from December 2010 and April 2011 respectively.

Long-term trends in family immigration

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October-December 2012, Table be.04.q; Office for National Statistics.

(1) Includes all dependants (e.g. dependants for work and study), except visitors.

IPS long-term estimates of non-EU immigration for those accompanying or joining others in the UK include those arriving on family visas, but also persons accompanying others who are arriving for other reasons, such as for work or study.

The above chart shows that IPS estimates, while being substantially lower, follow a broadly similar trend to the total for family route visas and other visas issued to dependants with some recent decline across both data sources since the year ending June 2011. The trend for IPS estimates appears to be similar to figures for family visas alone; however, this is coincidental given the scope of information recorded in the corresponding IPS category. A reason why IPS estimates of those arriving are lower than figures for family and dependant visas combined is that the IPS figures exclude the many people who come to the UK but intend to stay for less than a year.

Despite the general trends being similar, there are instances where the trends in visas issued and IPS estimates appear to be different. This apparent discrepancy could be due to the potential for a margin of error that is inherent in sample surveys, together with possible changes in the proportion intending to stay for more than a year or who state to the IPS that they are accompanying and joining others as opposed to arriving for a different reason and the time difference between a visa being issued and the individual arriving.

5.3 Visas

The number of entry clearance visas issued to those on the ‘family-route’ fell 10% in 2012 to 40,925 compared with 2011 (45,723). Over half (51% or -2,437) of the fall related to nationals of the United States, Zimbabwe, Nepal and Afghanistan. The fall for United States nationals (-934) mainly occurred in the second half of the year, while the fall in Afghan nationals issued with visas (-480) was more than accounted for by falls in the first nine months of the year compared to the previous year. The numbers of visas issued to Nepalese and Zimbabwean nationals have shown continued falls since peaks in 2010 (from 4,748 in 2010 to 2,392 in 2012 for Nepalese and from 1,792 in 2010 to 725 for Zimbabweans).

The 10% fall in family-related visas issued consisted of a 9% fall for partners (to 31,541), a 13% fall for children (to 4,083) and a 14% fall for other dependants (to 5,301).

There has also been a 14% fall in the number of visas issued to all other dependants (excluding visitors) not part of the ‘family’ route in 2012 (70,672) compared with 2011 (82,624).

In addition, in 2012 there was a 31% fall for dependants of students (down from 24,399 to 16,721), a 4% fall in the number of visas issued for dependants of workers (down from 44,070 to 42,238), and a 17% fall for all other dependants (excluding visitors, down from 14,155 to 11,713).

5.4 Admissions

Admissions for family reasons continued to fall to 29,500 in the year ending June 2012 (compared with 36,100 in the previous 12 months).

The numbers of passengers recorded as entering the country for family reasons are much lower than numbers of visas issued. Some of those that are identifiable as coming for family reasons in the visa data are not identifiable in the admissions data and are included within ‘Others given leave to enter’.

5.5 Immigration for family reasons

Provisional IPS estimates of non-EU nationals accompanying or coming to join family or friends for a year or more were 47,000 in the year ending June 2012, similar to levels seen over the last three years.

Source: ONS, Long-Term International Migration (Opens in a new window).

5.6 Extensions of stay

In 2012, the number of extensions of stay granted to those on the ‘family route’ was 16,700, a decrease of 3% on a year earlier (17,189), following more rapid falls in each year between 2008 and 2010 (between -7% and -22% per year). In addition, there were 46,426 dependants of workers, 11,856 dependants of students and 5,127 other dependants.

5.7 Settlement

Family formation and reunion grants of settlement fell by 16% from 54,086 in 2011 to 45,323 in 2012. This continues the overall fall seen since a peak of 75,852 in the year ending March 2010 and is lower than levels seen in 2007 (50,822). The fall has been seen in all types of family formation and reunion grants, with just over half (51% or 4,483) of the fall due to decreases in wives and husbands granted settlement.

5.8 Staying in the UK

Analysis undertaken for the Migrant Journey Third Report showed that, 66% of migrants issued family visas in 2006 appear to have legally remained in the immigration system after five years, 5% having some form of valid leave to remain and 61% achieving settlement. This is an increase from 59% for migrants issued family visas in 2004.

Source: Home Office, Migrant Journey Third Report.

5.9 Data tables

Data on family immigration, sourced from Home Office administrative systems, can be found in the following tables:

The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of those coming to join or accompany others at International Migration.

5.10 About the figures

There are a range of measures that can be used to monitor those, subject to immigration control, coming to the UK for family reasons. These include:

issues of visas for entry clearance, providing information on those intending to come
admissions data, providing information on migrants at the border
settlement data, providing information on the number of people who are granted or refused permission to stay permanently
estimates on non-EU immigration from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) on migrants intending to stay for at least a year to accompany or join someone else including family

In addition, grants of (in-country) extensions of stay granted to those on the ‘family route’ provide information on migrants already in the UK.

The numbers of applications and decisions made reflect changes over time in levels of immigration, as well as policy and legislative changes, including changes to immigration legislation. The availability and allocation of resources within the UK Border Agency can also affect the number of decisions. In July 2012 legislative changes were made to the family Immigration Rules, which apply to applications made on or after 9 July 2012. It is not possible to separately identify applications made under the previous and new rules; hence there is currently no reference to the measurement of the impact of these changes.

There are a number of ways that allow people to come to the UK for family reasons. The traditional ‘family route’ is made up of those coming to join or accompany family members who are British Citizens or settled people. This includes married or unmarried partners, including same-sex partners; children; and elderly relatives. Others come as dependants of people who have not been granted settlement, including the family members of those working or studying in the UK and of refugees. There are also those who come for a short time to visit family members.

Figures for immigration as measured by the IPS relate to non-EU nationals whilst other figures (visas, extensions, settlement) relate to non-EEA nationals.

The various statistics for those coming to the UK for family reasons can appear to give different pictures of immigration. Often this is because the latest data for different measures cover different time periods. In addition, they also count different aspects of the immigration process, with some showing intentions or permissions, while others show actual events.

The ‘Before entry’ and ‘Settlement’ sections of the User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics include a discussion on the differences between the various data sources presented on immigration for family reasons.

For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

The user guide provides further details on the topics relating to family including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being estimated from samples or based on data sourced from an administrative database.

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional (2011 IPS data are final).

Figures for immigration in this briefing are estimates and are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Information on numbers of non-EEA family members of EEA nationals who exercise rights to stay in the country is available in the ‘European Economic Area’ topic.

Question 6

6. Before entry

Accepted Answer

6.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief relate to the issue and application for entry clearance visas applied for and passengers refused entry at ports. This latest release also includes new quarterly data on visa applications and outcomes (Table be.01.q) and visas granted by reason by nationality (Tables be06.q.w to be.06.q.o).

6.2 Key facts

Excluding visitor and transit visas, there were 507,701 visas issued in 2012, the lowest annual recorded figure using comparable data available from 2005 and 10% lower than 2011 (564,807). There was a corresponding 11% fall in applications (from 652,965 to 578,772).

In 2012, work, study (excluding student visitors) and family-related visas issued fell 3%, 20% and 10% respectively compared with 2011 (to 145,138, 209,804 and 40,925). The number of work and family related visas issued in 2012 are now at their lowest annual recorded level using comparable data. The fall in the number of visas issued corresponds to falls in work and study (excluding student visitor) visa applications of 3% and 25%, and an increase of 6% in family-related visa applications. The recent falls for work and study are likely to be partly due to policy changes, which came into effect from 2011 for these reasons for entry to the UK.

Indian nationals were issued the highest number of visas in 2012 (76,644, 15%), followed by nationals of China (74,596, 15%) and the United States (33,941, 7%).

In contrast, there was an 11% increase in student visitor visas issued in 2012 to 68,372 (corresponding with a 7% increase in applications). Student visitor visas are for short-term study (typically for 6 months) and cannot be extended.

The number of passengers refused entry at port has fallen 10% in 2012 (to 15,457) compared with 2011. This fall continues the previous falls seen since 2004 (38,391).

Visas issued by reason (excluding visitor and transit visas)

Year	Total grants of which:	Work	Study	Student visitors(1)	Family	Dependant joining/accompanying	Other
2008	584,176	184,711	231,975	42,238	53,544	41,460	30,248
2009	597,450	155,691	303,361	37,703	49,472	17,480	33,743
2010	596,966	160,737	285,544	49,191	53,713	15,357	32,424
2011	564,807	149,310	261,870	61,406	45,723	14,155	32,343
2012	507,701	145,138	209,804	68,372	40,925	11,713	31,749
Change: latest year	-57,106	-4,172	-52,066	6,966	-4,798	-2,442	-594
Percentage change	-10%	-3%	-20%	11%	-10%	-17%	-2%

Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table be.04.

Table Note (1) Student visitors are allowed to come to the UK for six months (or 11 months if they will be studying an English Language course) and cannot extend their stay. The student visitor category was introduced in 2007 and may include individuals previously recorded as visitors, so for consistency and comparability over time they have been excluded from study-related totals. For further discussion of study and student visitors see the study topic briefing.

Long term trends in visas issued by reason (excluding visitor and transit visas), by reason

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December, based on data in Table be.04.q.

(1) Student visitors are allowed to come to the UK for 6months (or 11 months if they will be studying an English Language course) and cannot extend their stay. The student visitor category was introduced in 2007 and may include individuals previously recorded as visitors, so for consistency and comparability over time they have been excluded from study-related totals. For further discussion of study and student visitors see the study topic briefing. (2) The published Student visitor category provides for persons who wish to come to the UK as a visitor and undertake a short period of study that will be completed within the period of their leave. It includes those who applied on the ‘Short-term student’ endorsement prior to the introduction of the ‘Student visitor’ endorsement in September 2007.

Detailed briefing on the trends of visas issued for work, study or family reasons (together with dependants joining / accompanying) are available in the Work, Study and Family topics hyperlink. For example, the Study topic contains discussion of the differing trends for student visitors and the other students.

6.3 Visas issued by nationality

Excluding visitors and transit visas, over half (54% or 273,927) of the 507,701 entry clearance visas issued in 2012 were to Asian nationals with a further 12% (61,613) and 11% (58,128) issued to nationals of the Americas and Africa respectively.

Indian nationals were issued the highest number of visas in 2012 (76,644, 15%), followed by nationals of China (74,596, 15%) and the United States (33,941, 7%).

Most of the 52,066 (-20%) fall in visas issued for study (excluding student visitors) related to Asian nationals (falling 48,020), with falls of 24,668 (-69%), 17,604 (-50%), 3,537 (-72%) and 3,402 (-53%) for Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi nationals. However, there were increases for some Asian nationalities; particularly notable was an increase of 4,856 (+9%) for Chinese nationals.

Most of the 6,966 increase in visas issued for student visitors related to Asian nationals (+3,593), with increases of 1,759, 596 and 827 for Chinese, Japanese and South Korean nationals, and there was also an increase for Libyans (+1,492).

Long term trends in visas issued by nationality (excluding visitor and transit visas) by region

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October-December 2012, Table be.06.q to be.06.q.o.

(1) A small number (1,000 to 2,000 per year excluding visitor and transit visas) of Home Office visas cannot be ascribed to a world area and are categorised as ‘Other’. This category does not appear in the above chart.

(2) European Economic Area (EEA) nationals do not require a visa to enter the UK. However some EEA nationals do apply and are issued with visas.

From the year ending September 2009 onwards, those with an Asian nationality have accounted for over half of visas issued and recent fluctuations in the number of visas issued have been driven by Asian nationals. Asian nationals account for 54% (273,927) of the 507,701 visas issued in 2012.

These figures are based on data for the number of visas issued by category and individual nationality published on a quarterly basis back to 2005 for the first time in this release. These data are available in Before entry tables be.06.q to be.06.q.o.

6.4 Data tables

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

Before Entry vol. 2: Tables be.01.q, be.04.q and be.06.q
Before Entry vol. 3: Tables be.06.q.w
Before Entry vol. 4: Tables be.06.q.s to be.08.q
Historic data Before Entry: Tables be.06 and be.06.q.o

Before entry tables cs.01 to cs.10q also show data on sponsored visa applications for the work and study routes (described further in the Work and Study topics).

6.5 About these figures

Before travelling to the UK, a person may be required to apply for and be issued with an entry clearance visa, depending on their nationality, purpose of visit and intended length of stay. On arrival at UK ports, or UK border controls in France and Belgium (often termed ‘juxtaposed’ controls), all individuals have to satisfy a UK Border Agency officer that they have the right to enter the country before being admitted to the UK.

Passengers refused entry relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry.

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

The data in this briefing include dependants, unless stated otherwise. Data for visas prior to 2005 are not comparable.

Information on passengers refused entry and subsequently removed are available in the ‘Removals and voluntary departures’ topic.

The ‘Before entry’ section of the user guide includes a discussion on the differences between entry clearance visas and other data sources including: passenger arrivals; long-term international migration estimates of immigration published by the Office for National Statistics and differences between appeals on visa decisions published by the Home Office and the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Data on migration applications decided within published standards and the cost per decision for all permanent and temporary migration applications are published as Official Statistics by UKBA as part of their key input and impact indicators, UK Border Agency Our performance.

Question 7

7. Admissions

Accepted Answer

7.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief relate to the number of journeys made by people entering the UK. Where an individual enters the country more than once, each arrival is counted. For non-EEA nationals who are subject to immigration control, more detailed information is available on the purpose of their journey and nationality.

7.2 Key facts

The total number of admissions was 106.1 million in 2012, similar to 2011 (105.9 million). This was influenced by a fall in the third quarter total (33.6 million compared with 34.0 million in the third quarter of 2011) which reflected fewer passengers arriving during the staging of the London 2012 Olympics which took place from July to August 2012, and the Paralympic Games which took place from August to September 2012.

In 2012, there were an extra 0.7 million journeys by British, other EEA and Swiss nationals (93.3 million), compared with 2011 (92.5 million). By contrast, there were, correspondingly, 0.5 million fewer journeys by non-EEA nationals (falling from 13.3 million to 12.8 million).

For non-EEA nationals the latest more detailed data by purpose of journey, for the year ending June 2012, showed a 1% increase to 13.2 million. This was almost wholly due to a 3% increase in visitors from 7.6 million to 7.8 million, and there was also a 20% increase (from 246,000 to 295,000) for student visitors. There were falls of 12%, 30% and 18% for the work, study and family categories, which may reflect policy changes for the work and study routes which came into effect during 2011.

Admissions by purpose of journey – non-EEA nationals

Year	Total admissions of which:	Work	Study	Student visitors (1)	Family	Visitors	Other
Year ending June 2008	13.2 million	186,000	294,000	64,500	49,900	7.4 million	5.2 million
Year ending June 2009	12.1 million	175,000	239,000	158,000	40,900	6.7 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2010	12.4 million	159,000	320,000	227,000	35,400	6.9 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2011	13.1 million	161,000	303,000	246,000	36,100	7.6 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2012	13.2 million	142,000	212,000	295,000	29,500	7.8 million	4.7 million
Change: latest year	0.1 million	-19,600	-90,500	49,600	-6,620	0.2 million	-0.1 million
Percentage change	1%	-12%	-30%	20%	-18%	3%	-1%

Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table ad.02.q

(1) Student visitors are allowed to come to the UK for 6 months (or 11 months if they will be studying an English Language course) and cannot extend their stay. The student visitor category was introduced in 2007 and may include individuals previously recorded as visitors, so for consistency and comparability over time they have been excluded from study-related totals. For further discussion of study and student visitors see the study topic briefing.

Long term trends in admissions

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December 2012, Table ad.01.

Non-EEA nationalities admitted to the UK, 2011

Data by nationality in 2012 are planned to be published in Immigration Statistics April-June 2013, due to be released in August 2013 when further analysis of 2012 data is made.

United States nationals accounted for more than a quarter (28%) of the 13.3 million journeys by non-EEA nations into the UK. The top ten nationalities accounted for 69% of all journeys made.

Top 10 nationalities admitted, 2011

(Total number of admissions 13.3 million)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December 2012, Table ad.03.

Data tables

Further data are available in Admissions tables ad.01 to ad.03.

7.3 About the figures

All people admitted are subject to immigration control except British, other European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals.

Most data in this briefing are rounded to three significant figures. All data include dependants.

For arriving passengers subject to immigration control, who have previously obtained leave to enter, the journey is recorded as ‘returning after a temporary absence abroad’. Due to the volume of passengers arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick some data are estimated from monthly samples.

Some major components of the total (visitors, passengers returning and passengers in transit) reflect, to a large extent, trends in international tourism. The number of other admissions (for example, for work, study or family reasons) are likely to reflect trends in international migration and related policy and legislative changes affecting those subject to immigration control, for example changes in immigration legislation, enlargement of the European Union, and the introduction of the points-based system for work and study in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Total passenger arrival data are available up to the year ending December 2012 (Table ad.01 q); data on the purpose of journey (eg visit, work, study) are available up to the year ending June 2012 (Table ad.02.q); and data for individual nationalities are available up to the calendar year 2011 (Table ad.03).

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics gives further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being estimated from samples. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

Further briefing on those arriving who are not subject to immigration control is available in the ‘EEA’ topic.

The ‘Admissions’ section of the user guide includes a discussion on the differences between passenger arrivals and long-term international migration estimates of immigration published by the Office for National Statistics. A comparison between passenger arrivals and entry clearance visas is provided in the ‘Before entry’ topic.

Further information on visitors to the UK is published by the Office for National Statistics in ‘Overseas Travel and Tourism, August 2012’.

Historical data on travel trends from 1980 to 2011 was published in ONS’s bulletin ‘Travel trends 2011’.

Data on the clearance of passengers at the border within published standards and the cost of passengers cleared at the border are published as official statistics by the UK Border Agency as part of their key input and impact indicators, UK Border Agency Our performance.

Question 8

8. Asylum part 1: applications, initial decisions and outcome

Accepted Answer

8.1 Introduction

This is part one of 3 topic briefings on asylum. Asylum is when someone applies for protection from persecution or fear of persecution in their own country. The UK Border Agency then decides whether the application is legitimate.

This briefing covers asylum applications, initial decisions and outcome analysis. The second covers appeals, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and age disputes. The final briefing covers support, resettlement and international comparisons.

8.2 Key facts

In 2012, there were 21,785 asylum applications, a rise of 1,920 (10%) from the previous year. This follows a similar increase between 2010 and 2011, but the number of applications remains low relative to the peak number of applications in 2002 (84,132), and similar to levels seen since 2005 with only 2010 and 2011 having lower annual figures. This increase is driven by rises in the latter half of 2012 and in applications from a number of nationalities, particularly Pakistan (+844), Syria (+637), India (+531), Bangladesh (+437) and Albania (+419).

The number of initial decisions on asylum applications has fallen 3% (-462) to 16,918 in 2012 from the previous year, continuing falls since a peak in 2009 (24,287).

The proportion of applicants granted asylum, a form of temporary protection, or leave under new family or private life rules increased to 36% (6,065) in 2012, the highest proportion in the current series of published data available from 2001. The increase appears to be driven by increases in grants of asylum; in 2012, there were 5,139 asylum grants, higher than all years from 2003 to 2011.

Asylum applications and initial decisions for main applicants

Year	Total applications	Initial decisions of which:	Granted (1)	Refused
2009	24,487	24,287	6,742 (28%)	17,545 (72%)
2010	17,916	20,261	5,195 (26%)	15,066 (74%)
2011	19,865	17,380	5,649 (33%)	11,731 (67%)
2012	21,785	16,918	6,065 (36%)	10,853 (64%)
Change: latest year	1,920	-462	416	-878
Percentage change	10%	-3%	7%	-7%

8.3 Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table as.01.

(1) Granted includes grants of asylum, humanitarian protection, discretionary leave, leave to remain under family life rules and leave to remain under private life rules.

Long-term trends in asylum applications, 2001–2012

The chart below shows the number of asylum applications made for calendar years back to 2001.

Long-term trends in asylum applications, 2001 to 2012.

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table as.01.

a process preventing certain nationalities from appealing a decision while in the country (non-suspensive appeals process) was introduced in 2002.
juxtaposed controls, full immigration controls operated by UK immigration officers, were opened in France and Belgium in 2002 and 2004.
fast-track facilities for asylum applications were introduced in 2003.

Nationalities applying for asylum

The highest number of applications in 2012 were from nationals of Pakistan (3,262), which also saw the highest increase in applications between 2011 and 2012 (+844 or +35%). Syria saw the next highest increase, and the highest percentage increase in applications (+637, 992 applications in 2012 compared with 355 in 2011).

World events have an effect on which nationals are applying for asylum at any particular time. For example, there has been a large proportionate increase in the number of applicants from Syria since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. Political unrest in Libya in 2011 coincided with a substantial increase in asylum applications from Libyan nationals (722 applications in 2011 compared to 90 in 2010), although numbers of applications have fallen during 2012 to 219, reflecting a more stable situation in Libya.

Top 10 nationalities applying for asylum, 2012

(Total number of applications 21,785)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table as.01.

Most applications are made by those already in the country (88% of applications in 2012) rather than people arriving at port. The proportion of applications made at port has decreased since 2001 when 35% of asylum applications were made there. This coincides with the opening of UK border controls (often termed ‘juxtaposed’ controls) in France and Belgium in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

Applicants tend to be young and male. Of applicants in 2011, over half (58%) were between the ages of 21 and 34 and 73% were male.

Outcome of asylum applications, by year of application

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table as.06

Information on the outcome of asylum applications will be updated in the Immigration Statistics April-June 2013 release in August, when further analysis of 2012 data will be available.

Following through the 19,865 main applicants who applied for asylum in 2011, as at May 2012 when the statistics were compiled, an estimated 7,347 (37%) had been granted asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave at either initial decision or appeal; 9,948 (50%) cases had been refused; and a further 2,570 (13%) were awaiting confirmation of an initial decision or appeal. The overall proportion of applications either granted asylum or a form of temporary protection at initial decision or having an appeal allowed, was estimated to be 26% in 2004; and the proportion gradually increased year on year to 39% in 2009.

The higher number of applications and grants of asylum in 2008 and 2009 compared to other years is related to the large number of nationals of Zimbabwe applying for asylum in late 2008 and early 2009. Of the 5,613 main asylum applicants from Zimbabwe in 2009, 3,128 (56%) were granted asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave at either initial decision or appeal and 2,395 cases were refused.

8.4 Applications pending

At the end of 2012, 14,257 of the applications received since April 2006 from main applicants were pending a decision (initial decision, appeal or further review), 15% more than at the end of 2011. The increase can be accounted for by an increase in number pending an initial decision (+45%); the numbers pending further review having decreased by 22%.

8.5 Data tables

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

Asylum vol. 1: Tables as.01 to as.01.q
Asylum vol. 2: Tables as.02 to as.06
Historic data asylum vol. 1: Tables as.01 to as.01.q
Historic data asylum vol. 2: Tables as.02 to as.09.q

8.6 About the figures

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

One person (the main applicant) can apply for asylum on behalf of themselves and others (dependants). This briefing excludes numbers of dependants, unless stated otherwise.

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional.

Numbers of asylum applicants removed are available in the ‘Removals and Voluntary Departures’ topic.

The UK Border Agency publishes data on asylum performance framework measures and the size of the controlled archive, UK Border Agency: our performance.

Question 9

9. Asylum part 2: appeals, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, age disputes and dependants

Accepted Answer

9.1 Introduction

This is part 2 of 3 topic briefings on asylum. Asylum is when someone applies for protection from persecution or fear of persecution in their own country. The UK Border Agency then decides whether the application is legitimate.

This briefing covers appeals, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) and age disputes. The first covers asylum applications, initial decisions and outcome analysis. The final briefing covers support, resettlement and international comparisons.

9.2 Asylum appeals

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service received 8,172 asylum appeals from main applicants in 2012, continuing the falls over the last three years (from 14,340 in 2009). The fall coincides with a decrease in the number of refusals at initial decision over the same period.

In 2012, the proportion of appeals dismissed was 66% and allowed was 27%; the remainder were withdrawals.

Asylum appeals received and determined for main applicants

Year	Total admissions of which:	Work	Study	Student visitors (1)	Family	Visitors	Other
Year ending June 2008	13.2 million	186,000	294,000	64,500	49,900	7.4 million	5.2 million
Year ending June 2009	12.1 million	175,000	239,000	158,000	40,900	6.7 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2010	12.4 million	159,000	320,000	227,000	35,400	6.9 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2011	13.1 million	161,000	303,000	246,000	36,100	7.6 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2012	13.2 million	142,000	212,000	295,000	29,500	7.8 million	4.7 million
Change: latest year	0.1 million	-19,600	-90,500	49,600	-6,620	0.2 million	-0.1 million
Percentage change	1%	-12%	-30%	20%	-18%	3%	-1%

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table as.14.

9.3 Longer-term trends in asylum appeals

In 2012, a total of 8,172 main applicants requested an asylum appeal, a decrease of 3,401 since the series began in 2007.

In 2012, a total of 8,229 appeals were determined, a fall of 22% from 2011 and continuing the fall from 2010. Data from the UK Border Agency sources are currently only available back to 2007, but data published by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service suggest that 2010 saw the most cases determined since 2005.

9.4 Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

Annual applications from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASCs) fell by 16% between 2011 (1,398) and 2012 (1,168 applications), continuing falls since a peak of 4,285 in 2008. This decreasing trend has been influenced by falling applications from nationals of Afghanistan, although they still form the highest nationality group. Over a fifth (21%) of UASC applications were made by male nationals of Afghanistan and just under a fifth (19%) were made by male nationals of Albania; overall 82% (961) of applications were from male applicants. In 2012, 5% of main applicants were UASCs.

A total of 870 initial decisions were made on UASC applications in 2012, a decrease of 36% compared to 2011 (1,353).

9.5 Age disputes

The UK Border Agency disputes the age of some asylum applicants, who claim to be children. In 2012, 328 individuals had their age disputed, a decrease of 12% compared with 2011 (374) and continuing recent year-on-year decreases. Since 2008, falls in the number of age disputes have followed trends in falls of UASC applications. For example, the large fall (-57%) in the number of age disputes from 1,129 in 2009 to 489 in 2010 mirrors the large fall (-46%) in the number of UASC applications from 3,174 in 2009 to 1,717 in 2010.

In 2012, of the 328 applicants, nationals of Afghanistan formed the highest proportion, 23% (76 individuals), followed by nationals of Vietnam, 15% (50 individuals).

9.6 Dependants

In 2012, the 21,785 asylum applications received accounted for 27,486 individuals when dependants were included; an average of one dependant for every four main applicants. Comparing the 10 nationalities with the highest number of main applicants in 2012, the ratios of dependants to main applicants ranges from one dependant for every 26 main applicants for nationals of Eritrea to one dependant for every two main applicants from Nigeria.

Initial decisions were made relating to 4,961 dependants in 2012. Of these 1,383 (28%) were granted asylum, 324 (7%) were granted a form of temporary protection, and 3,254 (66%) were refused. The proportion being refused asylum is higher than main applicants in 2012 (64%), although lower than the proportion for dependants in 2011 (72%).

9.7 Data tables

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

9.8 About the figures

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) (formerly Tribunals Service Immigration and Asylum and the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT)), an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, hears and decides appeals against decisions made by the UK Border Agency. It consists of the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber and Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC and UTIAC). The First-tier Tribunal Judge will decide whether the appeal against the decision is successful or not (this is known as the decision being ‘allowed’ or ‘dismissed’).

An unaccompanied asylum-seeking child (UASC) is a person under 18, applying for asylum on his or her own right, who is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who by law has responsibility to do so. The figures presented here include unaccompanied children who go on to claim asylum and so can include some cases where an unaccompanied child at a later date makes a claim when they are over 18.

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database.

One person (the main applicant) can apply for asylum on behalf of themselves and others (dependants). This briefing excludes numbers of dependants, unless stated otherwise.

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

Numbers of asylum applicants removed are available in the ‘Removals and voluntary departures’ topic’.

The UK Border Agency publishes data on asylum performance framework measures and the size of the controlled archive, UK Border Agency: our performance.

Cases heard at the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber are a subset of data published in Quarterly statistics for the Tribunals Service.

Question 10

10. Asylum part 3: asylum support, international comparisons and resettlement

Accepted Answer

Valid: 28 February 2013 to 23 May 2013

10.1 Introduction

This is part 3 of 3 topic briefings on asylum. Asylum is when someone applies for protection from persecution or fear of persecution in their own country. The UK Border Agency then decides whether the application is legitimate.

This third briefing covers support, resettlement and international comparisons. The first covers asylum applications, initial decisions and outcome analysis. The second covers appeals, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and age disputes.

10.2 Support

There were 11,478 support applications from asylum seekers (Section 95 support) in 2012, having fallen from a peak of 68,624 in 2002.

At the end of December 2012, 20,182 asylum seekers were being supported under Section 95, a decrease of 712 (-3%) on the previous year. Numbers receiving Section 95 are low relative to the number in receipt of support in December 2003, which is the start if the current data series, when 80,123 asylum seekers were receiving Section 95 support. Numbers supported under Section 95 includes dependants.

The number of failed asylum seekers receiving Section 4 support at the end of December 2012 was 2,757, an increase of 447 (+19%) on the previous year. The number of failed asylum seekers supported under Section 4 peaked at the end of September 2009 when 12,019 asylum seekers were receiving this support.

The overall falls in support applications and numbers receiving support are generally in line with falling numbers of asylum applications and the clearance of a backlog of asylum cases from the early part of the century.

10.3 Resettlement

In addition to those asylum seekers who apply in the UK, a resettlement scheme is also offered to those who have been referred to the UK Border Agency by UNHCR (the UN agency for refugees).

In 2012, a total of 1,039 refugees were resettled in the UK through this process, higher than all previous years. This is more than double the previous year due to the scheduling of arrivals within an operating year of April to March, rather than a calendar year.

10.4 International comparisons

Including dependants, the estimated total number of asylum applications to the EU was 306,400 in 2012. The total number of asylum applications across the EU increased from 2011 (284,800) and was the highest since 2003.

Top 10 EU countries receiving asylum applications, 2012 (includes dependants)

(Total number of applications 306,400)

Chart notes:

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October-December 2012, Table as.07 Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

The UK had the fourth highest number of asylum applications to the EU in 2012. This is an increase from sixth highest in 2011 and fifth highest in 2010 but a drop from 2009 when the UK was second highest in terms of asylum applications within the EU. In 2012 Germany, France and Sweden had more asylum applicants than the UK.

With the relative size of resident populations of the 27 EU countries taken into account, the UK ranked 13th in terms of asylum seekers per head of population in 2012, compared with 14th in 2011.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) publishes a report entitled ‘Asylum Trends in Industrialised Countries (Opens in a new window)’ which includes an international comparison of the number asylum applications.

10.5 Data tables

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

10.6 About the figures

As asylum seekers are not normally allowed to work for the first year while their application is being considered, support is available (known as Section 95 support). This may be provided as both accommodation and subsistence, or accommodation or subsistence only. Failed asylum seekers who are not eligible for support under Section 95, but are homeless and have reasons that temporarily prevent them from leaving, may be eligible for support (called Section 4 support).

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

The ‘Asylum’ section of the user guide includes a discussion on the differences between the definition of asylum applications used in this release compared to Eurostat (the European statistical organisation), as well as the definition of asylum appeals used in this release compared to asylum appeals published by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

One person (the main applicant) can apply for asylum on behalf of themselves and others (dependants). This briefing excludes numbers of dependants, unless stated otherwise.

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional.

Numbers of asylum applicants removed are available in the ‘Removals and voluntary departures’ topic.

The UK Border Agency publishes data on asylum performance framework measures and the size of the controlled archive, UK Border Agency Our performance.

Question 11

11. Extensions of stay

Accepted Answer

11.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief relate to the number of people, subject to immigration control, who are granted or refused permission to extend their stay in the UK. An individual may make more than one application in any given year.

11.2 Key facts

The total number of grants of extensions fell by 12% to 262,234 in 2012, continuing the falls over the last four years (from 362,859 in 2008).

The 12% fall in total grants was largely due to a 27% fall in study-related grants from 119,303 to 87,195. The fall is consistent with the tightening of the immigration rules for students since April 2011.

Whilst study and family-related grants of extensions fell, work-related extensions (141,007) were 5% (+6,630) higher in 2012 than in 2011, although still lower than in 2009 (163,449) and 2008 (188,211).

Grants to highly skilled individuals for work fell from 88,158 to 81,868 in 2012. This was more than accounted for by a fall in grants in the post-study work route (down from 49,217 to 40,710 with the figure for the fourth quarter of 2012 falling to 506 compared with 12,498 in the fourth quarter of 2011). The post-study work route was closed to new applications on 6 April 2012 but existing applications continue to be processed after this date.

Individuals who have graduated after studying in the UK can stay under other immigration routes if they meet the criteria. There was a 58% increase in grants for skilled workers (from 31,730 to 50,216) which may partly reflect the closure in April 2012 of the post-study work route for highly skilled individuals.

Grants in other categories fell by 40% (-11,399) to 17,332, mainly reflecting a fall in discretionary leave grants which is likely to be a result of the new approach to those seeking to remain in the UK on the basis of their right to private or family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights from 9 July 2012. Details of the new approach can be found in the Statement of intent family migration.

Grants to extend stay by reason, and refusals

Year	Total decisions	Total grants of which:	Refusals	Work	Study	Family	Other
2008	389,145	362,859	188,211	132,366	28,564	13,718	26,286
2009	393,854	333,979	163,449	129,579	23,597	17,354	59,875
2010	371,868	309,475	126,943	140,151	22,048	20,333	62,393
2011	347,637	299,600	134,377	119,303	17,189	28,731	48,037
2012	295,428	262,234	141,007	87,195	16,700	17,332	33,194
Change: latest year	-52,209	-37,366	6,630	-32,108	-489	-11,399	-14,843
Percentage change	-15%	-12%	5%	-27%	-3%	-40%	-31%

Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table ex.01.

Long-term trends in grants of an extension of stay

The chart below illustrates longer-term trends in grants to extend stay for the calendar years 2005 to 2012.

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table ex.01.

Nationalities granted an extension (excludes dependants)

Data for grants by nationality in 2012 are planned to be published in Immigration Statistics April-June 2013, due to be released in August 2013 when further analysis of 2012 data are made.

Of the total 237,098 grants of an extension of stay in 2011, 67% (158,645) were to Asian nationals and 15% (35,974) were to African nationals.

Top 10 nationalities granted an extension to stay, 2011 (excludes dependants)

(Total number of grants 237,098)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table ex.02.

11.3 Data tables

Further data are available in Extensions tables ex.01 to ex.02.

11.4 About the figures

EEA nationals are not subject to immigration control so are not included in these figures. When a country joins the EU its nationals are no longer included in these figures eg Bulgarian and Romanian nationals are not included from 2007 onwards.

Information on the changes to the student and highly skilled work routes from April 2011 and to the family route from July 2012 are provided in the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline. Further details are available from the UKBA website:

The data in this briefing include dependants, except where stated otherwise, and take account of the outcomes of reconsiderations and appeals. All figures for 2011 and 2012 are provisional.

The numbers of applications and decisions made reflect changes over time in levels of immigration, as well as policy and legislative changes, including changes to immigration legislation. The availability and allocation of resources within UK Border Agency can also affect the number of decisions.

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database.

Data on migration applications decided within published standards, the cost per decision for all permanent and temporary migration applications and the size of the controlled archive are published as Official Statistics by the UK Border Agency as part of their performance data. Details including an explanation of what the controlled archive contains, are given on the UKBA website, UK Border Agency Our performance.

Question 12

12. Settlement

Accepted Answer

12.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief relate to the number of people, subject to immigration control, who are granted or refused permission to stay permanently in the UK, known as settlement.

12.2 Key facts

The number of people granted permission to stay permanently in 2012 fell by 24% (-39,987) to 126,891, the lowest level in the last five years, mostly following the outcome of the backlog case review which was completed in 2011.

Most of the 39,987 fall was accounted for by lower numbers of grants given on a discretionary or other basis (which fell from 29,897 to 8,755). Such grants in recent years have mainly resulted from a review of the backlog of cases from before March 2007 involving unsuccessful asylum applicants, and the latest fall follows the completion of the review.

In addition, there was a 16% (-8,763) fall in family-related grants to 45,323 continuing the fall from the peak of 72,239 in 2009, and a 11% (-7,688) fall in work-related grants to 62,204 continuing the fall from the peak of 84,347 in 2010.

Asylum-related grants fell by 18% (-2,394) in 2012 compared with 2011. The lower levels from 2008 to 2010 reflect rule changes in August 2005 that effectively delayed grants of settlement for some people. The rule change meant that people given refugee status no longer receive a grant immediately, and instead they have been given five years’ temporary permission to stay.

Grants to stay permanently by reason, and refusals

Year	Total applications	Initial decisions of which:	Granted (1)	Refused
2009	24,487	24,287	6,742 (28%)	17,545 (72%)
2010	17,916	20,261	5,195 (26%)	15,066 (74%)
2011	19,865	17,380	5,649 (33%)	11,731 (67%)
2012	21,785	16,918	6,065 (36%)	10,853 (64%)
Change: latest year	1,920	-462	416	-878
Percentage change	10%	-3%	7%	-7%

Table note

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table se.02.

Long-term trends in grants to stay permanently

The chart below illustrates longer-term trends in grants to stay permanently for the calendar years back to 2001.

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table se.02.

The increase from 2001 to 2005 was mainly due to increases in work and asylum-related grants, which then fell back in 2006 and 2007, reflecting changes to rules on how quickly those granted refugee status were granted settlement, and how quickly individuals qualified for work-related settlement. The higher levels in 2009 and 2010 were due to grants given on a discretionary or other basis resulting from a review of the backlog of cases involving unsuccessful asylum applicants, and the falls in 2011 and 2012 follow the completion of the review.

12.3 Nationalities granted permission to stay permanently

Data for grants by nationality in 2012 are planned to be published in Immigration Statistics April-June 2013, due to be released in August 2013 when further analysis of 2012 data are made.

Of the total 166,878 grants in 2011, over half (53% or 88,528) were to Asian nationals and a further quarter (25% or 42,148) were to African nationals.

Top 10 nationalities granted permission to stay permanently, 2011

(Total 166,878)

Top ten nationalities granted permission to stay permanently, 2011.

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October–December 2012, Table se.03.

12.4 Data tables

Further data are available in Settlement tables se.01 to se.06.

12.5 About the figures

EEA nationals are not subject to immigration control and so are not included in these figures. When a country joins the EU its nationals are no longer in these figures eg Bulgarian and Romanian nationals are not included from 2007 onwards.

The numbers of applications and decisions about permission to stay permanently reflect changes over time in levels of those entering the country, as well as policy and legislative changes. These may affect the number of people potentially eligible to stay permanently. The availability and allocation of resources within the UK Border Agency can also affect the number of decisions.

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database. It also includes a discussion of the differences between the grants of permission to stay permanently and long-term international migration estimates of immigration published by ONS. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

All the figures include spouses and dependants, unless stated otherwise. All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional.

From 2003 onwards, dependants of EEA and Swiss nationals in confirmed relationships may be shown separately in figures on issues and refusals of permanent residence documents, rather than in figures about settlement. Figures on issues and refusals of permanent residence documentation to EEA nationals and their family members are shown in Table ee.02 in the ‘European Economic Area’ topic.

Data on migration applications decided within published standards, the cost per decision for all permanent and temporary migration applications and the size of the controlled archive are published as Official Statistics by the UK Border Agency as part of their performance data. Details, including an explanation of what the controlled archive contains, are given on the UK Border Agency: our performance.

Migrant journey analysis is able to look at those who apply for settlement or indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and which visas they used to arrive at that point. This report shows that the proportion of settlement grants made to people who initially arrived on a temporary visa rose between 2009 and 2011. For example, those originally entering the UK on a student visa comprised 13% of settlement grants in 2009 and 16% in 2011.

Source: Home Office, Migrant Journey Third Report.

Question 13

13. Citizenship

Accepted Answer

13.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief relate to the number of people who are granted or refused British citizenship.

13.2 Key facts

There were 9% more decisions (201,465) and 9% more people granted British citizenship in 2012 (194,344) than in 2011. These increases may reflect greater resource used for decision-making as there was a 14% fall in applications over the same period (see Table cz.01). In 2012, decisions exceeded the level of applications, unlike in 2011. The 14% fall in applications may in turn reflect the recent falls in grants of permission to stay permanently, known as settlement.

The 9% increase in grants in 2012 was largely accounted for by people granted citizenship on the basis of residence (up 13% to 107,196, the highest number since records began in 1962) or on the basis of marriage (up 10% to 39,138).

Grants and refusals of citizenship

Year	Total decisions	Total grants of which:	Residence	Marriage	Children	Other	Total refusals and withdrawals
2008	138,463	129,377	65,713	29,075	30,832	3,757	9,086
2009	214,040	203,789	99,474	52,627	47,814	3,874	10,251
2010	203,020	195,046	93,681	47,028	48,611	5,726	7,974
2011	184,669	177,785	94,660	35,616	41,993	5,516	6,884
2012	201,465	194,344	107,196	39,138	42,980	5,030	7,121
Change: latest year	16,796	16,559	12,536	3,522	987	-486	237
Percentage change	9%	9%	13%	10%	2%	-9%	3%

Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October - December 2012, Tables cz.01 and cz.02.

Long-term trends in grants of citizenship

The chart below illustrates longer-term trends in grants of citizenship by calendar year.

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October - December 2012, Table cz.03.

Overall, the numbers of applications and grants have risen from 2001 onwards, although applications have fallen in the last year. The overall increase in the last decade is likely, in part, to reflect increased grants of permission to stay permanently (known as settlement) up until 2010. After a period of residence those granted settlement become eligible to apply for citizenship.

Grants of citizenship in 2008 were reduced when staff resources were temporarily transferred from decision-making to deal with administration of new applications. There were 194,344 grants in 2012, lower than the record 203,789 in 2009, but remaining more than double the level seen in 2001.

13.3 Grants of citizenship by previous nationality

Data for grants by previous nationality in 2012 are planned to be published in Immigration Statistics January-March 2013, due to be released in May 2013 as part of further analysis of 2012 data.

Former Indian and Pakistani nationals have accounted for the largest numbers of grants in almost every year from 2001 to 2011, (the exception was 2007, when former nationals of Pakistan accounted for only the fifth highest number of grants). Together, former Indian and Pakistani nationals accounted for a quarter (25%) of grants in 2011.

Top 10 previous nationalities granted citizenship, 2011

(Total number of grants 177,785)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October - December 2012, Table cz.06.

13.4 Where are new citizens attending ceremonies?

Data for ceremonies attended in 2012 are planned to be published in Immigration Statistics January-March 2013, due to be released in May 2013 as part of further analysis of 2012 data.

While the total number of ceremonies attended has increased in line with grants, the proportion in the London region fell from 54% in 2005 to 40% in 2010. Over the same period there were increases in the proportions for the north-west, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands and the south-east. In 2011 the geographical distribution remained similar to 2010.

13.5 Data tables

Further data are available in British citizenship tables cz.01 to cz.10.

In addition to applications and detailed breakdowns of decisions, these include information on citizenship ceremonies attended and renunciations of citizenship.

13.6 About the figures

There are no separate figures for dependants because all applications for citizenship are from individuals treated as applicants in their own right (including those made on the basis of a relationship with an existing British citizen). The data also reflect the outcome of reconsidered decisions. All figures for 2011 and 2012 are provisional.

Citizenship is granted under the British Nationality Act 1981 which came into force on 1 January 1983, subsequently amended by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

The number of applications and decisions made reflect changes over time in levels of those entering the country, as well as policy and legislative changes, which for example may affect the number of people potentially eligible to apply. The availability and allocation of resources within the UK Border Agency can also affect the number of decisions.

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

Who are the UK’s new citizens?, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) Breakfast Briefing Summary, July 2011.

Eurostat comparisons of grants of citizenship across different European countries: EU Member states granted citizenship to more than 800,000 persons in 2010 (EUROSTAT Statistics in Focus 45/2012)

Eurostat statistics database: Acquisition and loss of citizenship 1998 to 2010.

An updated Life in the UK test handbook that focuses on British culture and history was released on 28 January 2012.

Question 14

14. Removals and voluntary departures

Accepted Answer

14.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief 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, in the main, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has sought to remove individuals. While individuals removed at a port of entry have not necessarily entered the country, their removal requires action by UK Border Force and the UKBA, such as being placed on a return flight, and are 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.

14.2 Key facts

In 2012, the number of enforced removals from the UK decreased by 4% to 14,435 from 15,063 in 2011.

The number of passengers refused entry at port and who subsequently departed fell 14% in 2012 to 13,529 from 15,700 in 2011. This continues an overall fall in these figures between 2004 (36,167) and 2009 (29,162), followed by more rapid decreases since 2009.

In 2012, there is a decrease of 2% in total voluntary departures to 25,997 compared with the last year (26,419). This category has represented the largest proportion of those departing from the UK since the end of 2009. However, the retrospective nature of data-matching exercises that are undertaken to count for some voluntary departures means that the figure for 2012 is subject to upward revision (see the section ‘About the figures’).

Removals and voluntary departures by type

Year	Total admissions of which:	Work	Study	Student visitors (1)	Family	Visitors	Other
Year ending June 2008	13.2 million	186,000	294,000	64,500	49,900	7.4 million	5.2 million
Year ending June 2009	12.1 million	175,000	239,000	158,000	40,900	6.7 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2010	12.4 million	159,000	320,000	227,000	35,400	6.9 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2011	13.1 million	161,000	303,000	246,000	36,100	7.6 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2012	13.2 million	142,000	212,000	295,000	29,500	7.8 million	4.7 million
Change: latest year	0.1 million	-19,600	-90,500	49,600	-6,620	0.2 million	-0.1 million
Percentage change	1%	-12%	-30%	20%	-18%	3%	-1%

Table notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October– December 2012, Table rv.01.q (1) The figures for total voluntary departures and confirmed voluntary departures will initially be undercounts due to data-matching exercises that take place after the statistics are produced.

Of the voluntary departures, 61% of those departing were categorised as other confirmed voluntary departures, 25% as notified voluntary departures (where a person notifies UKBA that they have departed) and 14% as Assisted Voluntary Returns (where financial assistance is provided). The largest category, other confirmed voluntary departures, are cases 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 UKBA systems.

14.3 Asylum and non-asylum removals

In 2012, 34% of the total enforced removals had sought asylum at some stage, down 15% from the previous year and 58% lower than the peak of 11,743 in 2004. This decrease in asylum cases departing can be viewed in the context of a general decreasing trend in asylum applications since 2002.

In 2012, 66% of the total enforced removals had not claimed asylum at some stage, up 2% from the previous year but down 6% from the peak of 10,070 in 2010.

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

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October– December 2012, Table rv.01.q

The number of those refused entry at port and subsequently removed has decreased since the beginning of the data series. The 42% decrease in the number of passengers refused entry at port and subsequently removed from the third quarter of 2009 (7,751) to the second quarter of 2010 (4,520) has no identified single cause. It is likely to be due to a combination of factors including: a decrease in overall passenger volumes and full visa regimes being imposed, for example, for nationals of South Africa (July 2009) and Bolivia (May 2009).

The long-term trend for voluntary departures had been steadily increasing up to the first quarter of 2010, but quarterly figures have since fluctuated. The long term increases often coincide with the agency improving its contact management with migrants and its ability to track those that are leaving the UK. The figures include those, identified by administrative exercises, who have overstayed their leave and left the UK without informing UKBA, and allow UKBA to focus its enforcement action on those who remain in the UK. Since the end of 2009, this category represents the largest proportion of those departing from the UK as recorded in this data series. As mentioned above, the figures for the most recent quarters are likely to be subject to upward revision as matching checks are made on travellers after departure.

The numbers of enforced removals has declined since publication of this data series began, but quarterly figures have been fairly steady in recent years.

14.4 Departures by ‘harm’ assessment

A harm matrix was introduced in 2007 for monitoring the Public Service Agreement that then was applied as measurement of performance in removing the most harmful people first. ‘Higher harm’ assessments include people who have committed serious criminal and immigration offences.

In the financial year 2011/12, 14,806 enforced removals and 26,903 voluntary departures were subject to an assessment for a harm rating, of which 22% of enforced removals and 1% of voluntary departures were assessed as ‘higher harm’. In the previous financial year, 26% of enforced removals and 2% of total voluntary departures were assessed as ‘higher harm’.

14.5 Foreign national offenders

During the financial year 2011/12, 4,501 foreign national offenders were removed compared with 5,367 in 2010/11. In 2011/12, the UKBA target for removal of foreign national offenders was 4,700.

Quarterly figures of foreign national offenders are included within total enforced removals. UKBA removes foreign national offenders either by using enforcement powers or via deportation.

During the fourth quarter of 2012, 1,207 foreign national offenders were removed which represents an increase of 10% from the number of those removed in the fourth quarter of 2011 (1,096).

14.6 Data tables

Further data on removals and voluntary departures are available in:

Removals data for 2004 and 2005 are available in:

Historic data removals vol. 1: Tables rv.02 to rv.04.q
Historic data removals vol. 2: Table rv.05. to rv.06.q

14.7 About the figures

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database.

Numbers of enforced removals include people deported. Deportations are a subset of departures which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is in the public’s interest; a person who has received a deportation order is not allowed to return to the UK, unless the order is cancelled. Most illegal immigrants are removed from the UK under administrative or illegal entry powers and not deported. Published information on those deported from the UK is not separately available.

Other confirmed voluntary departures were previously known as “Other voluntary departures”, the name change, during 2012, is to clearly sign-post those departures which are confirmed by either checks at the border or after the departure; further details are available in the User Guide. As the data matching for the other confirmed voluntary departures is undertaken retrospectively this means these figures are particularly subject to greater upward revision than would be the case for other categories of departure. In light of this, the figures for the first nine months of 2012 for notified voluntary departures and other confirmed voluntary departures were revised upwards in Immigration Statistics October-December 2012 in February 2013. The cumulative revisions for the first nine months of 2012 for notified voluntary departures were from 4,375 to 5,189 (a 19% increase) and other confirmed voluntary departures from 8,336 to 12,133 (a 46% increase).

All data include dependants, unless otherwise stated and are provisional for 2011 and 2012.

Information on numbers of people removed upon leaving detention is available in the ‘Detention’ topic and numbers of non-asylum passengers initially refused entry at port are available in the ‘Before entry’ topic.

Data on the family returns process are published as official statistics by UKBA as part of their performance data, UK Border Agency Our performance.

A ‘short article on foreign national offenders in detention and entering detention’ has been published alongside the Immigration Statistics October to December 2012 release to provide detailed information in addition to the quarterly briefing on detention.

Question 15

15. Detention

Accepted Answer

15.1 Introduction

The figures in this topic brief relate to the number of people entering, leaving or in detention, solely under Immigration Act powers, at immigration removal centres, short-term holding facilities and pre-departure accommodation.

15.2 Key facts

In 2012, 28,909 people entered detention, an increase of 7% compared with the previous year (27,089). Over the same period there was an increase of 5% in those leaving detention (from 27,181 to 28,538). Of those leaving detention, 60% were removed from the UK.

As of the end of December 2012, 2,685 people were in detention, 11% higher than the number recorded at the end of December 2011.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, 61 children entered detention. This follows falls from a peak of 322 in the third quarter of 2009, to a low of 19 in the first quarter of 2011. The recent rise in quarterly numbers of children entering detention shows greater use of Cedars pre-departure accommodation which opened in August 2011 in conjunction with a new process, the ‘Family Returns Process’ to manage the removal of families that began in March 2011.

People entering, leaving and in detention, solely under Immigration Act powers

Year	Total admissions of which:	Work	Study	Student visitors (1)	Family	Visitors	Other
Year ending June 2008	13.2 million	186,000	294,000	64,500	49,900	7.4 million	5.2 million
Year ending June 2009	12.1 million	175,000	239,000	158,000	40,900	6.7 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2010	12.4 million	159,000	320,000	227,000	35,400	6.9 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2011	13.1 million	161,000	303,000	246,000	36,100	7.6 million	4.8 million
Year ending June 2012	13.2 million	142,000	212,000	295,000	29,500	7.8 million	4.7 million
Change: latest year	0.1 million	-19,600	-90,500	49,600	-6,620	0.2 million	-0.1 million
Percentage change	1%	-12%	-30%	20%	-18%	3%	-1%

Tables notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December 2012, Tables dt.01, dt.04 and dt.09.q.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, 7,091 people entered detention, 3% higher than the same quarter of the previous year (6,887) and 7,454 people left detention, 1% higher than the same quarter of the previous year (7,358).

15.3 Length of detention

Of those leaving detention during 2012 (28,538), 18,804 (66%) had been in detention for less than 29 days, 4,782 (17%) for between 29 days and two months and 3,046 (11%) for between two and four months. Of the 1,906 (7%) remaining, 255 had been in detention for between one and two years and 67 for 2 years or longer.

15.4 Children in detention

In December 2010, the government announced its commitment to ending the detention of children for immigration purposes. A new UK Border Agency ‘Family Returns Process’ for managing the removal of families with no right to be in the UK began in March 2011. Integral to this process new pre-departure accommodation located near Gatwick Airport, Cedars, opened in August 2011 and was specifically designed to provide a secure facility for children and their families. Whilst children are detained in Cedars under Immigration Act powers, they are not held in the same conditions as previously in adult detention facilities.

Since the start of 2011 the trend for children entering detention has continued to rise, with 61 children entering in the fourth quarter of 2012, an increase of 16 on the fourth quarter of 2011 (45) and of 27 on the fourth quarter of 2010 (34), but a fall from the fourth quarter of 2009 (295). Of those children entering detention in the fourth quarter of 2012, 29 were detained at Cedars compared with 27 at Tinsley House, two at Pennine House, two at Yarl’s Wood and one at Brook House. The percentage of children removed from the UK on leaving detention has risen from 41% in 2010 to 48% in 2012.

Of the 59 children leaving detention in the fourth quarter of 2012, 37 were removed from the UK and the remaining 22 were granted temporary admission or release. Of those leaving detention, five had been detained for more than three days, all between four and seven days.

Children entering detention, solely under Immigration Act powers

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October – December 2012, Table dt.03.q (1) Oakington Reception Centre closed on 12 November 2010, Yarl’s Wood closed to families with children on 16 December 2010. (2) Cedars pre-departure accommodation opened on 17 August 2011.

15.5 Data tables

Further data are available in Detention tables Volume 1 dt.01 to dt.08.q and in Detention tables Volume 2 dt.09.q to dt.12.q.

15.6 About the figures

Figures presented here do not include those held in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short-term holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours) and those recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their dependants.

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further detail on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database.

The user guide also includes information on Cedars pre-departure accommodation.

Children are those recorded as being under 18 years of age. All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional.

For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

Data on the family returns process are published as official statistics by the UK Border Agency as part of their performance data, UK Border Agency Our performance (Opens in a new window).

A ‘short article on foreign national offenders in detention and entering detention’ has been published alongside the Immigration Statistics October to December 2012 release to provide detailed information in addition to the quarterly briefing on detention.

Question 16

16. European Economic Area

Accepted Answer

Valid: 28 February 2013 to 23 May 2013

16.1 Introduction

The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of countries within the EU, together with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Nationals of the EEA and Switzerland have rights of free movement within the UK and are generally not subject to immigration control (though nationals of Bulgaria and Romania have certain restrictions placed on them). Hence there is less information available about EEA nationals from the Home Office’s immigration control administrative systems. This topic briefing brings together the information that is available relating to EEA nationals.

16.2 Key facts

In 2012 a large proportion (88%) of those entering the country were British, other EEA and Swiss nationals who have rights of free movement and are not subject to immigration control (see the admissions data table ad.01.q).

In the year ending June 2012, Long Term International Migration estimates based on intentions to stay for at least 12 months indicate that more British nationals emigrated from the UK than immigrated (76,000 nationals immigrating and 155,000 emigrating i.e. a net migration of -79,000). By contrast, there were a larger number of other EU nationals immigrating to the UK (157,000) than emigrating (86,000), i.e. net migration of +72,000.

In 2012 approvals under the Sector Based Scheme (SBS) fell by 58% to 330 and under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) increased by 4% to 20,842.

In 2011 for the EU2 countries (Bulgaria and Romania) there were 2,641 and 24,065 approvals for accession worker cards and for registration certificates, up 1% and down 11% respectively compared with 2010. There were a record 97,982 decisions on applications for residence documents for EEA nationals and non-EEA nationals who were related to EEA nationals. Of these, 47,653 provided an initial recognition of right to reside and 21,159 were issued in recognition of permanent residence, and the remainder were refusals.

Passenger arrivals including estimates of EEA admissions

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics October-December 2012, Table ad.01.

Estimates from IPS provide EU nationals’ reasons for entry. The large majority are either visitors for less than 12 months or individuals returning to the UK (Source: ONS, Travel Trends).

Data tables

Further data on EEA nationals are available in the following tables:

16.3 Admissions of EEA nationals

The number of British passenger arrivals rose from 68.2 million in 2004 to 71.9 million in 2007 and then fell to 60.9 million in 2010 before rising again to 62.8 million in 2011 and remained at the same level (62.8 million) in the year ending September 2012 (the latest period for which an estimate is available).

Between 2000 and 2003, the number of EEA and Swiss passenger arrivals was relatively stable; however, there was an increase in 2004, which coincided with ten countries joining the EU/EEA. The number of EEA passenger arrivals rose from 17.0 million in 2004 to 29.8 million in 2011 and 30.1 million in the year to September 2012. These numbers will, additionally, have been boosted from 2007 by nationals of Bulgaria and Romania, following these countries becoming part of the EEA.

16.4 Migration of EU nationals

Provisional Long Term International Migration estimates define immigrants as individuals who intend to stay for at least a year in the UK (or abroad for emigrants). In the year ending June 2012, Long Term International Migration estimates based on intentions to stay for at least 12 months indicate that more British nationals emigrated from the UK than immigrated (76,000 nationals immigrating and 155,000 emigrating, this representing a net migration of -79,000 down from -55,000 in the previous 12 months). This compares with an estimated 157,000 other EU nationals immigrating and 86,000 emigrating in the year to June 2012 this representing a net migration of +72,000 (slightly down from +79,000 in the previous 12 months).

Estimates from the International Passenger Survey show that 44% of British and 58% of other EU national immigrants came for work-related reasons. By contrast, only 18% of non-EU immigrants came for work while 56% came for study.

Source: ONS, Provisional Long Term International Migration (LTIM) estimates.

16.5 ‘EU2’ countries – Bulgaria and Romania

Applications for accession worker cards (required for work in the UK) and for registration certificates (that provide proof of residency rights) remained at similar levels in 2011 compared with 2010 (respectively an increase of 1% to 3,331 and a fall of less than 1% to 35,157). The corresponding data on approvals show a 1% rise (to 2,641) and an 11% fall (to 24,065) in the 2011 totals.

Application and approvals data for the first three quarters of 2012 have been revised upward compared to data previously published following the allocation of additional resource to deal with these cases within UKBA. Other reasons for revisions of accession worker cards and registration certificates applications and approvals data over time include that:

as decisions are made relating to the applications in a quarter, the number of approvals recorded against that quarter’s applications will increase
as decisions are made, and data are entered on administrative systems, the number of applications recorded on systems can increase.

It is anticipated that the applications and approvals data for 2012 will be further revised upwards and analysis of the 2012 data will be provided at a later date.

In 2012 approvals under the Sector Based Scheme (SBS) have fallen by 58% to 330, while under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) they have increased by 4% to 20,842.

Approvals in Sector Based Scheme applications have fallen from a peak of 1,569 in 2008 to less than 1,000 in each of the last 4 years. The total for 2011 (787) is higher than 2009 (775) and 2010 (601) but approvals for 2012 fell to 330.

SAWS approvals rose from 8,058 in 2007 to an annual average of just over 20,000 for 2009 to 2011, rising slightly to 20,842 in 2012.

16.6 Residence document decisions

Under European law, EEA nationals do not need to obtain documentation confirming their right of residence in the UK. However, if they want to support an application for a residence card by any of their family members who are not EEA nationals, they must demonstrate that they are residing in the UK in accordance with the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 and are “exercising Treaty rights” in the UK. The UKBA website provides details of documentation for EEA nationals, Residence documents for European nationals.

There were a record 97,982 decisions on applications for EEA residence documents in 2011, 20% higher than 2010, and following a number of measures introduced in 2009 and 2010 by UKBA to improve the quantity and quality of decisions. Just under half (49%) of decisions provided initial recognition of right to reside, and a fifth (22%) provided recognition of permanent residence, similar to the proportions for 2010.

Proportions of refusals were 9% for initial recognition of right to reside and 2% for recognition of permanent residence, falling from 16% and 5% respectively in 2010 largely due to the introduction of a new category of refusal for invalid applications that didn’t provide key information or documentation.

Decisions to issue initial recognition of right to reside documents and those in recognition of permanent residence rose in 2011 (by 7% and 5% respectively), although not for all regions or nationalities. Most notably, recognition of permanent residence fell for family members from Africa by 23% (1,072) from 4,620 in 2010 to 3,548 in 2011.

16.7 About the figures

Nationals of Bulgaria and Romania (the ‘EU2’ countries) currently have certain restrictions placed on them; other nationals of EEA countries can apply for documentation that shows that they have the right of free movement. In the first 12 months of stay, working Bulgarian and Romanian nationals are generally required to hold an accession worker card or apply for one of two lower-skilled quota schemes: the Sector Based Scheme (SBS) or Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). Other Bulgarian and Romanian nationals can apply for a registration certificate, giving proof of a right to live in the UK. Data for 2012 relating to accession worker cards and registration certificates is highly provisional and likely to be revised significantly in future (based on previous experience of these data sources) and has therefore not been used within the commentary.

Figures for admissions and immigration in this briefing are estimates rounded to the nearest thousand. Relevant tables provide unrounded data (except for admissions data and IPS estimates).

All data for 2011 and 2012 are provisional (2011 IPS data are final).

The User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics provides further details on this topic including definitions used, how figures are compiled, data quality and issues arising from figures being based on data sourced from an administrative database or from surveys. For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics see the Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the user guide.

EEA nationals do not require an entry clearance visa. Slightly over 460 visas were recorded as issued to EEA nationals in 2012, with 419 of these recorded as nationals of Cyprus. The ‘Before Entry’ data tables and section of the user guide provide more information.

Passenger arrivals figures for 2001 to 2003, referred to in the chart in ‘Key points’ above, can be found in Table 1.2 of ‘Control of Immigration Statistics UK 2009’.

There are still small numbers of EEA nationals seeking asylum, a total of 86 in 2012. Half of these applicants were Polish nationals (43). A relatively small number of EEA nationals (1,727 enforced removals, 617 refused entry at port and subsequently departed and 72 voluntary departures) are removed or depart voluntarily. European legislation generally sets higher thresholds for deporting EEA nationals than exist for other foreign nationals.

Croatia is expected to join the European Union (EU) on 1 July 2013. Transitional arrangements will be introduced to restrict Croatian nationals’ access to the UK labour market. More information on Croatia’s EU accession, including the Home Office Statement of Intent relating to Croatian accession to the EU, can be found on the Home Office website, Accession of Croatia to the European Union.

The Home Office has previously indicated that restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians will continue until the end of 2013, Migration: Bulgarian and Romanian workers.

Question 17

17. About this release

Accepted Answer

The Immigration Statistics quarterly release gives an overview of the work of the UK Border Agency and Border Force. It helps inform users including the Government, Parliament, the media and the wider public, and supports the development and monitoring of policy.

The release includes the following topic briefings: (cross-cutting) Work, Study, Family, (single topic) Before Entry, Admissions, Extensions, Settlement, Citizenship, Asylum (in three parts), Removals and Voluntary Departures, Detention and the European Economic Area. Detailed tables of figures accompany each of the topic briefings, providing data up to the fourth quarter of 2012 (October to December).

The Immigration Statistics release is a National Statistics output produced to the highest professional standards and free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians working in the Home Office Statistics Unit in accordance with the Home Office’s ‘Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics’ which covers our policy on revisions and other matters. The governance arrangements in the Home Office for statistics were strengthened on 1 April 2008 to place the statistical teams under the direct line management of a Chief Statistician, who reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters.

17.1 Changes to topic briefings and tables

There have been changes to the following topic briefings and tables in this release:

Before Entry	Data for entry clearance visa applications, resolutions, issues and refusals back to 2005 have been provided on a quarterly, rather than annual, basis in new tables be.01.q (by category) and be.02.q (by nationality) as well as new quarterly data by category by nationality in tables be.06.q.w to be.06.q.o. Quarterly data will now be published at each release
Before Entry and Removals and Voluntary Departures	Entry clearance visa data by category for 2005 to 2007 (be.06.q to be.06.q.o only) and removals and voluntary departures figures for 2004 and 2005 have been moved to the historical datasets

17.2 Revisions to data

Retrospective checks mean that figures for voluntary departures are particularly subject to upward revision. Figures from the first to the third quarter of 2012 for notified voluntary departures and other confirmed voluntary departures have now been revised upwards. The first to the third quarter cumulative revisions for notified voluntary departures are up from 4,375 to 5,189 (a 19% increase) and other confirmed voluntary departures from 8,336 to 12,133 (a 46% increase).

17.3 Future changes

The following changes are planned for the future, subject to data quality and available resources:

in order to make published figures as accessible as possible to a wide range of users, it is planned to publish tables in Open Document Spreadsheet (ODS) format rather than Microsoft Excel for future editions of Immigration Statistics - the aim is that users with most types of spreadsheet software, including Excel and open source software, will be able to download and use the ODS format workbooks in the same way as currently or with better functionality
it is intended that, following this release, the work and study tables wk.01 and st.01 will no longer be published - the figures can be obtained from the Before Entry and Extensions tables, so this change removes duplication
improvement to and updating of figures on Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASCs) and age-disputed cases to ensure that those whose age dispute case has been fully resolved are counted appropriately

If you have any comments on these plans please contact on MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.

17.4 National Statistics Assessment

Following improvements made in the May 2012 and August 2012 editions in response to the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) assessment of Immigration Statistics (Statistics on Immigration (Home Office)), UKSA wrote a letter (Letter of Confirmation of Immigration Statistics as National Statistics) to Home Office’s Chief Statistician confirming the designation of Immigration Statistics as National Statistics.

The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) has announced its provisional programme of re-assessments for 2013, including the migration statistics produced using data from Office for National Statistics; Department for Work and Pensions and Home Office. Details are at UK Statistics Authority Programme of Assessment.

17.5 Public Administration Select Committee inquiry

The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) is examining the topic of migration statistics, as part of a programme of work on statistics and their use in government. The written evidence submitted by a range of users was recently published as Public Administration Select Committee Written evidence (PDF 796 KB).

17.6 Communications

An email distribution list is available to allow communication between users and producers of migration statistics throughout the year.

Specifically, this is a forum for discussion of migration statistics that allows users to discuss their need for and use of the data and for producers to consult on presentation and changes. The main focus is on figures for the UK, but this would not exclude discussion of migration statistics for other countries. Home Office Statistics intends to use this list for communication with users, including data and release developments.

If you wish to join the list, please follow these instructions:

https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=MIGRATION-STATS

17.7 User conference

A one-day migration statistics user conference is planned for 17 September 2013. It is proposed that the conference programme includes presentations from users of the statistics. The presentations from the 2012 event are available via the JISCmail list (see above).

Expressions of interest from those willing to help with planning discussions for next year’s event, should be made via email to the Migration Statistics Enquiries inbox. A planning meeting open to users is due to be held on 20 March 2013.

17.8 Further information and feedback

If you have any questions or comments about this release, please send an email to MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk

or write to:

The Editor, Immigration Statistics,
Migration Statistics,
Home Office Statistics,
17th Floor Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road,
Croydon
CR9 2BY

Press enquiries should be made to:

Home Office Press Office
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Tel: 020 7035 3535

The Home Office Responsible Statistician is David Blunt, Chief Statistician and Head of Profession for Statistics.

Year	Appeals received	Total appeals determined of which:	Allowed	Dismissed	Withdrawn
2009	14,340	12,813	3,712 (29%)	8,627 (67%)	474 (4%)
2010	13,928	14,723	4,029 (27%)	10,061 (68%)	633 (4%)
2011	9,986	10,597	2,779 (26%)	7,139 (67%)	679 (6%)
2012	8,172	8,229	2,192 (27%)	5,447 (66%)	590 (7%)
Change: latest year	-1,814	-2,368	-587	-1,692	-89
Percentage change	-18%	-22%	-21%	-24%	-13%

Year	Total decisions	Total grants of which:	Work	Asylum-related	Family	Discretionary or other	Total refusals
2008	158,278	148,936	60,768	2,824	55,348	29,996	9,342
2009	207,341	194,781	81,185	3,110	72,239	38,247	12,560
2010	252,326	241,192	84,347	4,931	69,228	82,686	11,134
2011	174,768	166,878	69,892	13,003	54,086	29,897	7,890
2012	130,877	126,891	62,204	10,609	45,323	8,755	3,986
Change: latest year	-43,891	-39,987	-7,688	-2,394	-8,763	-21,142	-3,904
Percentage change	-25%	-24%	-11%	-18%	-16%	-71%	-49%

Years	Total enforced removals	Total refused entry at port and subsequently departed	Total voluntary departures (1) of which:	Assisted voluntary returns	Notified voluntary departures	Other confirmed voluntary departures (1)	Other confirmed voluntary departures as a % of voluntary departures
2007	17,770	31,145	14,452	4,157	3,412	6,883	48%
2008	17,239	32,367	18,375	4,297	4,066	10,012	54%
2009	15,252	29,162	22,800	4,944	4,317	13,539	59%
2010	14,854	18,276	27,114	4,541	5,996	16,577	61%
2011	15,063	15,700	26,419	3,120	7,587	15,712	59%
2012	14,435	13,529	25,997	3,699	6,432	15,866	61%
Change: latest year	-628	-2,171	-422	579	-1,155	154	-
Percentage change	-4%	-14%	-2%	19%	-15%	1%	-

Year	Entering detention	Leaving detention	In detention
2010	25,904	25,959	2,525
2011	27,089	27,181	2,419
2012	28,909	28,538	2,685
Change: latest year	1,820	1,357	266
Percentage change	7%	5%	11%

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1. Summary points, quarter 4 2012

Work

Study

Before entry

Asylum

Citizenship

Detention

Removals and voluntary departures

2. Data tables

3. Work

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Key facts

Trends in work-related immigration, 2005 to 2012

Chart notes

Top 10 non-EEA nationalities issued work-related visas, 2012 (Total 145,138)

Chart notes

Top 10 nationalities granted an extension to stay for work, 2011 (excludes dependants)

Chart notes

3.3 Permission to stay permanently (Settlement)

3.4 Work-related sponsored visa applications (skilled individuals (Tier 2) and youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5))

UKBA Register of sponsors

Skilled individuals (Tier 2)

Youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5)

3.5 Staying in the UK

3.6 Data tables

3.7 About the figures

3.8 Other related data

4. Study

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Key facts

Long term trends in student immigration

Chart notes

4.3 Visas

Top 10 nationalities issued entry clearance visas for the purposes of study, 2012

Chart notes

4.4 Student visitors

Top 10 nationalities issued student visitor visas, 2012

Chart notes

4.5 Admissions

4.6 Immigration for study

4.7 Extensions of stay

4.8 Study-related sponsored visa applications (students (Tier 4))

Long term trends in study-related sponsored visa applications for visas by sector

Chart notes

4.9 Staying in the UK

4.10 Data tables

4.11 About the figures

4.12 Other related data

5. Family

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Key facts

Long-term trends in family immigration

Chart notes

5.3 Visas

5.4 Admissions

5.5 Immigration for family reasons

5.6 Extensions of stay

5.7 Settlement

5.8 Staying in the UK

5.9 Data tables

5.10 About the figures

5.11 Other related data

6. Before entry

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Key facts

Visas issued by reason (excluding visitor and transit visas)

Table notes

Long term trends in visas issued by reason (excluding visitor and transit visas), by reason

Chart notes

6.3 Visas issued by nationality

Long term trends in visas issued by nationality (excluding visitor and transit visas) by region

Chart notes

6.4 Data tables

6.5 About these figures

6.6 Other related data

7. Admissions

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Key facts

Admissions by purpose of journey – non-EEA nationals