National statistics

Visas

Published 27 August 2015

Valid: 27 August 2015 to 25 November 2015

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This section relates to grants of entry clearance visas to individuals outside the UK. Data include dependants and exclude visitor and transit visas unless stated otherwise. All data below relate to the year ending June 2015 and all comparisons are with the year ending June 2014, unless indicated otherwise.

1. Key facts

There were 538,663 visas granted in the year ending June 2015, excluding visitor and transit visas, very similar to the previous year (538,504; +159). There were increases in Tier 2 skilled work (+7,977) and Tier 5 Youth mobility (+2,679 main applicants). The increase in the ‘Other’ category was accounted for by higher numbers of EEA family permits (+4,977) and ‘Other temporary’ (+1,768). By contrast there were falls for student visitors (-13,894) and study visas dependants (-1,804), as well as for dependants in routes now closed to new applicants (Tier 1 General -1,779 and Tier 1 Post Study -1,141).

The nationalities granted the most visas (excluding visitors) were Chinese (89,593), Indian (86,117) and US (35,966).

There were 19,584 (+1%) more visitor visas granted at around 1.88 million, after excluding Omani, Qatari and United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals (who were able to visit the UK without a visa from 1 January 2014, following the introduction of the Electronic Visa Waiver scheme). Including these nationals, the number of visitor visas granted was broadly flat.

There were notable increases in visitor visa grants for Chinese (+58,908 to 367,569, excluding Hong Kong), and Indian (+46,312 to 356,580) nationals. By contrast there were large falls in visitor visa grants for Russian (-61,483 to 129,903) nationals.

Visas granted by reason (excluding visitor and transit visas)

	Total granted (1)	Work	Study	Student visitors (2)	Family	Dependant joining or accompanying	Other
Year ending June 2010	616,650	154,615	320,183	41,859	50,240	15,407	34,346
Year ending June 2011	616,413	158,261	304,568	55,082	49,263	15,001	34,238
Year ending June 2012	520,073	147,377	214,219	68,990	44,424	12,782	32,281
Year ending June 2013	501,608	144,503	204,410	72,473	33,710	11,649	34,863
Year ending June 2014	538,504	159,231	218,239	78,075	35,664	11,362	35,933
Year ending June 2015	538,663	168,544	216,769	64,181	35,245	10,930	42,994
Change: latest year	+159	+9,313	-1,470	-13,894	-419	-432	+7,061
Percentage change	+0%	+6%	-1%	-18%	-1%	-4%	+20%

Table notes

(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. For consistency and comparability over time student visitor visas have been excluded from study-related totals. For further discussion see the Study section.

2. Visas granted by nationality

The map below illustrates the top 10 nationalities granted visas in the year ending June 2015, which account for 61% of the total. The highest numbers were for Chinese (89,593; 17% of the total), Indian (86,117; 16%) and United States (35,966; 7%) nationals. Figures for China exclude Hong Kong. More detailed commentary on visa statistics by reason and nationality is included in the Work topic, Study topic, and Family topic.

Top 10 nationalities granted visas

(Total 538,663, excluding visitor and transit visas)

Chart notes

Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics April to June 2015, Visas table vi 06 q, Visas vol. 2.
(1) China excludes Hong Kong.

3. Largest increases and falls in visitor visa grants by nationality

Increasing	Change	% Change		Decreasing	Change	% Change
China	+58,908	+19%		Russia	-61,483	-32%
India	+46,312	+15%		Nigeria	-9,817	-9%
Venezuela	+5,876	+213%		Pakistan	-9,210	-15%
Colombia	+4,717	+24%		Libya	-6,504	-79%
Philippines	+4,456	+15%		Ukraine	-5,924	-17%

Table notes

Omani, Qatari and UAE nationals were able to visit the UK without a visa from 1 January 2014 (the Electronic Visa Waiver scheme was introduced on 1 January 2014 resulting in significant falls for these nationalities). The large percentage increase for Venezuelan nationals was related to a recent change in the Immigration Rules. From 5 May 2014, all Venezuelan nationals travelling to the UK needed to apply for a visa. Previously, Venezuelan nationals did not need a visa to visit the UK for 6 months or less if they held a biometric-chipped passport. Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics April to June 2015, Visas table vi 06 q o, Visas vol. 3.

4. Data tables

Further data on entry clearance visas and sponsored visa applications for the work and study routes (described further in the Work topic and Study topic) can be found in the following tables:

Visas vol. 1: tables vi 01 q to vi 05 q.
The following tables are included in this volume:
vi 01 q Entry clearance visa applications and resolution by category
vi 02 q Entry clearance visa applications and resolution by country of nationality
vi 03 Entry clearance visa applications by country of nationality
vi 04 Entry clearance visas granted by category
vi 04 q Entry clearance visas granted by category
vi 5 Entry clearance visas granted by country of nationality
vi 5 q Entry clearance visas granted by country of nationality

Visas vol. 2: tables vi 06 q and vi 06 q w.
The following tables are included in this volume:
vi 06 q Entry clearance visas granted by category and country of nationality: Summary
vi 06 q w Entry clearance visas granted by category and country of nationality: Work

Visas vol. 3: tables vi 06 q s to vi 06 q o.
The following tables are included in this volume:
vi 06 q s Entry clearance visas granted by category and country of nationality: Study
vi 06 q f Entry clearance visas granted by category and country of nationality: Family
vi 06 q d Entry clearance visas granted by category and country of nationality: Dependant joining or accompanying
vi 06 q o Entry clearance visas granted by category and country of nationality: Other

Sponsorship: tables cs 01 to cs 14 q.