Accredited official statistics

Why do people come to the UK - Family?

Published 22 May 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2025/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-family

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2025’ content page.

Data relates to the year ending March 2025 and all comparisons are with the year ending March 2024 (unless indicated otherwise).

Statistics on dependants travelling with or joining family members on work and study visas are not included in this section and can be found in the relevant ‘Why do people come to the UK? Work’, and ‘Why do people come to the UK? Study’ topics.

From Q1 2025 (January to March) onwards, Refugee Family Reunion visas have been disaggregated from the ‘Other’ family visa type and will be reported separately. The ‘Other’ category will now primarily reflect the small numbers of Family Parent visas or Adult Dependent Relatives applications and decisions.

Family-related visas may be granted to persons wishing to live with family members, who are British citizens or non-British settled migrants in the UK, as part of their family. This includes people wishing to join a relative with refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK.

Family visa applications have declined in the latest year following increases between 2021 and early 2024.

Figure 1: Family visa applications and grants, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2025

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes: Vis_D01 and Vis_D02

Figure 1 shows that Family-related visa applications remained stable between 2015 and 2019, before declining in 2020 because of the global pandemic. Since 2021, applications have increased, largely driven by an increase in Partner visa applications between 2021 and 2024. In December 2023, the government announced that the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) for sponsoring a partner would increase from £18,600 to £29,000 from April 2024. This prompted a further increase in Partner visa applications ahead of the change, but numbers have fallen since.

Since late 2023, the overall rise in Family visa applications was influenced by a sharp increase in Refugee Family Reunion applications - a route enabling those with protection status in the UK to sponsor family members to join them.

In the latest year, the number of family-related visa applications (79,785) fell by 14%. This decline was primarily influenced by a 26% reduction in Partner visa applications, indicating a return to levels more consistent with those seen prior to the MIR changes. There has also been a decline in the number of Child and Other visa applications over the same period. In contrast, Refugee Family Reunion applications increased by 29% year-on-year. Afghan nationals accounted for the highest number of applications in the latest year (3,377). There were also notable increases observed among Sudanese and Ethiopian nationals over the last 12 months. This trend aligns with a significant increase of asylum grants to these nationalities over the last 2 years.

For more information see How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes.

The decline in family visa grants in the latest year is largely due to fewer Partner visas being granted, following the increases to the Minimum Income Requirement. The decline in the number of granted Partner visas has been offset by increases in Refugee Family Reunion.

Family visa grants steadily increased from 2013 to 2019, but sharply declined between 2020 and 2022. This decrease can be attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the re-prioritisation of casework resources to support the introduction of the Ukraine schemes in response to the war in Ukraine.

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in Family visa grants, largely driven by a sharp rise in Partner visa grants. Between 2022 and 2023, Partner grants rose by 67%, reflecting both an operational effort to reduce backlogs from earlier periods of reassignment and a broader increase in application volumes. While Partner visa grants declined in 2024, this was offset by a rise in Refugee Family Reunion visas. The number of individuals coming to the UK to reunite with family members granted refugee status has been steadily increasing since the year ending September 2023.

In the latest year, 76,484 Family-related visas were granted, representing a 3% decrease compared with the previous year.

Figure 2: Family-related visa grants by visa type, year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2025

Source: Entry clearance visa outcomes: Vis_D02 and Fam_D01

As shown in Figure 2, the decline in family-visa grants was influenced by a 17% reduction in Partner visa grants, broadly reflecting the fall in Partner visa applications. This decline follows increases to the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR), which may have reduced the number of applicants and sponsors able to meet the higher financial threshold for eligibility. The proportion of Partner visa decisions which were refused has also proportionally increased from 5% to 7% in the latest year.

The decline in Partner visa grants has been partially offset by Refugee Family Reunion grants, increasing by over two-thirds (72%) in the latest year. Refugee Family Reunion grants (20,592) represent 27% of Family visas granted in the year ending March 2025 and were the highest number recorded in this time-series (since 2005). There was a notable increase in the number of people granted refugee status in late 2023 (nearly 55,000 in July to December 2023). Many of those granted asylum will be eligible to bring family members to the UK on Refugee Family Reunion visas, which may explain these increasing numbers into 2025.

Pakistani nationals accounted for the highest number of family-related visa grants, primarily through the Partner route. Notable increases in grants to Syrian, Iranian, Afghan, and Eritrean nationals were driven by the Refugee Family Reunion route.

Figure 3: Top 10 nationalities for family-related visas granted, by family visa type, year ending March 2025

Source: Entry clearance visa outcomes: Vis_D02

Figure 3 shows that Pakistani nationals accounted for over one-seventh (14%, or 10,908) of all family-related visas granted in the year ending March 2025, with the majority (85%) issued through the Partner visa route. Indian nationals were the next highest proponent of Partner visas in the latest year (3,011), but this number was just under a third of those issued to Pakistani nationals.

Syrian nationals were the second-largest nationality group overall (5,096), with grants increasing by 41% in the latest year, predominantly due to Refugee Family Reunion visas. The number of family visas granted to Iranian nationals in the latest year (4,658) has more than doubled with 85% being Refugee Family Reunion.

EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) Family Permits

In the latest year, 11,169 EUSS Family Permits were granted, almost a quarter (24%) less than the previous year, continuing year on year decreases since the peak in 2021 of 54,973. The EUSS Family Permit allows eligible family members of an European Economic Area (EEA) citizen or, if applied by 8 August 2023, a qualifying British citizen, to enter the UK. It lets the holder join or accompany their EEA or British citizen family member, including naturalised British citizens, dual British and EEA citizens, relevant persons of Northern Ireland, and those exempt from immigration control or working as frontier workers.

For further information on EUSS family permits, see ‘How many grants of settlement are made via the EU Settlement Scheme?’

Indefinite leave to remain: Migrant Journey

Those arriving on family routes are historically more likely to seek to remain permanently in the UK, and acquire indefinite leave to remain (ILR), compared with those arriving on work and study visas. Analysis from the Migrant Journey: 2024 report shows that since 2007, of those whose first leave to enter the UK was on the family route, 61% had ILR after 5 years, increasing to 82% after 10 years. This is much higher than those starting on work and study routes, where 21% and 7% respectively had ILR after 10 years.

2. Extensions for family reasons

Extensions of stay for family-related reasons relate to people wishing to extend their stay in the UK for family reasons. It covers extensions where an individual is applying based on their relationship to a person settled in the UK or a British citizen. An individual is required to apply for an extension before their existing permission to enter or stay expires and may make more than one application in any given year.

The increase in extensions of stay granted for family reasons is largely due to Family Life (10-year route) and Partner visa grants.

There were 126,444 extensions of stay granted for family reasons in the year ending March 2025, an increase of 11% compared with the previous year, but 7% lower than calendar year 2022 when grant levels were at their highest level. The Family Life (10-year route) is the largest family extensions sub-group and in the latest year comprised 54% of extensions of stay being granted within this category. This is followed by the Partner route at 44%. Indian, Nigerian and Pakistani nationals are the 3 largest nationality groups granted Family Life (10-year route) extensions of stay, and the 3 nationalities accounted for almost half (45%) of this sub-group.

The Family Life (10 year) route is where partners and parents who apply in the UK and are granted leave to remain on a 10-year route to settlement on the basis of their family life and the data refer to individuals in the UK who wish to extend, or change the status of, their right to remain in the UK. The data does not show the number of people applying to extend their temporary stay in the UK, nor do they show how long an individual stayed in the UK or the number of instances of extensions on the route they have had, following their extension.

3. About these statistics

The statistics in this section provide an indication of the number of people who had an intention to enter the UK for family reasons.

Before the end of the transition period for the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020, EU nationals were able to come to the UK under freedom of movement and did not typically require separate permission (such as a visa). The majority of UK immigration control before 2021 is related to non-EEA nationals. From 2021, EEA nationals became subject to immigration controls and are now more likely to obtain permission to travel to the UK. For many this will be under the EU Settlement Scheme (see ‘How many grants of settlement are made via the EU Settlement Scheme?’), while others will require a visa.

Entry clearance visas allow an individual to enter and stay in the UK within the period for which the visa is valid. From 2021, EEA nationals require a visa to enter the UK for family reasons, unless they are eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme or a free EU Settlement Scheme family permit.

Year-on-year comparisons of the number of decisions can be affected by quarterly fluctuations in the data. These fluctuations can be examined in the quarterly data in the published tables.

For figures on family-related grants of settlement as well as residence documentation issued to EEA nationals and their family members, see ‘How many people are granted settlement or citizenship’.

Trends in Refugee Family Reunion visas may reflect changes in the number of people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in previous years, many of whom may now be eligible to bring family members. Further data on the Refugee Family Reunion visa category can be found in ‘How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes’.

More information about the statistics can be found in the user guide.

3.1 Extension of temporary stay in the UK

Extensions of temporary stay in the UK relate to individuals inside the UK extending or changing the status of their right to stay in the UK. An individual is required to apply for an extension or change in status before their existing permission to enter or stay in the UK expires.

The statistics do not show the number of people applying to extend their temporary stay in the UK, nor do they show how long an individual stayed in the UK following their extension.

Further information on the statistics in this section can be found in the extension section of the user guide.

3.2 Other sources

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish long-term international migration estimates. These are statistics under development that estimate the number of people immigrating to and emigrating from the UK for 12 months or more.

4. Data tables

Data on family immigration can be found in the following tables:

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