Skilled migration
to the UK still
rising

The newest set of immigration data shows that net migration to the UK for the year ending September 2015* has reached 323,000, hovering just under the historical peak of 336,000 which occurred during the previous year.

Despite dropping to 4% below this spike, net migration to the UK has still risen by a whole 11% (31,000) and skilled migration is on the up.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is claiming that the 11% increase is not statistically significant, however, arguing that fewer UK nationals have been emigrating from the country whilst similar levels of immigration to the UK have been maintained.

Non-EU citizens continue to make up the main body of incoming migrant numbers, despite a 5% increase in EU migration and a decrease in non-EU migration to the UK of 6%.

Work-related migration

290,000 people migrated to the UK for work purposes during the year ending September 2015. This is a 9% increase compared to the previous year’s figure of 265,000, and is reflected in the 8% increase in the number of National Insurance registrations. Of those migrants arriving in the UK for work purposes, 59% had a definite job to go to and 60% were EU citizens. 24% of these individuals were non-EU citizens and 15% were British nationals.

Skilled migration:

At 92,062, the number of successful Tier 2 skilled worker visa applications rose by 4% and contributed towards a 2% increase in the total number of granted work visas (122,426). Indian nationals accounted for 57% of these skilled visa grants, with the next largest proportion being made up of USA nationals (11%).

Investment-related migration:

There have been 76% fewer Tier 1 investor visa applications (-2,287) after changes were introduced to this route in November 2014

EU2 nationals:

There has been a significant increase in EU2 nationals (Bulgarian and Romanian) coming to the UK for work purposes, rising 33% to a total of 45,000.

Study-related migration:

Long term migration to the UK for study reasons has dropped to 174,000. This 5% fall in visa applications to study at UK universities from overseas nationals has mostly affected the number of applications made by non-EU nationals. The top five nationalities granted study visas in 2015 were Chinese, American, Indian, Malaysian and Nigerian.

Dependant migration:

The third most common reason for migrating to the UK is to accompany or join others already in the UK by way of applying for a dependant visa. Over the course of the year ending September 2015, 77,000 migrants arrived in the UK to accompany or join others, this is 13% fewer than during the previous year.

Permanent migration:

The number of migrants who were awarded permission to permanently reside in the UK fell by 14% to a total of 89,932. Also known as permanent residency or citizenship, the decrease in granted settlement applications is significant in light of the category’s peak of 241,586 successful applications in 2010.

These latest figures have sparked yet more debate on the upcoming EU referendum, as the government seems no closer to reducing net migration to its target of below 100,000 per year.

April 2016 will bring more measures designed to help control skilled migration further, although industry experts do not expect the measures to heavily effect net migration to the UK.

* All figures presented here are valid for the year ending September 2015, unless otherwise stated

Share story
Back to top of page