 "Felt like 'home': Migration to UK at record high, Indians dominate")
The UK said a record number of migrants arrived last year, a trend that lays bare the divides in the ruling Conservative Party and highlights the economy’s urgent demand for new workers.
An estimated 606,000 more people moved to Britain than departed, according to Office for National Statistics data published Thursday. That represents an increase of 118,000 from the previous year. Two-thirds of the increase came from asylum seekers that were added to the total for the first time, complicating analysis of the data.
While the figure was far higher than many in the Tory Party were aiming for, it fell short of estimates that the Centre for Policy Studies made before the report putting potential net migration from 700,000 to 997,000.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is still under pressure to deliver on a long-standing Conservative Party promise to bring down the numbers — a central argument driving Britain’s exit from the European Union. That aim is in conflict with staff shortages rattling the UK economy and especially the National Health Service after at least 500,000 people dropped out of the labor market since the pandemic.
Indians lead the list
Indian nationals top the tally of skilled worker and student visas issued by the UK over the past year, according to official immigration statistics released in London on Thursday.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data collated by the UK Home Office shows that Indian nationals were the top nationality for cross-sector skilled work, including specifically targeted healthcare visas aimed at filling staff shortages in the National Health Service (NHS).
Also Read
They also made up the largest group of students granted visas under the new Graduate post-study work route, representing 41 per cent of grants.
“Indian nationals were the top nationality for visas in the ‘Worker' category, representing one third (33 per cent) of grants, and were by far the top nationality for both the ‘Skilled Worker’ and ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care' visas,” the Home Office analysis notes.
“A total of 92,951 Graduate route extensions were granted to previous students in the year ending March 2023. Indian nationals represented the largest group of students granted leave to remain on the Graduate route, representing 41 per cent of grants,” it said.
According to the latest statistics, skilled worker visas granted to Indians rose 63 per cent, from 13,390 in 2021-22 to 21,837 in 2022-23. In the healthcare visa category, Indians registered an even higher 105 per cent hike from 14,485 to 29,726.
“There were 138,532 sponsored study visa grants to Indian nationals in year ending March 2023, an increase of 53,429 (+63 per cent) compared to year ending March 2022 and the largest number of study visas granted to any nationality. Grants to study for Indian nationals have risen markedly since year ending March 2019 and are now around seven times higher,” the analysis notes.
“Nigeria had the highest number of dependants (66,796) of sponsored study visa holders in the year ending March 2023, increasing from 27,137 in the year ending March 2022. Indian nationals had the second highest number of dependants, increasing from 22,598 to 42,381,” it notes.
The latest data comes days after UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced a clampdown on the right of student visa holders to bring dependent family members, limiting it only to PhD level students.
“This package includes: removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes,” Braverman said in a statement to the House of Commons announcing a new package of measures to curb migration.
It was widely seen as pre-emptive action ahead of the latest ONS figures revealing on Thursday that net migration to the UK hit a record 606,000 in 2022-23, up from 504,000 in the previous year and driven by a sharp rise in workers and students from outside the European Union (EU).