Home Office Immigration Statistics: User Guide Statistics

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User Guide to Home Office
Immigration Statistics
Last updated: 23 August 2018
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Contents
Section Page
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
2 Glossary of terms ........................................................................................................ 7
3 Conventions used in Immigration Statistics ........................................................... 19
4 Information on uses and users of Immigration Statistics ..................................... 23
5 Strength, limitations and data quality...................................................................... 25
6 Visas and Sponsorship ............................................................................................. 27
7 Admissions ................................................................................................................. 38
8 Extensions .................................................................................................................. 46
9 Settlement ................................................................................................................... 49
10 Citizenship .................................................................................................................. 53
11 Asylum ........................................................................................................................ 62
12 Detention ................................................................................................................... 82
13 Returns ....................................................................................................................... 90
14 European Economic Area ......................................................................................... 98
15 Work .......................................................................................................................... 106
16 Study ......................................................................................................................... 111
17 Family ........................................................................................................................ 114
18 Other sources of information on immigration and migration ............................. 119
19 Geographical regions for tables ............................................................................. 124
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1 Introduction
This ‘User Guide to Home Office Immigration Statistics’ is designed to be a useful reference guide with
explanatory notes on the issues and classifications which are key to the production and presentation
of the Home Office’s quarterly Immigration Statistics releases.
Statistics covered
The Immigration Statistics release provides information on the Home Office’s operation of immigration
control and related processes, including the work of UK Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and
UK Visas and Immigration:
Visas: entry clearance visas granted
Admissions: passengers allowed entry and passengers initially refused entry
Extensions: people given permission to extend their stay
Settlement: people given permission to stay permanently
Citizenship: people granted British citizenship
Asylum: people applying for asylum
Detention: people detained under Immigration Act powers
Returns: people who leave the country either voluntarily or forcibly, whom, in the
main, the Home Office has sought to return
European Economic Area: information on nationals from the EEA
Work: immigration for work
Study: immigration for study
Family: immigration for family reasons
Most of the statistics relate to people who are subject to immigration control (i.e. from outside the
European Economic Area).
Purpose
Immigration Statistics provides figures on the levels and trends in numbers of people who are covered
by the UK’s immigration control and related processes, based on a range of administrative and other
data sources used. The purpose of the statistics is: to give an overview of the work of the Home
Office, including that of UK Border Force and UK Visas and Immigration, and other government
departments and agencies dealing with immigration; to help inform users including the government,
Parliament, the media and the wider public; and to support the development and monitoring of policy.
Currently, these statistics are published four times a year, in February, May, August and November;
with detailed annual tables and commentary updated once a year, generally in August.
The UK Statistics Authority assessed the release in autumn 2011 and published the assessment
report on 2 February 2012, continuing the designation of the release as National Statistics.
In general, the commentary on each topic is intended to provide an overview of trends over several
years, subject to data availability.
The current system of immigration control is based on the Immigration Act 1971, which came into
force on 1 January 1973, and subsequent amendments to the law. Policy and operational changes, as
well as overall factors which influence the levels of immigration, such as the economic climate, can
affect the figures. The availability and allocation of resources within the Home Office can affect the
number of decisions made. Further information on the work of the Home Office can be found in its
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annual report and in publications referred to in the Other sources of information on immigration
and migration section of this User Guide.
Alongside the information provided by the Home Office concerning immigration control, official figures
on international migration (immigration, emigration and net migration) and on the number of foreign-
born nationals in the UK are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Further information
on related data is available in the Other sources of information on immigration and migration
section of this User Guide.
The UK Immigration System
1) This flowchart provides a summary of immigration control for non-EEA nationals and does not
include a reference to all aspects of immigration; the chart also excludes references to
resettled refugees and appeals.
2) Non-visa nationals seeking to enter the United Kingdom in a visa category or for longer than 6
months require a visa, whereas those seeking to enter the United Kingdom for 6 months or
less do not.
Information about the policy context
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline which is published each quarter alongside this User Guide.
A summary of the UK government’s immigration and asylum policy, plans and measures introduced
was published by the House of Commons library in 2013 and is available at the following link:
http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN05829
UK Border
Passenger
arrivals
Refusals
at port
Persons who
evade border
control
Detention and
Returns
Persons who
overstay/ foreign
national offenders
Asylum
Settlement &
Citizenship
Extensions
of stay
Visa holders
& non-visa nationals
Refugees
resettled
In the UK
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People covered by the Immigration Statistics release
The statistics in the Immigration Statistics release generally relate to people who do not have an
automatic right to enter or live in the UK and who come into contact with the Home Office during a
particular time period.
There are therefore fewer data available on:
British citizens;
those Commonwealth citizens who have the right of abode;
citizens of the Republic of Ireland and other parts of the Common Travel Area; and
nationals of the European Economic Area and Swiss nationals (see below).
Together with passengers in direct transit, people in the categories listed above account for around
85% of the total passenger arrivals from outside the Common Travel Area (UK, the Channel Islands,
the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland).
However, some data on nationals of the Republic of Ireland, other parts of the Common Travel Area,
Commonwealth, European Economic Area and Swiss nationals are included in:
Entry clearance visas where applications have been made;
Total passenger arrivals;
Grants of settlement (where applicable and available);
Grants of British citizenship;
Asylum where applications have been made;
Detention;
Returns;
Bulgarian, Romanian and Croatian nationals who require work authorisation
documentation or are exercising a Treaty right; and
Issue and refusal of residence documentation to EEA nationals and their family
members.
Total passenger arrivals figures also include British citizens. Additionally, long-term migration data
published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) include all nationalities.
Where are the latest published statistics?
The latest Immigration Statistics release, including data tables and commentary, can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-
release.
The dates of future editions of Immigration Statistics are pre-announced and can be found on the
Statistics release calendar on the Gov.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements
Information on how the Home Office complies with the Code of Practice for Statistics is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/about/statistics#official-statistics.
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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 Migration & Border Analysis Unit in accordance with the Home Office’s ‘Statement of
compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics’ which covers our policy on revisions and other
matters. The Chief Statistician, as Head of Profession, reports to the National Statistician with respect
to all professional statistical matters and oversees all Home Office National Statistics products with
respect to the Code, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology. The Home Office
Responsible Statistician is Bex Newell.
Feedback and enquiries
We welcome feedback on Immigration Statistics, which can be provided by email or in writing, or via
the Migration Statistics User Forum.
If you have any questions about Immigration Statistics, please send an email to:
MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
Alternatively, write to:
The Editor, Immigration Statistics
Migration Statistics
14th 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.
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2 Glossary of terms
This glossary accompanies the Immigration Statistics releases. It is intended to give an overview of
the terms, rather than a full technical description.
If there are terms in the Immigration Statistics releases that you would like to be explained in this
glossary, please contact: MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.
Within an explanation of a term, words in bold are explained elsewhere in the glossary.
Accession is the event of becoming a Member State of the European Union.
Accession Residence Card: A document issued to third country national family members of Croatian
authorised workers. The accession residence card is valid for 12 months and confirms the holder’s
right to live and work in the UK
Accession Worker Cards were documents issued to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals from 2007 to
2013 conferring permission to work, where they were subject to the requirement to obtain such
permission before commencing employment in the UK and to highly skilled individuals who were
exempt from this requirement to confirm their right to work.
ACRO is the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Criminal Records Office. The ACPO
Criminal Records Office (ACRO) was founded in 2006 following a decision by the Association of Chief
Police Officers to establish an operationally focussed unit that would organise the management of
criminal record information and improve the links between criminal records and biometric information.
After-entry application to vary leave to remain is an application from a person wishing to extend or
change the status of their 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 has expired. Within the Immigration Rules, an
individual may make more than one application in any given year.
An age-disputed application is when an asylum applicants’ claim that they are under 18 years of age
is doubted and they have little or no evidence to support their claimed age. Home Office policy is to
treat an applicant whose physical appearance/demeanour very strongly suggests that they are
significantly over 18 years of age as adults until there is credible documentary or other persuasive
evidence to demonstrate the age claimed. All other applicants will be given the benefit of doubt and
treated as children until a careful, case law compliant, assessment of their age has been completed by
a local authority.
Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) and Voluntary Returns Service (VRS) - includes support
available to individuals who are in the asylum system or who are irregular migrants and who wish to
return home permanently to either their (non-EEA) country of origin or to a third country where they
are permanently admissible. The Home Office has been funding externally provided AVR programmes
from 1999 to December 2015. The AVR programmes were previously delivered by Choices, a
subsidiary of the independent charity Refugee Action (prior to April 2011, by the International
Organization for Migration).
Since January 2016, the support formerly described as AVR, has been provided by the Home Office’s
Voluntary Returns Service (VRS). These will be referred to in the tables as ‘Assisted returns’. The
term ‘Assisted returns’ relates to the support provided under AVR up to Q4 2015 and support provided
under VRS from Q1 2016.
An asylum applicant is a person who either: (a) makes a request to be recognised as a refugee
under the Refugee Convention on the basis that it would be contrary to the UK's obligations under the
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Convention for him to be removed from or required to leave the UK, or (b) otherwise makes a request
for international protection.
Asylum decision is a decision by the Home Office on a claim for asylum.
Border Force Officers (previously known as Immigration or UK Border Agency Officers) working at
the primary control point are responsible for checking the right of entry to the UK of all individuals
arriving at seaports, airports and via the Channel Tunnel. As well as examining documentation and
goods, they may gather intelligence.
British citizens are people with citizenship usually through a connection with the UK: birth, adoption,
descent, registration, or naturalisation. British citizens have the right of abode in the UK.
British overseas citizens are people connected with the former British colonies who, for the most
part, did not acquire citizenship of the new country when it attained independence. Hong Kong British
dependent territories citizens became British overseas citizens on 1 July 1997 if they would otherwise
have been stateless.
British overseas territories citizens (BOTCs) are people with citizenship through a connection with
a British overseas territory such as Gibraltar, St Helena, etc. known as ‘British dependent territories
citizens’ before February 2002. Hong Kong British dependent territories citizens lost that citizenship
automatically on 1 July 1997 but may still hold another form of British nationality. However, from 21
May 2002, BOTCs became British citizens. People granted BOT citizenship after 21 May 2002 may be
able to register as a British citizen if they meet certain conditions.
Citizenship is the term used in the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to define the country for
which a migrant is a passport holder. This refers specifically to the passport being used to enter/leave
the UK at the time of interview. It does not refer to any other passport(s) which migrants with multiple
citizenships may hold. More generally a British citizen as described in IPS statistics includes those
with UK nationality usually through a connection with the UK: birth, adoption, descent, registration, or
naturalisation. British nationals have the right of abode in the UK.
A Certificate of Sponsorship is a virtual document issued by a sponsor to an individual required for
skilled workers (Tier 2) and youth mobility and temporary workers (Tier 5). It is required as part of the
application process for entry clearance and leave to remain.
The Common Travel Area consists of the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Republic
of Ireland.
Confidence Interval - This is the range within which the true value of a population parameter lies with
known probability. For example the 95% confidence interval represents the range in which there are
19 chances out of 20 that the true figure would fall (had all migrants been surveyed). The uppermost
and lowermost values of the confidence interval are termed ‘confidence limits’.
A Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies is a virtual document issued by a sponsor to an
individual to allow them to apply for entry clearance or leave to remain as a student under Tier 4.
Commonwealth: Fifty-three countries are members of The Commonwealth. More information is
available from http://thecommonwealth.org/member-countries.
Controlled returns relate to those returns occurring more than 2 days after leaving detention or
where there was no period of detention prior to the return AND where it had been established that a
person has breached UK immigration laws and / or has no valid leave to remain in the UK. Removal
directions may or may not have been set but the person has notified the Home Office that they wish to
make their own arrangements to leave the country and has provided evidence to this effect. The
Home Office will have been required to facilitate or monitor the return.
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Deportations are a specific subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction
or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The
deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked.
Derivative Residence Card: A document issued to third country nationals who derive a right of
residence in the UK from EU law rather than the Free Movement Directive. The Derivative residence
card is issued with a validity of 5 years. Applicants are not obliged to obtain such a document, but it
does confirm their residence in the UK.
Discretionary leave (DL) may be considered for an individual who is not in need of international
protection (i.e. asylum or Humanitarian Protection (HP)) but who is able to demonstrate particularly
compelling reasons why removal would not be appropriate. Until 9 July 2012, Discretionary Leave was
usually granted for a period of 3 years. From 9 July 2012, the period of leave granted has been
determined by a consideration of the individual facts of the case but would not normally be for more
than 30 months (two and a half years) at a time. Further leave may be granted, subject to a review of
the individual’s circumstances. A short period of DL may be granted to individuals who have been
refused asylum and Humanitarian Protection because they have committed a particularly serious
crime but who cannot currently be removed from the UK for legal reasons. Until 6 April 2013, DL was
granted to Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) who were not in need of international
protection but who could not be removed because the Secretary of State was not satisfied that safe
and adequate reception arrangements were in place in the country to which they were to be removed.
Until 9 July 2012, UASC DL was usually granted for a period of 3 years or until the applicant reached
the age of 17½, whichever period was the shortest. From 9 July 2012, UASC DL was granted for a
period of 30 months or up until age 17½. On 6 April 2013, UASC DL was replaced by UASC leave
when the policy on granting discretionary leave to UASC was incorporated into the Immigration Rules,
under Paragraphs 352ZC – 352ZF. However, the database used to record information on UASCs, the
Case Information Database (CID), was not amended to include this new outcome until July 2013.
During the period April to July 2013 the outcome UASC DL was used to record information on CID.
A document certifying permanent residence (tables ee_02 and ee_02_q) is issued to EEA
nationals to confirm their right of permanent residence in the UK. EEA nationals acquire this right after
living in the UK for a continuous period of five years in accordance with EU laws relating to free
movement rights. They are not obliged to apply for a document certifying permanent residence.
The Dublin regulation (EU) No.604/2013 (‘Dublin III’) is EU legislation that establishes the criteria
and mechanisms for determining which single State is responsible for examining an application for
international protection (an asylum claim). The Dublin III Regulation applies to all 28 EU member
states, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Further details can be found in the Dublin
regulation section.
A Dublin state is a state in which the Dublin III Regulation applies. It includes all 28 EU member
states, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
EEA Family Permits are documents that facilitate the movement of nationals of countries outside the
European Economic Area (EEA) who are family members of EEA nationals.
Employment and Support Allowance is an allowance aimed at helping people with an illness or
disability to move into work.
In an enforced removal, it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws
and / or has no valid leave to remain in the UK. They have declined to leave voluntarily and the Home
Office enforces their return from the UK. It includes enforced removals from detention and non-
detained enforced removals.
Enforced removals from detention include all those who were subject to enforced removal either
from detention or up to 2 days after leaving detention. There may be delays with flight arrangements
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or recording on the case-working system and a 2 day lag period allows us to ensure we have included
all returns occurring following a period in detention.
Enforced returns cover enforced removals from detention, non-detained enforced removals and
other returns from detention where the Home Office will have been required to facilitate or monitor
the return. This new grouping has been created to reflect the likely level of enforcement activity that
led to these returns. The detained figures relate to those detained in immigration removal centres
(IRCs), short term holding facilities (STHF) and pre departure accommodation (PDA).
Entry clearance takes the form of a sticker, also called a vignette, which is placed in a person’s travel
document. Entry Clearance can be called a visa (for visa nationals), an entry certificate (for non-visa
nationals), or a family permit for family members of EEA nationals. These documents are to be taken
as evidence of the holder’s eligibility to travel to the UK, and accordingly accepted as “entry
clearances” within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971. The term “visa” may be used as a generic
term for all types of Entry Clearance but in Immigration Statistics it does not refer to an entry
certificate.
An entry clearance visa is a document permitting the bearer to travel to the UK and leave to enter
from the grant date. It is activated upon passing through UK immigration control. There are three
categories of visa: temporary, leading to settlement and settlement. Visas are required by nationals or
citizens of the countries and territorial entities listed in Appendix 1 of the Immigration Rules known as
‘visa nationals’. Nationals of countries not on this list are known as ‘non-visa nationals’. A non-visa
national does not need a visa to come to the UK for less than six months, unless it is a requirement of
the immigration category under which they are entering. A non-visa national coming to the UK for
more than six months will need a visa.
The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of the 28 countries of the European Union, plus
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Nationals of the EEA and Switzerland have rights of free
movement within the UK.
The European Union (EU) consists of 28 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Croatia joined the EU28 on 1st July 2013.
EU2 are the two countries that joined the European Union on 1 January 2007: Bulgaria and
Romania.
EU8 are the eight Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union on 1 May
2004: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The
EU8 does not include the other two countries that joined on this date: Cyprus and Malta.
A failed asylum seeker is an individual whose application for asylum and other forms of protection
has been refused and who has exhausted their appeal rights.
Family formation and reunion is a summary category used in descriptions of settlement statistics
reflecting people granted settlement on grounds of their relationship to another person already settled
or a British citizen. It includes husbands, wives, children, parents, grandparents and other and
unspecified dependants.
The Family Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) Exercise, announced on 24 October 2003, allowed
certain asylum-seeking families who had been in the UK for four or more years to obtain settlement.
Family Life (10 year) route: 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 where the relevant provisions
in Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules (including EX.1) apply.
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A family reunion visa allows a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 of those granted
refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to reunite with them in the UK.
First-tier Tribunal Judges hear and decide appeals against decisions made by the Home Secretary
on immigration and asylum matters in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).
A foreign national offender (FNO) (previously referred to as a ‘foreign national prisoner’) is someone
who:
is not a British citizen; and
is/was convicted in the UK of any criminal offence, or abroad for a serious criminal
offence
An FNO can be convicted and have served their sentence while on remand, so would not necessarily
have been sent to prison.
In 2001, asylum seekers granted asylum were granted refugee status and Indefinite Leave to
Remain. In July 2005, however this policy changed so that asylum seekers granted asylum are
granted refugee status and five years limited leave to remain.
The Habitual Residence Test is a test for all individuals, including returning British nationals, who
have recently arrived in the country and who make a claim for income-related social security benefits.
The individual must satisfy the decision-making authorities that, firstly, they have a right to reside and,
secondly, that they are habitually resident in the Common Travel Area and can be treated as such.
Harm Matrix: The harm matrix is a tool to assess the level of harm associated with a particular
individual. In order to provide clarity, consistency and measurement, levels of harm have been divided
into four broad categories: A, B, C and D, with A being the highest harm.
The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) began on 28 January 2002. It differed from the
work permit system in that it did not require an employer to obtain a permit for the individual.
Applicants were assessed on a points system, based on their qualifications, earning ability and
experience. The programme has now been replaced by PBS Tier 1.
The Home Office is responsible for immigration, security, law and order in the UK.
Humanitarian Protection (HP) is leave granted to a person who is not a refugee as defined by the
Refugee Convention but who would, if removed, face in the country of return a real risk to life or
person arising from the death penalty; unlawful killing; torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment; or serious and individual threat by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of
international or internal armed conflict. HP is normally granted for a period of five years, after which
the person can apply for indefinite leave to remain. A person who is granted HP is allowed to work
and has access to public funds.
Immigration Enforcement – Arrest Trained Immigration Officers: Immigration Officers undertake a
range of activities which support the detection, apprehension and return of immigration offenders. This
includes tracking down illegal migrants and targeting companies that flout the rules by employing
workers illegally. Specific duties include: carrying out enforcement operations, including driving official
vehicles, transporting of offenders, searching property or persons, collecting, preserving and recording
evidence.
Indefinite leave to remain is a grant of settlement (after entry) (generally) to a non-EEA national.
The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a survey of a random sample of passengers entering
and leaving the UK by air, sea or the Channel Tunnel. Between 700,000 and 800,000 people are
interviewed on the IPS each year. Of those interviewed, approximately 4,000-5,000 people each year
are identified as long-term international migrants.
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Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based) is the main benefit for people between 18 and state
pension age who are out of work or work less than 16 hours a week on average, based on income and
savings criteria.
A juxtaposed control is a UK Border Zone set up, by international treaty, in another country to
enforce UK immigration, detection or police powers before the passenger physically arrives on UK
sovereign territory.
A landing card is a form completed by all non-EEA national passengers subject to immigration
control, which is given to the Border Force Officer on arrival. A landing card is completed for each
journey; a person who makes more than one journey is counted on each occasion. A controlled
landing card is one where the passenger has been granted leave to enter and is intending to stay for
at least six months; a non-controlled landing card is one where the passenger is intending to stay for
less than six months and does not intend to work.
Leave to remain is permission to stay in the UK either temporarily (limited leave to remain) or
permanently (indefinite leave to remain). In this release, an extension of leave to remain is known as
‘extension of stay’
Long Residence is a route within the Immigration Rules for those applying to settle in the UK on the
basis of having been in the UK legally for 10 continuous years.
Migrant switchers are people who stated the intention in the IPS to stay in the destination country for
at least a year, and are therefore counted as migrants, but who actually left sooner.
Nationality is often used interchangeably with citizenship, and some datasets, refer to ‘nationals’ of a
country rather than ‘citizens’. Different datasets have different ways of establishing someone’s
nationality. The Annual Population Survey, which underlies the population estimates by nationality,
simply asks people ‘what is your nationality?’ However, the IPS, National Insurance numbers (NINos)
(from Department for Work and Pensions data) and entry clearance visa data are based on people’s
passports. For asylum statistics the nationality is as stated on the ‘Case Information Database’. This
will usually be based on documentary evidence, but sometimes asylum seekers arrive in the UK
without any such documentation.
Non-compliance grounds signify a failure to cooperate with the process to examine and decide the
asylum claim within a reasonable period. This includes refusals for failure to respond to invitations to
interview to establish identity.
Non-detained enforced removals include all enforced removals taking place more than 2 days after
leaving detention, or where there was no period of detention prior to the enforced removal.
A non-suspensive appeal is a right of appeal where UK Visas and Immigration has concluded that
there are insufficient grounds shown that would qualify for a grant of asylum, Humanitarian
Protection or Discretionary Leave to remain (known as a ‘clearly unfounded claim’) and the
applicant will not have the right to appeal against the decision while still in the UK. Applications from
nationals of a ‘designated’ State who have had their application refused are bound by legislation to
have their claims certified as clearly unfounded unless the Secretary of State is not satisfied that the
claim is clearly unfounded. In cases where certification is applied, the applicant retains a right of
appeal, which can only be submitted out-of country, termed as the ‘Non-Suspensive Appeals’ process.
Claims from nationals of all other States may be considered for certification on a case-by-case basis.
In a notified return, it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and / or
has no valid leave to remain in the UK. Removal directions may or may not have been set to
administratively remove or deport the person from the country; however, the person has notified the
Home Office that they wish to make their own arrangements to leave the country and has provided
evidence to this effect. The Home Office will have been required to facilitate/monitor the return.
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Official Statistics are defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 as all those
statistical outputs produced by central Government departments and agencies, by the Office for
National Statistics, by the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, or by
other Crown bodies. Official statistics include several categories of statistics produced by public
bodies:
• 'National Statistics' - these are certified as compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics.
• statistics produced by the GSS that are not 'National Statistics'
• statistics produced by Crown Bodies but not under the professional management of the GSS
• statistics produced by non-Crown Bodies included in secondary legislation
In the Immigration Statistics release, any data described as ‘Official Statistics’ are drawn from the
Home Office’s administrative systems and have not necessarily been subject to the same detailed
verification processes as those badged as ‘National Statistics’ (NS). For example such figures may
include:
(a) data produced internally for operational management purposes in the first instance, rather
than produced solely for the published statistics;
(b) data added to the Home Office’s migration statistics publications after these were last
designated as National Statistics and prior to re-designation as NS by the UK Statistics
Authority.
Under the Statistics and Registration Act 2007 framework, the designation of new statistics as
‘National Statistics’ is undertaken by the UK Statistics Authority. Hence (b) are therefore described as
Official Statistics rather than National Statistics. The UK Statistics Authority has designated the
statistics within Immigration Statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and
Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. In
previous versions of this User Guide, Official Statistics have also been referred to as ‘management
information’.
Other returns from detention relate to those returns occurring either from detention or up to 2 days
after leaving detention AND where it had been established that a person has breached UK
immigration laws and / or have no valid leave to remain in the UK. Removal directions may or may not
have been set but the person has notified the Home Office that they wish to make their own
arrangements to leave the country and has provided evidence to this effect. The Home Office will have
been required to facilitate or monitor the return.
Other verified returns (previously Other confirmed voluntary departures) relate to persons who it has
been established have left or have been identified leaving the UK without formally informing the
immigration authorities of their departure. These persons can be identified either at
embarkation controls or by a variety of data-matching initiatives.
Ordinary visitors are non-EEA nationals admitted to the UK for a period not exceeding six months on
condition that they do not work, reside in the UK for long periods or access public funds.
Passengers returning includes both: people who are settled in the UK, who have been absent for
less than two years; and those subject to a limited leave to enter who have returned within the time
limit of that leave. The initial admissions of such passengers will have been counted in a specific
category in the relevant time period.
A permanent residence card (tables ee_02 and ee_02_q) is issued to non-EEA family members of
EEA nationals to confirm their right of permanent residence in the UK as a family member of an EEA
national. They must have been living in accordance with EU laws relating to free movement rights for
a continuous period of five years. The permanent residence card is valid for ten years. Non-EEA
family members are not obliged to apply for a permanent residence card.
The Points-based system (PBS) is the main route for non-EEA nationals working and studying in the
UK. It consists of five 'tiers'. See the definitions for the individual tiers, Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4 and
Tier 5 for further information.
14
Port of entry is an airport, seaport or rail terminal through which people from outside the UK enter the
country.
Post-decision reviews are sometimes carried out on asylum initial decisions for a number of
reasons. An asylum decision by the Secretary of State can be later reviewed as a result of additional
information and/or significant changes in the applicant’s current circumstances and the relevant
country of origin information.
Principal applicant is the main applicant named. There is one per application. A principal applicant
can have no, one or more dependants.
Private Life: grant of leave to remain in the UK because the person has established a private life in
the UK. In order to be eligible to apply for leave to remain on the basis of private life in the UK, the
applicant must have resided continuously in the UK for at least 20 years or be able to demonstrate
that there are very significant obstacles to their integration in the country to which they would return.
For young people aged between 18 and 24 the applicant must have resided continuously in the UK for
at least half of their life, and for children aged under 18 the applicant must have resided continuously
in the UK for at least 7 years and show that it would not be reasonable to expect them to leave the UK.
Applicants can only apply for this route from within the UK.
Refugee is defined, by the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and
1967 Protocol (the ‘Refugee Convention’), as being a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of
being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality (or habitual residence, where stateless) and
who is unable or, owing to such a fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country.
Recognition of refugee status is a pre-requisite to the grant of refugee leave in the UK.
Refugee Status is the recognition by the UK, following consideration of a claim for asylum, that a
person meets the criteria in paragraph 334 of the Immigration Rules.
Refugee Leave means limited leave granted to a person with Refugee Status.
Protection Claim is a claim that removal of a person from the UK would breach the UK's obligations
under the Refugee Convention or the UK's obligations in relation to a persons eligibility for a grant of
Humanitarian Protection.
An Inadmissible EU asylum application is an application for asylum from an EU national that does
not meet the requirements of paragraph 326F of the Immigration Rules.
Registration certificates (tables ee_02 and ee_02_q) are issued to EEA nationals to confirm their
right of residence in the UK on the basis that they are exercising a Treaty Right or they are the family
member of an EEA national who is exercising Treaty Rights in the UK. EEA nationals are not obliged
to apply for a registration certificate unless they are applying on the basis of being an extended family
member of another EEA national.
Registration certificates (tables ee_01 and ee_01_q) are documents issued to Bulgarian and
Romanian nationals as evidence they were exempt from the requirement to obtain permission before
commencing employment in the UK. Transitional restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals
were lifted on 1st January 2014.
Registration certificates (Croatian nationals) are documents issued to Croatian nationals as
evidence of their right to work in the UK. Purple registration certificates are issued to employees of a
registered employer, Blue registration certificates to highly skilled people and Yellow certificates are
issued to self employed people and students. See https://www.gov.uk/croatian-national for more
detailed information.
15
Removal of time limit is something that happens when a person becomes settled in the UK and there
is no longer any time limit on their stay in the UK.
Residence cards (tables ee_02 and ee_02_q) are issued to non-EEA national family members of an
EEA national who is exercising Treaty Rights in the UK. It confirms their right of residence as a family
member of an EEA national and is normally issued for a period of five years. Non-EEA national family
members of an EEA national do not need to apply for a residence card unless they are applying on the
basis of being an extended family member of an EEA national.
Restricted Leave (RL) From 2 September 2011, all individuals refused refugee status or
Humanitarian Protection on the grounds of their war crimes or other international crimes committed
prior to their admission to the UK as a refugee, but who cannot be immediately removed due to the
European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), may be granted Restricted Leave to remain for a
maximum of six months at a time.
Returns relate to people, including dependants, leaving the UK either voluntarily when they no longer
had a right to stay in the UK or where the Home Office has sought to return them to their own country,
an EU Member State, or a third country where they are permanently admissible. While individuals
refused entry at port and subsequently departing have not necessarily entered the country, their return
requires action by the UK Border Force and Home Office, such as being placed on a flight, and is
therefore included.
Right of abode is the legal description of a person’s right to enter and live in the UK without any
immigration restrictions. All British citizens have the right of abode along with some Commonwealth
citizens. This can be evidenced by a British citizen passport or a certificate of entitlement in a foreign
passport.
The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) was a scheme under which Bulgarian and
Romanian nationals aged 18 or over could be admitted to the UK to undertake seasonal work on
farms. SAWS dated from the immediate post-war years, as a way of bringing in short-term labour to
gather harvests, and its general principles remain to provide short-term seasonal labour for the
agricultural industry. The scheme operated under an annual quota system. Before restriction to
Bulgarian and Romanian nationals in 2007, the majority of participants were from Eastern Europe and
the states of the former USSR. The Scheme has been discontinued following the removal of labour
market restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals at the end of 2013.
Section 4 support: An individual may be eligible for support under Section 4(2) of the Immigration
and Asylum Act 1999 if their asylum application has been determined as refused and appeals rights
are exhausted, but they are destitute and there are reasons that temporarily prevent them from leaving
the UK.
Section 95 support: Support may be provided under Section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
1999 to destitute asylum seekers until their asylum claim is finally determined. Section 95 support can
be provided as both accommodation and subsistence, or accommodation or subsistence only.
Section 98 support: While a claim for Section 95 support is being considered, Section 98 permits
the Secretary of State to provide or arrange for the provision of support for asylum seekers or
dependants of asylum seekers who appear to be destitute. Section 98 support is temporary
accommodation and is intended for short-term use.
The Sector Based Scheme (SBS) was a quota-based scheme for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals
aged between 18 and 30, which only covered the food-manufacturing sector. SBS for other
nationalities was closed in December 2006; prior to this, SBS was a quota-based scheme for overseas
nationals to work in the hospitality and food-processing sectors. The Scheme has been discontinued
following the removal of labour market restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals at the end of
2013.
16
Settlement is a grant of indefinite leave to enter (on arrival) or indefinite leave to remain (after entry)
(generally) to a non-EEA national.
Statistical significance - The International Passenger Survey interviews a sample of passengers
passing through ports within the UK. As with all sample surveys, the estimates produced from them
are based upon one of a number of different samples that could have been drawn at that point in time.
This means that there is a degree of variability around the estimates produced. This variability
sometimes may present misleading changes in figures as a result of the random selection of those
included in the sample. If a change or a difference between estimates is described as 'statistically
significant', it means that statistical tests have been carried out to reject the possibility that the change
has occurred by chance. Therefore statistically significant changes are very likely to reflect real
changes in migration patterns.
The short-term study category replaced the student visitor category on 24 April 2015 and provides
for those people who wish to come to the UK in order to undertake a short course of study, or short
period of research as part of a degree course, which will be completed within the period of their leave
(maximum six months unless applying under the concession for English language courses – 11
months). Short-term students cannot work, including undertaking a paid or unpaid work placement as
part of their course.
Support is the provision of accommodation and/or subsistence to those seeking asylum. See Section
4 support, Section 95 support and Section 98 support.
Third Country, or safe third country, is a country of which the applicant is not a national or citizen and
in which a person’s life or liberty is not threatened by reason of race, religion, nationality, membership
of a particular social group or political opinion. It is also one from which a person would not be sent to
another State in contravention of his rights under the 1951 Convention. Most Third Country cases are
those which come under the arrangements provided by the Dublin Convention or the Dublin II
Regulation (the “Dublin arrangements”). Asylum claims may be refused without substantive
consideration of the application if the applicant can be returned to a safe third country.
Tier 1 of the points-based system: For high value individuals who will contribute to growth and
productivity.
Tier 2 of the points-based system: For skilled workers from outside the EEA with a skilled job offer to
fill gaps in the UK labour force.
Tier 3 of the points-based system: For limited numbers of low-skilled workers needed to fill specific
temporary labour shortages (this has never been implemented).
Tier 4 of the points-based system: Students.
Tier 5 of the points-based system: Youth mobility and temporary workers: people allowed to work in
the UK for a limited period of time to satisfy primarily non-economic objectives.
UK ancestry is a possible route of entry to work and/or settle in the UK for Commonwealth citizens
without right of abode if they can show that they have a grandparent who was born in the UK. For
these purposes Commonwealth Countries are defined in Schedule 3, British Nationality Act 1981.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is a part of the Home Office and is responsible for providing
decisions regarding entry visas for people travelling to the UK, with emphasis on customer satisfaction
for business people and tourists alike.
17
An Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Child (UASC) is defined in the Immigration Rules as a person
who:
is under 18 years of age when the asylum application is submitted.
is applying for asylum in their own right; and
is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who in law or
by custom has responsibility to do so.
A child may move between the unaccompanied and accompanied categories while their applications
are under consideration, e.g. where a child arrives alone but is later united with other family members
in the UK, or a child arrives with their parents or close relatives but is later abandoned, or a trafficked
child, or one brought in on false papers with an adult claiming to be a relative.
Unsubstantiated cases are where the applicant has failed to substantiate their claim for asylum
through non-attendance at the substantive interview and who is found to have absconded from their
registered address. Also called non-substantiated claims.
Upper Tribunal Judges hear and decide appeals against decisions made by the First-tier Tribunal
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and judicial review claims against certain decisions of the Home
Office.
Visa: see Entry clearance.
A visa national is: a national of a country listed as requiring a visa for any type of entry to the UK; a
stateless person; a holder of a non-national travel document unless issued by the UK; or a holder of a
passport issued by an authority that is not recognised in the UK. Visa nationals must obtain entry
clearance before travelling to the UK, except in certain circumstances, unless they are returning
residents or those with permission to stay who are returning after a temporary absence.
Visitor switchers are people who stated the intention in the IPS to stay in the destination country for
less than a year, but who actually stay for a year or longer.
Voluntary returns comprise assisted returns, notified or controlled returns, and other verified
returns.
Voluntary Returns Service (VRS) – Since January 2016, the support formerly provided under the
Assisted Voluntary Returns scheme (AVR), has been provided by the Home Office’s Voluntary
Returns Service (VRS). These will be referred to in the tables as ‘Assisted returns’. The term ‘Assisted
returns’ relates to the support provided under AVR up to Q4 2015 and support provided under VRS
from Q1 2016. See also Assisted Voluntary Returns (AVR).
Withdrawn asylum claim is a claim for asylum that can be withdrawn explicitly by the applicant by
signing the relevant form or implicitly through failing to attend the substantive interview (see
unsubstantiated cases), leaving the UK without prior authorisation prior to the conclusion of the
asylum claim or failing to complete an asylum questionnaire as requested. An appeal can be
withdrawn by either the appellant or the Home Office.
Worker authorisation registration certificates are documents issued to Croatian nationals
conferring permission to work, where they are subject to the requirement to obtain such permission
before commencing employment in the UK and to highly skilled individuals who are exempt from this
requirement to confirm their right to work.
Worker Registration Scheme (WRS): Under this scheme, which ended on 30 April 2011, EU8
nationals who took up employment in the UK were required to apply to register that employment under
the WRS within one month of commencing work. The requirement to register employment no longer
18
applied if the individual completed 12 months continuous registered employment in the UK. The
requirement to register did not apply to work in a self-employed capacity.
Work permit holder is a migrant who is granted leave for work permit employment (the relevant
paragraphs 128 to 133 of the Immigration Rules were deleted on 6 April 2012 by Statement of
Changes HC 1888 except those relevant to paragraphs 134 to 135). The requirements for applications
for work permit employment set out in paragraphs 128 to 133 of these Rules were deleted on 6 April
2012 by Statement of Changes HC 1888 except insofar as relevant to paragraphs 134 to 135.
19
3 Conventions used in Immigration Statistics
Rounding
Data are mainly provided unrounded in the data tables of the Immigration Statistics release. This is to
promote transparency and allow users to exploit the data further.
However, caution should be taken when comparing small differences between time periods; while care
is taken in collecting and collating all the information obtained, the figures are subject to the
inaccuracies inherent in any large recording system and are not necessarily accurate to the last digit.
There are a range of different types of errors possible, such as those resulting from recording errors or
misclassifications.
The data provided rounded are:
passenger arrivals; sampling methods are used to provide counts of completed
landing cards and therefore these data are rounded – see the Admissions section
of this User Guide for details on the sampling and rounding methods used;
grants of settlement to Commonwealth citizens and foreign nationals in Table se_06
between 1960 and 1996 which are rounded to the nearest ten; and between 1997
and 2002 which are rounded to the nearest five due to unrounded data not currently
being available; and
asylum applications received by other countries in Table as_07_q which are rounded
to the nearest 100.
asylum applications: Table as_01 for 1989 to 1993 and as_02 for 1989 to 2001 are
rounded to the nearest 5, Table as_02 for 1991 to 2001 are rounded to the nearest
100 due to dependants applications being estimated.
In the commentary accompanying the data tables, data have occasionally been rounded for ease of
reading, where appropriate based on the size of numbers that are being reported. In all cases, except
passenger arrivals data, data are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Where data are rounded, they may not sum to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100 per
cent, because they have been rounded independently.
Use of symbols
The following symbols have been used in the tables:
: Not available.
z Not applicable.
* Number is too small to be shown (used in tables where figures have been rounded).
Using the data: filtering of tables
Several of the tables accompanying the Immigration Statistics releases include filters (buttons in the
cells at the top of columns) to allow users to select which part of the data they wish to view. Many
tables, especially those with the column heading ‘Country of nationality’, will be already filtered when
the file is first downloaded.
To use the filters click on the button and select the item you want to see from the list presented. The
icon within the button changes colour and/or shape to indicate a filter has been selected for that
column.
20
To undo or change the selection click on the button again and select another item from the list
presented. More than one column can be filtered at the same time.
The colour and form of the icon shown in the filter button may differ according to the package being
used to view the table. Filtering may not be possible when viewed on some mobile devices.
Classification of countries and nationalities
In the Immigration Statistics release, some data are available by country of nationality. The country of
nationality recorded is based on the documentation, generally passports, provided by the individual at
the point of recording the details. For asylum statistics, the country of nationality is usually based on
documentary evidence, although sometimes the asylum seeker would arrive in the UK without any
such documentation.
As far as is sensible, a full country of nationality list has been provided.
The heading ‘British overseas citizens’ includes British protected persons and British subjects under
the British Nationality Act 1981 and covers those people classified in the pre-1983 issues of this
publication as ‘United Kingdom Passport Holders’, as well as British overseas citizens. Those
recorded as British overseas territories citizens (BOTCs) from Hong Kong, stateless persons from
Hong Kong, British nationals (overseas) and holders of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
passports are recorded under ‘Hong Kong’, and other people recorded as BOTCs are included under
the relevant geographical region.
The state union of Serbia and Montenegro came to an end after Montenegro’s formal declaration of
independence on 3 June 2006 and Serbia’s formal declaration of independence on 5 June 2006.
Serbia and Montenegro may be counted together due to the use of a single (Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia) passport until 31 December 2010 when the Yugoslav passport became invalid. After this
date, only passports issued by the separate jurisdictions have been accepted.
Prior to July 2011, Sudan includes all individuals presenting travel documents or passports relating to
that country. Since July 2011, nationals of South Sudan who presented Sudanese travel documents
may continue to be recorded under Sudan; those presenting travel documents from South Sudan are
recorded as nationals of Sudan (South).
Following requests from UNHCR and Asylum Aid in 2011/12, those recognised as either ‘Stateless’ or
a ‘Refugee’ are available as separate ‘Country of nationalities’ within the nationality tables. ‘Stateless’
refers individuals recorded as: Kuwaiti Bidoun; recognised as Stateless by UNHCR (the UN Refugee
Agency) under Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the status of Stateless Persons; or
stateless on the relevant record held by the Home Office. ‘Refugee’ refers to those: recognised as a
refugee by UNHCR under Article 1 of the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees; or
recorded as a refugee on the relevant record held by the Home Office.
Revisions to data
We anticipate that data for the latest full calendar year and, where applicable, quarters from the
current calendar year will be revised in due course. On occasion, earlier data will be revised. The data
will generally only be revised once in a year and considered final after a further 12 months, unless
significant errors are discovered or the data are Official Statistics.
Provisional citizenship data and extensions data are expected to be revised in May of each year; all
other provisional data are expected to be revised in August of each year. In addition, returns data are
checked each quarter to see whether provisional quarterly data needs to be revised.
21
It is not possible to evaluate whether any future revisions will be upward or downward; but the reasons
for revisions are likely to include:
late reporting of cases – a small proportion of cases are not included when the
statistics are produced;
the results of data-cleansing exercises, such as data identified that cannot be
included when the statistics are calculated because of missing or invalid values, the
identification of duplicates in the data; and
reconciliations with alternative data sources which identify cases not yet included in
the statistics.
Despite all our best efforts, there may occasionally be a need to amend publications to correct errors
(these may occur if, for example, data supplied to us are subsequently found to be incorrect).
Significant errors in published statistics will be corrected as soon as possible (i.e. by amending
electronic versions of the release and including a prominent alert on our website to notify users of the
change), and we will “correct errors discovered in statistical reports and alert stakeholders, promptly”
in line with the Code of Practice, Principle 2, Practice 7. We will use appropriate methods to
communicate with users. An error is considered to be significant if the resultant change would qualify
or contradict the conclusions that would previously have been drawn from the data.
If the error is minor or textual, or insignificant in the sense that any correction would be reasonably
deemed inconsequential, we will not issue a correction immediately, but will do so when a new release
is due for publication.
If we discover an error which is insubstantial but which, in our professional judgement, warrants
immediate correction we will amend electronic copies of the published release and ensure that the
revision is clearly identified in the amended publication.
In order to make clear our revisions, rather than marking revised data in tables directly, our approach
is to highlight revisions in the ‘About this release’ page, the ‘Notes’ worksheet, topic briefing text and in
the User Guide, depending on how important the revisions are.
Further details on the Revisions Policy for the Home Office can be found on the Home Office Science,
Research and Statistics web pages within the Statement of Compliance with the Code of Practice at:
http://homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/home-office-
science/ho-compliance-state-11.
Revisions analysis
The table below shows that revisions to the annual 2017 figures first published in February 2018 have
been small. Two exceptions to this are the ‘Voluntary returns’ and the ‘Detention (children entering and
children leaving)’ series. Details are given below the table:
22
Series
Published
Feb 18
Revision May
18 - percentage
change with
Feb 18
Revision Aug
18 –
percentage
change with
Feb 18
Asylum applications (main applicants)
26,350
n/a
+0.7%
Asylum applications (inc. dependants)
33,512
n/a
+2.8%
Asylum initial decisions (main applicants)
21,290
n/a
-0.1%
Enforced returns
12,321
-0.7%
-2.2%
Refused entry at port and subsequently
departed
17,977
+0.6%
+1.1%
Voluntary returns (excluding returns from
detention)
18,928
+5.1%
+8.3%
Detention (total entering)
27,331
n/a
+0.1%
Detention (children entering)
42
n/a
+50.0%
Detention (total leaving)
28,244
n/a
+0.0%
Detention (children leaving)
44
n/a
+52.3%
Grants of an extension of stay (inc.
dependants)
214,140
-0.3%
n/a
Grants of settlement (inc. dependants)
63,941
n/a
Entry clearance visas granted (inc.
dependants)
2,710,350
n/a
-0.1%
Citizenship grants (all)
123,229
-0.1%
n/a
Admissions (total passenger arrivals, millions)
135.2
1.4%
1.4%
Admissions (Non-EEA national arrivals,
millions)
16.2
+0.0%
+4.0%
Explanation of revisions for children in detention data
Data revisions on the number of children entering and leaving detention occur when a more recent
data extract is used to produce the figures. Later extracts will reflect changes made to date of birth
information about individuals (after reviews, new evidence or ‘Merton’ assessments). These changes
do not alter the total number of people entering or leaving detention (which changed by -0.1% for the
2017 totals published in August 2018), but may increase or decrease the number of children reported
as entering or leaving detention.
Explanation of revisions for returns
Data revisions on the number of returns take place when more recent data extracts are used to
produce the figures. In particular, figures for voluntary returns are vulnerable to upward revision.
These occur when data matching for the “other verified returns” subset (formerly known as ‘other
confirmed voluntary departures’) is undertaken retrospectively to check departures. “Other verified
returns” are cases where a person has been identified as having left the UK 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 Home Office systems. These figures are revised for two consecutive quarters.
Factors affecting the statistics
Immigration Rules, which are laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary, govern the entry and
refusal of entry of passengers into the UK, the conditions of stay in the UK, the variation of such
conditions following entry, settlement and the deportation or return of individuals.
Current Immigration Rules are stated in ‘Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules’ HC 395, which
took effect from 1 October 1994. This consolidated previous rule changes, although there have been
changes to the rules since 1994. Some of these changes have affected the statistics and the most
important changes are given in the ‘Policy and Legislative Changes Timeline’ published alongside this
User Guide.
23
4 Information on uses and users of
Immigration Statistics
Potential uses of the data provided in the Immigration Statistics release
In October 2010, The UK Statistics Authority published a paper on the use made of Official Statistics.
We have indicated a range of the expected uses of the data within Immigration Statistics in bold with
some examples.
i. Informing the general public’s choices:
a. about investment decisions
b. about service providers
c. about lifestyle choices
d. about the state of the economy, society and the environment e.g. via Parliament and the
media
e. about the performance of government and public bodies e.g. via Parliament and the media
ii. Government decision-making about policies, and associated decisions about related programmes
and projects:
a. policy making
b. policy monitoring
iii. Resource allocation – typically by central and local government
iv. Informing private sector commercial choices:
a. targeting local markets
b. targeting households and individuals
c. designing market research surveys
v. Informing public marketing campaigns
vi. Supporting third sector activity:
a. lobbying
b. funding applications
vii. Facilitating academic research
Users of the Home Office immigration statistics
The responses to the February–May 2011 statistical consultation included evidence of the use made
of the immigration statistics published by the Home Office by a range of users. These included:
Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP)
Bank of England
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Work and Pensions
Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford
European Migration Network
Eurostat
Greater London Authority (GLA)
HM Treasury
IGC Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees
Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)
Institute for Public Policy Research
Migration Advisory Committee (MAC)
Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford
Migration Watch UK
National Institute of Economic & Social Research
National Records of Scotland
North West Regional Strategic Migration Partnership Support Team
24
OECD International Migration Division
Office for National Statistics
Refugee Council
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Wales Strategic Migration Partnership
Wales Strategic Migration Partnership
Within the Home Office the statistics are used by a range of policy advisers, social researchers and
economists in order to inform policy and operational decisions by Ministers.
Examples of uses of the statistics:
Policy monitoring, lobbying
Informing the general public’s choices: about the performance of government and public bodies
Government decision making about policies, and associated decisions about related programmes and
projects
25
5 Strengths, limitations and data quality
Below are some general strengths and limitations of the Immigration Statistics release.
Strengths of the data provided in the Immigration Statistics release:
Very detailed information based on administrative sources providing exact counts by detailed
nationality.
Very timely (published within two months of the reference period e.g. data for calendar year
2012 published before the end of February 2013).
Low revision levels. Details of the extent of revisions following annual totals published in
February 2018 are given in the ‘Revisions Analysis’ section of the User Guide in ‘Conventions
used in Immigration Statistics’.
Possible to see how changes to the UK’s immigration control system have direct impacts on
the numbers, which are used to directly monitor that system.
Limitations of the data provided in the Immigration Statistics release:
Home Office data are not as suitable as ONS data for understanding overall trends in all UK
immigration, emigration and net migration.
Home Office data generally relates to those subject to immigration control, rather than all
immigration including by UK and other EU nationals; therefore, for analysis of total
immigration, ONS data are more appropriate
(http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Migration).
Home Office data do not provide information on emigration. However, the Home Office have
started to publish data on those known to have left the UK in their statistics being collected
under the exit checks programme series.
Specific examples
Home Office data on their own do not provide a measure of net migration and the contribution of net
migration to population growth. However, visas granted data are more timely than ONS immigration
data and, as shown in the work, study and family briefing sections, they are likely to be a useful
leading indicator for the non-EU component of the ONS immigration figures.
Data quality of administrative data
During the first half of 2002, an integrated database CID (Case Information Database) was introduced
to record case information. This database took over from many other databases, was built for
administrative purposes, and information is collated from it for statistical purposes subject to data
quality.
Age/Sex Unknown
Some tables on settlement, citizenship, asylum and returns provide a split by age and / or sex. Within
these tables, there are categories for ‘Sex unknown’ and ‘Age unknown’ or ‘Age/sex unknown’, which
reflect:
Individuals where the date of birth and / or sex is not recorded in the appropriate field of the
CID. In some cases the age and sex may be recorded elsewhere, but it is not possible to use
this information in the published tables;
Individuals where the date of birth has been identified as being incorrectly entered, for
example, providing a negative age or where the date of birth is entered as 01/01/1901.
26
The first of the two types of data issues are the most common.
For asylum dependants, the age at application is based on their age at the date the main application
was made. Therefore, in cases where the child is born after the original asylum application, the
recorded age at application will be negative. These are not considered to be data quality issues, but
will appear in ‘Age unknown’ as the age is not known at the time of the application.
Specific data quality issues are detailed in each relevant topic.
Overall assessments of data quality
More generally, data quality has a range of aspects including accessibility, methods, relevance and
the extent to which they comply with the best practices and requirements outlined in the Code of
Practice for Statistics. In autumn 2011, the UK Statistics Authority assessed Immigration Statistics
against the Code, as part of its routine programme of assessments. This report can be found on the
UK Statistics Authority’s website at
http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/assessment/assessment-reports/index.html.
The assessment report published on 2 February 2012 was written on an exceptions basis and hence
focussed on the five requirements to be met in order for the release to be re-designated as National
Statistics. The report also commented briefly on existing strengths, noting that: the figures “are readily
accessible, produced according to sound methods and managed impartially and objectively in the
public interest”; and “help inform users such as the government, Parliament, the media and the wider
public about immigration control activities, and support the development and monitoring of immigration
policy”; and that “Many users commented that they found the new format in which the statistics are
presented easier to use”.
Following improvements made in the May 2012 and August 2012 editions, the UK Statistics Authority
confirmed the designation of Immigration Statistics as National Statistics. Designation as National
Statistics can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:
meet identified user needs;
are well explained and readily accessible;
are produced according to sound methods; and
are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.
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6 Visas and Sponsorship
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published – as National Statistics on:
Sponsoring employers and education institutions on the Home Office ‘Register of
Sponsors’ (Tables cs_01_q; cs_02_q; cs_07_q and cs_08_q);
Applicants for both visas and extensions of stay for work who use a Certificate of
Sponsorship, by Industry type and nationality (Tables cs_03 - cs_06);
Applicants for both visas and extensions of stay for study who use a Confirmation of
Acceptance for Studies, by education provider and nationality (Tables cs_09 -
cs_14).
Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes, broken down by category and
country of nationality (Tables vi_01_q – vi_06 q o).
All of the tables listed above are published in the “Sponsorship” and “Visas” volumes. As a brief guide,
Sponsorship contains tables cs 01 q to cs 14 q,
Volume 1 of Visas contains tables vi 01 q to vi 05 q,
Volume 2 of Visas contains tables vi 06 q and vi 06 q w,
Volume 3 of Visas contains tables vi 06 q s to vi 06 q o.
CERTIFICATE OF SPONSORSHIP (CoS) AND CONFIRMATION OF
ACCEPTANCE FOR STUDIES (CAS)
Within the topic briefs for work and study, the use of CoS and CAS are referred to as ‘sponsored visa
applications’.
Data source
The statistics on CoS and CAS used are extracted from the Home Office’s Sponsorship Management
system (SMS). The data derived from SMS are administrative information used by sponsors to
allocate certificates.
Background on the statistics
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for skilled individuals (Tier 2) and youth mobility and temporary
workers (Tier 5)
As part of the application process for visas and for extensions, skilled individuals must obtain a
certificate of sponsorship from a registered employer.
Any organisation that wishes to sponsor a worker must be registered on the Home Office’s Register of
Sponsors’.
For the CoS process, the following steps occur after an employer (sponsor) has been accepted onto
the Tier 2/5 organisations register:
1. A sponsor is able to apply to the Home Office for an annual allocation of CoS.
2. The Home Office then allocates a number of CoS to the sponsor.
3. The sponsor then assigns a CoS to an individual (who may be applying for a visa from outside
the UK or for an extension of stay if already in the UK).
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4. The individual then uses the CoS as part of a visa application (or application for an extension
of stay).
Tier 2 (General) is currently subject to a limit on the number of CoS that can be allocated to new hires
earning less than £159,600 per year or for dependants of Tier 4 students who wish to switch into Tier
2 (General). The sponsor must apply for an allocation for these ‘restricted’ CoS on a case-by-case
basis to be considered at a monthly allocation meeting, held by the Home Office. Details of the
outcome of the monthly allocation process are published at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-sponsorship-restricted-certificate-
allocations/allocations-of-restricted-certificates-of-sponsorship.
Once assigned, a CoS must be used to apply for leave within three months. If not used, the CoS
status changes to ‘Expired’. The CoS may also be withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the
Home Office.
Sponsors can apply for an additional allocation of CoS if required, although certain limits apply
depending on the tier in which the sponsor is licensed.
Sponsors are given an A-rating when they join the register. An A-rating may be downgraded to a B
rating at a later stage if the sponsor doesn’t continue to meet their sponsor duties. If this happens the
sponsor won’t be able to issue new certificates of sponsorship until they have made improvements
and upgraded back to an A-rating. A B-rated sponsor is still able to issue certificates to workers they
employ who wish to extend their stay. Sponsors may apply for, and be granted, a premium level of
customer service from the Home Office and as such have an A (Premium) rating.
A sponsor may be licensed under more than one tier, and may have different ratings for each tier.
Industry sector has been classified using the 21 sections of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
listed on the Office for National Statistics website
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/classifications/current-standard-classifications/standard-
industrial-classification/index.html.
Further information about CoS is given at https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers.
Confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS)
To apply for a student visa or for an extension as a student (Tier 4), individuals must use a
confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) from a sponsoring educational institution using the four
step process similar to CoS.
All Tier 4 sponsors are expected to be education providers who can meet the standards the Home
Office have set. A sponsor is given Probationary Sponsor status when it is first granted a licence. A
Probationary Sponsor must demonstrate that it can fulfil its sponsorship duties, will continue to do so,
and can be trusted to hold Tier 4 Sponsor status. When a Probationary Sponsor applies for, and
passes, its first annual Basic Compliance Assessment, it will be given Tier 4 Sponsor status.
Prior to 5 September 2011, it was possible for some CAS sponsors to be B-rated. This was either
because the Home Office had concerns about their ability to meet all of their sponsor duties or
because they had interim accreditation from one of the previously approved accreditation bodies.
Legacy sponsors cannot sponsor any new students. They can continue to sponsor existing students
who are already studying with them until they finish their course or until their licence expires,
whichever happens first
A sponsor may be licensed under more than one category within Tier 4.
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In 2015, changes were made to the terminology used for the different types of education provider in
Tier 4. The updated terminology better reflects the type of institution and the improved categorisation
will lead to greater accuracy and clarity in reporting in the long-term. The changes were made as part
of an overhaul to the policy affecting sites and teaching partnerships permitted under Tier 4. The
changes were also introduced to ensure that policies that were introduced last year that only affect
certain types of sponsors (for instance, only apply to independent schools) deliver the intended policy
impact.
In August 2017 data in tables cs_09; cs_09_q; cs_10; and cs_10_q were updated to show a time
series for students applying for visas or extensions of stay to study at Russell Group Universities. The
Russell Group describe themselves as representing 24 leading UK universities. Their website
(http://russellgroup.ac.uk/ ) list those universities as:
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
Cardiff University
Durham University
University of Edinburgh
University of Exeter
University of Glasgow
Imperial College London
King's College London
University of Leeds
University of Liverpool
London School of Economics and Political Science
University of Manchester
Newcastle University
University of Nottingham
University of Oxford
Queen Mary University of London
Queen’s University Belfast
University of Sheffield
University of Southampton
University College London
University of Warwick
University of York
Further information about CAS is given at https://www.gov.uk/tier-4-general-visa.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Key terms
In order to distinguish from data on applications for (out of country) entry clearance visas, and to avoid
the use of technical jargon, the text about certificates of sponsorship used in applications for visas
instead employs the more succinct term ‘sponsored work visa applications’; similarly the use of
30
certificates of sponsorship in applications for (in country) extensions is described as ‘sponsored
applications for extensions for work’.
In order to distinguish from data on applications for (out of country) entry clearance visas, and to avoid
the use of technical jargon, the text about confirmations of acceptance for studies used in applications
for visas instead employs the more succinct term ‘sponsored study visa applications’; similarly the use
of confirmations of acceptance for studies in applications for (in country) extensions is described as
‘sponsored applications for extensions to study’.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the numbers of ‘sponsors on the register’ and ‘CoS used’ and ‘CAS used’
is considered to be high. These data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
include register totals produced directly from the Home Office’s published list (register) of
sponsors which is subject to scrutiny by the sponsors themselves, providing external scrutiny
checking of the sponsor status, for example.
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors; and
undergo a reconciliation process (total numbers of sponsors matches published totals produced
independently by the Home Office).
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as nationality is very low, with such missing data reported as
unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used. The following
are known data quality issues:
information on sponsors’ industry category is self-completed, and may be subject to
classification errors (particularly at more detailed levels).
Compilation method
Information about numbers of sponsors and their status has been produced by Migration Statistics
based on copies of the published Register of Sponsors. CoS used and CAS used statistics are
produced by the Sponsorship Analysis Team within the Home Office. The Migration Statistics team
within the Home Office, who do not have access to the source live database, prepare the tables for
publication.
Quality and process checks carried out
The Migration Statistics team at the Home Office undertake cross-checking of tables, to ensure
consistent totals, as part of the production process. For example CoS used totals can be compared
against data relating to visas and to extensions for Tiers 2 and 5. Data are also checked for
consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated with the Home Office
operational and policy teams.
The prepared text is checked against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for
checking that the commentary appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
31
ENTRY CLEARANCE VISAS
Data source
The statistics on entry clearance visas are sourced from the Home Office Proviso-Central Referencing
System (CRS) visa casework system maintained by the Home Office International Group and
processed by ‘posts’. The information is gathered for the purpose of processing entry clearance visa
applications.
Background on the statistics
Different nationalities have different visa requirements for entering and staying in the UK:
European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals do not require a visa to come to the UK;
for over 100 other nationalities, covering three-quarters of the world population, a visa is
required for entry to the UK for any purpose or for any length of stay (i.e. “visa nationals”); and
for all remaining nationalities (i.e. “non-visa nationals”) a visa is required for those wanting to
come to the UK for over six months, or for most types of work.
Before travelling to the UK, a person may be required to apply for and be granted an entry clearance
visa, depending on their nationality, purpose of visit and intended length of stay. Visa nationals are
required to obtain entry clearance from a British diplomatic post (visa-issuing section) abroad. Since
October 2000, under the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000, entry clearance
serves a dual purpose. It allows the visa holder to travel to, and also enter the UK, from the grant date
and is activated on passing through UK immigration control. All individuals have to satisfy a Border
Force officer that they have the right to enter the country before being admitted to the UK.
Entry clearance visa statistics cover a range of permitted lengths of stay, including those for less than
a year. Visas granted for study and some work-related visas, together with other visa types such as
EEA family permits and some dependants wishing to join or accompany other immigrants, allow
temporary entry clearance and require the individual to renew the visa before it expires should they
wish to stay longer. Some work and family visas allow a person to apply to stay indefinitely after a
certain period. A number of other entry clearance visas, including some family visas, permit a person
to stay indefinitely. However, the administrative database does not allow the resulting numbers of
visas granted to be accurately split into the three classifications of ‘temporary’, ‘leading to settlement’
and ‘settlement’, as some visas are used for more than one of these classifications.
Entry clearance visas can be applied for and granted to a main applicant and their dependants.
Dependants are allocated an entry clearance category according to the circumstances of their
application. Within the Points-based system (PBS), a child or partner will be recorded as a dependant
under the tier of the main applicant, unless he/she has applied for and been granted a PBS visa in
their own right, when they will be included as a main applicant. Outside of the PBS, many visas for
dependants are specific to the visa for the main applicant. However, there are a number of visas which
act as a catch-all for dependants – these are included within ‘Dependants joining/accompanying’.
There are also some visas which can be used for both main applicants and dependants and therefore
it is not possible to provide an accurate split of total main applicants and total dependants.
Using the data
The figures of entry clearance visas granted show intentions to visit rather than actual arrivals and
individuals can arrive at any time during the period that the visa is valid.
Entry clearance visa data therefore provide an indication of the number of people who have an
intention to enter the UK and are available on a timelier basis than admissions of passengers given
32
leave to enter and estimates from the Office for National Statistics on long-term international
migration. The number of entry clearance visas granted is an indicator of the level of immigration of
non-EEA nationals; in recent years the trends for work and study visas, arrivals and inflow of long-term
migrants from the International Passenger Survey have tended to follow similar patterns. See ‘Related
statistics published elsewhere’.
Figures published in Immigration Statistics releases are shown by quarter and calendar year within the
tables and on a rolling-year basis in the topic commentary, due to the seasonality of much of the data.
Key terms
Dependants joining/accompanying are dependants applying for a visa on the basis of their
relationship with another migrant, who is not a settled person or British citizen. Following changes to
the rules, from the second quarter of 2011 until the second quarter of 2012, this category included new
family members who came to the UK to join a person granted refugee status or humanitarian
protection but who had yet to apply for or be granted settlement.
The Family route primarily covers visas where an individual is applying for a visa on the basis of their
relationship to a person settled in the UK or a British citizen. Published entry clearance statistics do
not separately identify adult dependent relatives of British Citizens and persons settled in the UK,
including under Appendix FM or under paragraph 317 of the Immigration Rules. The following is a
brief summary of the individuals included in each Family category.
Family route: Child
o From December 2017: children of a parent given limited leave to enter or remain in the UK
for a probationary period. Prior to December 2017, they were included in Dependants
joining/accompanying: Child using the same visa endorsement as children
joining/accompanying migrants in other routes.
o Children travelling to the UK for adoption;
o From July 2012: 'post-flight' children joining those with refugee leave or humanitarian
protection (previously included in Dependants joining/accompanying: Child).
Family route: Child (for immediate settlement)
o Adopted children;
o Children accompanying or joining parent(s) who are settled or being admitted for
settlement in the UK.
Family route: Partner includes:
o Fiancé(e)s and proposed civil partners;
o Partners granted visas for a probationary period;
o From July 2012: 'post-flight' partners joining those with refugee leave or humanitarian
protection (previously included in Dependants joining/accompanying: Partner).
Family route: Partner (for immediate settlement) - route closed to new entrants, except:
o Partners who are able to rely on transitional arrangements;
o Partners of HM forces who qualify for immediate settlement.
Family route: Other
o Family reunion: pre-existing family members (partners, minor children) of a person with
refugee leave or humanitarian protection, who has not yet obtained British citizenship;
o From July 2012 to December 2017: dependants who are not partners or children of those
with refugee leave or humanitarian protection (previously included in Dependants
joining/accompanying: Other);
o From July 2012: parents with access rights to a child (previously included in Visitors).
33
o ‘Family reunion’ visas are a subset of the ‘other’ category. Data on the number of family
reunion visas granted were published for the first time in February 2017. Further details
can be found in the ‘Family reunion’ section of the ‘asylum’ section.
Family route: Other (for immediate settlement)
o Dependants who are not partners or children of British Citizens or settled persons.
From December 2017, this category may include a small number of dependants of those with refugee
leave or humanitarian protection, who are not partners or children, given limited leave to enter.
Historically the Home Office did not record statistics for adult dependent relatives based on which
category of the rules the application was made under. The entry clearance endorsements used for
adult dependent relative applications are also used to record applications under other routes, for
example children applying for indefinite leave under part 8 of the Immigration Rules. It is therefore not
possible to identify adult dependent relatives without the inspection of individual case records. The
Home Office is reviewing the collection of data relating to adult dependent relative settlement visas.
Other key terms for entry clearance visas can be found in the glossary of terms.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
Data on entry clearance visas have been released in a variety of publications; between 1979 and 2002
entry clearance statistics were published in the ‘Control of Immigration: United Kingdom’ and in ‘Entry
Clearance Statistics’, a financial year publication, between 2001 and 2008/09; and since the second
quarter of 2008 within the Immigration Statistics release and its predecessor.
Visa statistics dating back to 2001/02, originally published by the UK Border Agency of the Home
Office, are available from the National Archives website at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/aboutus/stat
istics/visastatsarchive.
Caution should be exercised about making longer time series comparisons based on archived visa
statistics because of important changes over time to the method by which visa statistics have been
compiled and reported. Between the second quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2011,
improvements were made to the presentation of the statistics. The latest release provides comparable
data for all time periods back to the first quarter of 2005.
Due to a change of database in 2004, comparable data are not available for years prior to 2004.
For the release of entry clearance visa statistics in Immigration Statistics October – December 2012,
the published tables were revised to include quarterly rather than annual data where appropriate.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of entry clearance visas is considered to be high. These
data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
34
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following August
when the status of the data is altered to final;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors; and
undergo a reconciliation process.
The main types of errors and other potential quality issues are thought to relate to recording and
classification issues. The level of missing data on related fields such as nationality is very low, with
such missing data reported as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation
methods are used. The following are known data quality issues which affect a small number of cases.
While EEA nationals are not required to hold visas, the data contain some applications and
grants of visas recorded as relating to EEA nationals. Grants are in the region of 400–1,400 per
year. Approximately 95% of these are those recorded as Cypriots, but most likely these people
are from the area not under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus. Further internal
investigation of the data has suggested that there has been some misclassification of the data
categories relating to Northern Cyprus nationals. This affects tables published prior to August
2014. The data has been corrected in the August 2014 edition, including for historical data.
Prior to the August 2014 edition, data for visas relating to Ghurkhas discharged before 1997
and to widow(er)s of Ghurkhas discharged before 1997 were included under the Family route.
In the August 2014 edition these data have been re-classified under the ‘Other settlement
(indefinite leave)’ category, including for historical data.
Prior to the August 2014 edition the visa figures concerning Refugees also included some visa
applications and grants relating to Stateless individuals. In the August 2014 edition data relating
to these visas have been reclassified under ‘Stateless’, including for historical data.
Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur visas, which became available out-of-country in April 2013, were
not included in the visa tables prior to the August 2014 edition, due to delays in the updates to
data processing systems.
Where visa endorsements have been replaced, or are no longer used, data for the new
endorsement codes are aggregated as far as possible to be comparable with existing data. The
data for the new endorsements are presented alongside data for existing endorsements,
accompanied by a note to explain the change.
Compilation method
Entry clearance visa data come from the Proviso-Central Referencing System (CRS) visa case
working system. Data are extracted to produce statistics on visa applications, grants, and appeals
worldwide. The visa case working database (CRS) is live so reports produced by the management
information teams will continually update.
Entry clearance statistics are produced by International Group within the Home Office. The Migration
Statistics team within the Home Office, who do not have access to the source database, prepare the
tables for publication.
Quality and process checks carried out
The Migration Statistics team at the Home Office undertake cross-checking of tables, to ensure
consistent totals, as part of the production process. Data are also checked for consistency against
previous totals, and significant changes investigated with Home Office operational and policy teams.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
35
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere, and making comparisons between
difference sources
Admissions (passenger arrivals), see the ‘How many people come to the UK each
year?’ topic and below for an explanation of the relationship and differences
between the data;
Extensions of stay, see the ‘How many people continue their stay in the UK?’
topic and below;
Statistics specific to work, study and family routes, see the ‘Why do people come to
the UK?’: ‘To work’, ‘To study’ and ‘For family reasons’ topics (these cross-
cutting topics pull together subsets data from different sources;
IPS estimates of immigration, see below;
‘Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies’, see below;
‘Certificate of Sponsorship’, see below; and
Appeals of visa decisions, see below.
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 Home Office as part of their key input and impact indicators.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.
Making comparisons between different sources
Admissions (Passenger arrivals)
Similarly to entry clearance visas, admissions (passenger arrivals) of non-EEA nationals are available
by category. However, data on admissions and on entry clearance cannot be directly compared as
they use different counts of the same group of people. Entry clearance counts number of visas, and
arrivals counts number of passengers, both of which may count an individual twice in the same period,
but for different reasons. In addition, the latest data released relate to different time periods.
There are a range of other reasons for the differences between these figures, which include:
visas can be granted in one period and the individual arrives in a later period;
the individual may not arrive;
the individual may make more than one journey into the UK in the period the visa is
valid;
not all individuals arriving require a visa for entry; and
arrivals are based on estimates of landing cards, while visas granted are sourced
from the database used to process the visas.
Extensions of stay
Entry clearance visas granted and grants of an extension of stay should not be summed as they are
indicators of different aspects of migration. Also, individuals could be counted in both if the two grants
occur within the same year.
Extensions of stay in a particular category can be granted to those who entered on the same or a
different category. The latter group of people are sometimes known as ‘switchers’.
36
In some circumstances, extensions of stay may be applied for by someone who originally did not
require an entry clearance visa due to their nationality and original intended length of stay.
Long-Term International Migration estimates of immigration
Estimates of people immigrating to the UK, broken down by country of citizenship and reason for
immigration, are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in two series:
Long-Term International Migration (LTIM);
International Passenger Survey (IPS) estimates of long-term international migration,
providing a series by country of citizenship and reason for immigration.
These data are published by ONS in the Migration Statistics Quarterly Report. ONS’s overall data
provide a better indication of long-term trends of immigration than visas granted and passenger
arrivals data, because the ONS totals include UK and other EU nationals, and because visas granted
and passenger arrivals data include visitors and short-term migrants.
Entry clearance visas are only required for some nationals (see above), whereas all nationals are
included in the IPS.
ONS uses the United Nations (UN) definition of ‘migrants’ which is a person who moves to a country
other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year (12 months), so that the
country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. Therefore, for
non-EEA nationals, entry clearance visas are granted to those counted as long-term migrants and
others besides. Some visas are only valid for less than a year, but for those granted with visas that
could be for longer than a year, there is no actual information as to the intended length of stay.
In summary, the differences between visas granted and long-term migrants are:
visas can be granted in one period and the individual arrives in a later period;
the individual may not arrive;
visa issuances include those intending to enter for less than 12 months and
therefore not in the same group as long-term migrants;
the visa granted may be different from the main reason of stay stated in response to
the IPS, including those who switch visas while in the UK; and
not all long-term migrants require a visa for entry, in particular EEA and Swiss
nationals.
The LTIM and IPS estimates are based on a survey which is subject to sampling error. Details of the
standard errors and variability are available from the link to the ONS website below.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration
Appeals of visa decisions
Appeals of visa decisions are undertaken by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). HMCTS
take a decision and then inform individual visa-issuing ‘posts’ of the outcome for onward processing of
the visa in the case of allowed appeals. Data on appeals are published by the HMCTS and are
available in Quarterly Statistics for the Tribunals.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/series/tribunals-statistics
The Home Office have previously published data on appeals of visa decisions in Table vi_07 of the
publication (visa appeals by country of issuing post). Results from the recent consultation with users of
Immigration Statistics showed that respondents were content with the proposal to cease publication of
Table vi_07, given that the Ministry of Justice already separately publishes statistics on entry
37
clearance visa appeal outcomes in the regular Tribunal Statistics. Hence Table vi_07 will no longer be
published.
The Home Office response to the 2015 consultation with users of Immigration Statistics can be found
here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445291/response-
immigration-consultation-2015.pdf
38
7 Admissions
On 5 August 2017 the Home Office launched a consultation on a proposal to end the requirement for
non-EEA passengers to present a paper landing card on arrival into the UK from 1st October 2017.
The consultation set out the statistical implications of the change and how to respond to the
consultation, which closed on 2 September. The Home Office is currently reviewing the large number
of responses it received. Details about the consultation can be found at
https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2017/08/09/response-to-media-reporting-on-landing-cards/
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published – as National Statistics – on:
Passenger arrivals, broken down by purpose of journey for non-EEA nationals (Tables ad_01 –
ad_03) and
Passengers initially refused entry, split by UK ports and juxtaposed controls, and country of
nationality (Tables ad_04 and ad_04_q).
Data source
The total number of passengers entering the UK is derived from monthly returns made by Border
Force staff based at 40 border control points (ports). Data from smaller ports are included in the
returns made by these ports. Where data are not provided by a port (three ports in the current period),
data are sourced from other organisations (i.e. Civil Aviation Authority; Department for Transport; and
Eurotunnel). The total is shown broken down into three broad nationality groupings: ‘British nationals’;
‘Other EEA nationals’; and ‘Non-EEA nationals’. There is no single source of data that allows for this
split.
Non-EEA nationals are sourced from landing cards completed by passengers arriving at UK ports and
published in Table ad_02.
Other EEA nationals (excluding British) are sourced from quarterly data from the International
Passenger Survey produced by the Office for National Statistics.
British nationals are based on a calculation using the previous sources of data (see compilation
method below).
Background on the statistics
All people admitted are subject to immigration control except British, other European Economic Area
(EEA) and Swiss nationals.
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
Statistical information on non-EEA nationals is collated from landing cards after a passenger has been
allowed entry to the country and does not form part of the border control or security process.
The cards are separated into two main arrival types, non-controlled or controlled, determined by the
conditions a passenger is granted leave to enter under. Non-controlled relates to those passengers
39
entered on standard conditions of entry (e.g. visitors; passengers in transit; and passengers returning
after a temporary absence abroad). Non-controlled arrivals accounted for 96% of all non-EEA
passenger journeys made in 2017. All other cards are considered to be controlled cards.
Non-controlled cards
Each month, non-controlled cards relating to arrivals at Heathrow and Gatwick terminals are sampled
due to the large volume of arrivals at these ports (see compilation method for details). All other ports
collate non-controlled data by counting all cards and providing a monthly return that shows the
nationality and category of those arrivals.
Controlled cards
Controlled cards are sent by all ports to a central point within the Home Office. Information from each
card (including that required for statistical analysis) is extracted and held on a central database.
Data are then provided to Migration Statistics to collate the data for publication.
Key terms
Many of the key terms are covered in the glossary of terms.
Passengers returning includes both people who are settled in the UK and who have been absent for
less than two years, and those subject to a limited leave to enter who have returned within the time
limit of that leave. The initial admissions of such passengers will have been counted in one of the
specific categories of Table ad_02 in the relevant time period.
Total Passenger Arrivals ( from outside the Common Travel Area)
All passengers are subject to immigration control at UK Ports of entry
British Other EEA and Swiss nationals
Non
-
EEA nationals
Total arrival data received monthly from UK Border control points
Supplemented by, and checked against, data received from CAA;
Department of Transport; and other Operators (i.e. Eurotunnel).
British nationals
EEA nationals
Total arrival statistics calculated by subtracting the total
number of EEA nationals and non
-
EEA nationals from the
total number of passenger arrivals
Enter through the EEA channel where passports are
checked but no data extracted.
Total arrival statistics
extracted from quarterly IPS
data
ONS researchers interview a random sample of all passengers arriving for the
International Passenger Survey
Complete a landing card and enter through the non
-
EEA channel where
Border Force Officers grant or endorse permission to enter depending
on whether pre
-
entry clearance (visa) has been obtained.
Non
-
EEA nationals
Total arrivals plus subsets by nationality and reason for
entry available from the Landing Card System
Landing cards are collected
by the port admin team
Total journeys made by EEA (including British) nationals in 2017
117.1 million
Total journeys made by non
-
EEA nationals in 2017
20.0 million
40
Refugees, exceptional leave cases and their dependants covers people who have applied for
asylum at ports (and their accompanying dependants) and who have been granted asylum,
humanitarian protection, discretionary leave or who have been allowed to stay under the Family
Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) Exercise (see below), and are hence given leave to enter. Port
asylum applicants are usually given temporary admission initially while their claim is being considered,
and the grant of leave to enter may therefore occur some time after the initial entry to the country.
These figures are not directly comparable with those in Table as_01 since they exclude grants to in-
country asylum applicants, and include dependants.
Others given leave to enter includes people of independent means and their dependants, non-EEA
family members of EEA nationals, members of international organisations treated as exempt and
serving forces and their dependants.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
The data on visitors, students, passengers in transit and passengers returning (previously settled) are
based, mainly or partly depending on the category, on a sample of such people. Improvements to the
sampling methodology were introduced from July 2003 and therefore caution should be exercised
when making statistical comparisons with earlier periods at a detailed level.
Between February 2006 and May 2008, estimates were used to count non-controlled, non-EEA
nationals arriving at Stansted Airport rather than processing individual landing cards. Data relating to
controlled arrivals (e.g. work permit holders and their dependants, working holiday-makers, UK
ancestry, domestic workers, au pairs, spouses, fiancé(e)s, etc.) were processed in the normal way.
For 2006 data it was possible to estimate Stansted non-controlled arrivals by category and nationality
using 2005 actual figures, but this method could not be used to estimate 2007 and 2008 data. Instead,
a very broad estimate has been produced for non-controlled non-EEA arrivals at Stansted that shows
total arrivals and the category a passenger was granted leave to enter in. This does not, however,
allow an estimation of the greater detail needed for some of the tables, for example nationality by
reason of entry.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the passenger arrivals at UK ports of entry is considered to be high. These
data:
are largely based on administrative counts of the Home Office arrivals processes for non-EEA
nationals at UK ports (including sampling for Heathrow and Gatwick), as well as port totals
validated by comparison with an alternative source (Civil Aviation Authority);
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following
August and have not, in recent years, had to be revised at all when the annual data are
subsequently checked 12 months later and the provisional status of the data is altered to final;
and
undergo a detailed checking process, including comparison with alternative sources of data at
the port level (Civil Aviation Authority), checking by line managers of coding carried out by
41
Border Force Officers, comparison with data for previous periods, and validation checks (see
below for further details).
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as nationality is as a proportion relatively low, with such missing
data reported as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used
to take account of such issues.
There are data quality issues concerning a very small fraction (<1%) of the admissions totals, for
example:
Out of the total 20.0 million arrivals in 2017 in the ‘Other category’ (Table ad_03_o), a very
small proportion (50,145) were arrivals where the category of arrival was not known. It has not
been possible to revisit these data. This issue has occurred in previous years when: 65,050
arrivals in 2016; 30,800 arrivals in 2015; 19,800 arrivals in 2014; 30,000 arrivals in 2013; and
59,700 arrivals in 2012 were recorded as category unknown.
A few admissions were shown as being in PBS categories before the start of the PBS. It is not
possible to determine the correct category of entry so these eight admissions have been
included within the category ‘Others given leave to enter’.
Compilation method
Passenger arrival data are sourced from returns made by individual ports and landing cards
completed by non-EEA nationals crossing the UK border. Landing cards are either collated at Port or
sent to the Landing Card Unit, Home Office (see ‘background on the statistics’). Data are then input
onto a database from which the data are collated and published as National Statistics quarterly (total
passenger arrivals) or half-yearly (non-EEA nationals).
Combined with data from the International Passenger Survey, summary and detailed tables can be
compiled using the derivation indicated below. A summary of the compilation process is given
overleaf.
The derivation of the British nationals figure is as follows:
a) Total passenger arrivals from monthly returns made by ports
b) Non-EEA nationals from landing cards
c) EEA nationals (except British nationals)
‘British nationals’ is calculated as (a) minus (b) minus (c).
Sampling method for Heathrow and Gatwick
Non-controlled cards are separated into two groups, ‘American nationals’ and ‘other nationals’. They
are then weighed to estimate the total number in each group. A random 1 in 50 sample is taken of all
‘American national’ arrivals and used to estimate the total for each category of arrival. Similarly, a
complete count of the ‘other nationals’ group (all non-American non-EEA nationals) is made for a
defined seven-day period in each month (the same weekly period is used for consistency; however,
different weeks are used for each port). Final monthly totals for both individual nationalities and
category of arrival are estimated based on these counts (for American nationals and for non-American
non-EEA nationals) and the estimated total for non-EEA nationals. The combined total for
Heathrow/Gatwick for American non-controlled cards represented 65% of the national total for 2016;
for non-American non-EEA nationals, the corresponding figure was 62%.
42
Rounding method
For data on passenger arrivals, data of 1,000 or fewer are rounded to the nearest five. Numbers
greater than 1,000 are rounded to three significant figures.
The technicalities of the rounding method are as follows: Expressing the unrounded figure using
(normalised) scientific notation Y x 10X, Y is rounded to two decimal places, using the round-half-to-
even method. The round-half-to-even method has been used so that, in the borderline case where the
thousandth fraction of Y is exactly 0.005, Y is rounded (to two decimal places) up or down to the
nearest even hundredth. The mid-way point is rounded up half of the time and down the other half
under this method, so the method is unbiased. For example, rounding:
2,034,999 = 2.034999 x 106 results in 2,030,000;
2,035,000 = 2.035 x 106 results in 2,040,000, as 0.04 is the nearest even hundredth;
2,045,000 = 2.045 x 106 results in 2,040,000, as 0.04 is the nearest even hundredth; and
2,045,001 = 2.045001 x 106 results in 2,050,000.
Quality and process checks carried out
Data are quality assured at different stages.
As part of the Border Force quality assurance process a percentage of landing cards are checked
by line managers to ensure that Border Force Officers have coded the ‘nationality’ and ‘category
of entry’ information legibly and accurately.
Within the Landing Card Unit processes and equipment are regularly checked, reviewed and
calibrated to ensure the accuracy of the sampling process.
Each month data are checked to ensure ports have made a return and that the data received are
in line with the same month in previous years. Ports are contacted where there are significant
differences, or a return has not been made, and asked to confirm the data or explain the
differences.
Total passenger arrival data for airports are checked against monthly data provided by the Civil
Aviation Authority. http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&pagetype=88&pageid=3&sglid=3
Total passenger arrivals data for the port of Dover are provided by the Department for Transport
and subject to their internal quality assurance processes. Maritime Statistics publications are
available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maritime-and-shipping-statistics
Total passenger arrival data for passengers travelling on Eurostar are provided by Eurostar
International Ltd and are subject to their internal quality assurance processes.
Quarterly checks are made to identify errors on controlled cards. These relate to either incorrect
codes or categories of entry in which only certain nationalities can gain entry. When identified the
scanned image of the card is checked and the record amended.
Related statistics published elsewhere, and making comparisons between
different sources
Entry clearance visas, see the Passenger arrivals, visitors and visas topic for an explanation
of the relationship and differences between the data;
Extensions of stay, see the Extensions topic;
Statistics specific to work, study and family routes, see the Work, Study and Family topics;
International Passenger Survey estimates of immigration, see below for an explanation of the
relationship and differences between the data;
Home Office business plan impact and input indicators showing various management data,
available from https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration .
43
The Civil Aviation Authority publishes statistics relating to UK airports, available from
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&pagetype=88&pageid=3&sglid=3); and
Maritime Statistics are published by the Department for Transport and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maritime-and-shipping-statistics#publications-2017
Historical data on travel trends from 1980 to 2017 were published in ONS’s bulletin ‘Travel trends
2017’https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/traveltrends2017
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 Home Office as part of their
key input and impact indicators. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-
data
Long-term International Migration estimates of immigration
Estimates of people immigrating to the UK, broken down by country of citizenship and reason for
immigration are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in two series:
Long-Term International Migration (LTIM): and
International Passenger Survey (IPS) estimates of long-term international migration, providing a
series by country of citizenship and reason for immigration.
These data provide a better indication of long-term trends of immigration than visa grants and
passenger arrivals data, due to changes in immigration legislation and lack of information on the
intentions of those not subject to immigration control; in particular, trends of student immigration are
better tracked due to the introduction of the ‘student visitor’ category on 1 September 2007.
In summary, the differences between passenger arrivals and long-term migrants are:
passenger arrivals are based on estimates of landing cards, while long-term migrants are based
on the International Passenger Survey which uses different sampling methods;
passenger arrivals include those intending to stay for less than 12 months and therefore not in
the same group as long-term migrants;
the entry code on the landing card may be different from the stated main reason of stay when
answering the IPS, including those who switch visas while in the UK; and
passenger arrivals by category exclude EEA and Swiss nationals, while data from the IPS relate
to EU and non-EU nationals.
PASSENGERS INITIALLY REFUSED ENTRY
Data source
The statistics on passengers initially refused entry are extracted from the Home Office’s Case
Information Database (CID).
Background on statistics
Individuals seeking to enter the UK are required to satisfy a Border Force Officer that they meet the
relevant criteria for entry or admission, as defined under the Immigration Rules or the European
Economic Area Regulations 2016 (EEA Regulations 2016).
44
In order to comply with this, passengers must present themselves, on arrival at a port of entry, to a
Border Force Officer. Under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 the officers have the power to
conduct further examinations in cases where they are not immediately satisfied that the passenger
meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules. Officers who exercise these powers are utilising the
powers provided under Paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971.
A Border Force Officer may examine a person who has arrived in the UK in order to determine the
following: whether or not they are a British citizen; whether or not they may enter without leave; and
whether:
they have been given leave to enter which is still in force;
they should be given leave to enter and for what period and on what conditions (if any); or
they should be refused leave to enter.
EEA nationals and their non-EEA national family members are examined under the EEA Regulations
2016. In certain circumstances Border Force Officers may examine EEA nationals under the
Immigration Act 1971. Under regulation 29, if there are doubts about an individual’s claim to EEA
nationality and therefore claim to free movement rights, or if there are grounds to believe an individual
may be denied admission under regulation 23 on the grounds of public policy, public security, or public
health or the misuse of rights provisions, the powers in certain paragraphs of Schedule 2 to the 1971
Act may be invoked.
‘Refused leave to enter’ relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry. A person who is
initially refused entry may then, where the Border Force Officer deems it to be appropriate, be granted
‘temporary admission’. Officers will only grant ‘temporary admission’ where the individual
circumstances of the passenger are considered acceptable to warrant reporting restrictions and
following successful completion of the appropriate risk assessment. This will be done as an alternative
to immigration detention in line with guidance in the Government White Paper (1998). These grounds
may be related to: an outstanding asylum claim; an administrative review against a refusal of entry in
certain cases where a valid entry clearance or biometric residence permit is held or an appeal against
a refusal of admission in certain EEA cases; or to allow travel arrangements to be made or removal
directions to be set. A grant of ‘temporary admission’ results in the passenger being exceptionally
admitted to the UK in accordance with the legal direction of a Border Force Officer and the passenger
must comply with the related conditions in accordance with the Immigration Act 1971 for the duration
of the ‘temporary admission’.
The UK has several agreements with France, allowing the UK authorities to carry out immigration and
other controls on French territory (called juxtaposed controls), and for French authorities to do the
same in the UK. Juxtaposed controls have existed at the Channel Tunnel sites in Coquelles, France
since the opening of the tunnel in 1994. An agreement with the French and Belgian authorities signed
at the end of October 2004 allows juxtaposed controls at Brussels Gare du Midi. Juxtaposed controls
are also in place in Paris, Calais, Calais Frethun, Lille and Dunkirk. These juxtaposed controls allow
immigration controls to be carried out before a person physically enters the country.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
Data on passengers initially refused entry have been available since 2004, and a split of those refused
entry by port location (UK/juxtaposed controls) available from 2005 onwards.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of passengers initially refused entry at port is considered
to be high. These data:
45
are administrative counts of Border Force’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors;
undergo a detailed reconciliation process; and
are subject to internal data quality checks.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The following are
known data quality issues which affect a small number of cases.
In some cases, there is insufficient evidence on the database to confirm that a refusal took
place, in which case it is not counted. As part of the quarterly reconciliation process, Migration
Statistics investigate these cases and pass the issues back to Border Force. If the record is
amended and the relevant additional information added, these refusals are counted in the
revised figures; and
Prior to 2005, the total number of those refused at juxtaposed controls was not recorded.
Data are supplied to Eurostat, the European statistical organisation, under definitions in line with EU
statistical legislation. The figures supplied to Eurostat are not quality assured to the same level as the
data published in Immigration Statistics, as it is not possible to reconcile the data under the definitions
used by Eurostat with the Home Office.
Compilation method
Each Friday evening, a weekly ‘snapshot’ of the Case Information Database (CID) is taken. On a
quarterly basis, generally during the second week after the end of the reference period, an extract of
passengers initially refused at entry data is taken from this ‘snapshot’ by Migration Statistics. This
extract is filtered using established, tested computer code, which, for example, ensures there are no
duplicates within the data, to produce the data due to be published.
Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics reconcile the passengers initially refused at entry dataset with operational
management teams within the Home Office, by comparing a unique identifier from each refusal in the
Migration Statistics extract against record-level data provided by the Home Office. Where a refusal is
found in only one of the extracts, a number of data quality checks are carried out, including that each
refusal is correctly linked to a refusal screen on CID. The Home Office is also asked to investigate the
discrepancies using detailed sources on individual cases. A case is only included in the published
tables if: it appears in both extracts; or it appears in one of the extracts and Migration Statistics have
checked that it is correctly recorded as a refusal.
A cross-check of tables, to ensure consistent totals, is undertaken as part of the production process.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Returns – all people removed from the UK, including non-asylum cases refused entry at port
and subsequently departed.
46
8 Extensions
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published – as National Statistics – on:
Grants and refusals of extensions of (in-country) stay (Tables ex_01 - expc_01_o).
Data source
The statistics on grants and refusals of extensions of stay are extracted from the Home Office’s Case
Information Database (CID). The data are derived from administrative information used for the
processing of applications for extension of stay.
Background on statistics
Statistics on extensions of stay (also known as “after-entry applications to vary leave to remain”) relate
to people wishing to extend or change the status of their 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 expires. An
individual may make more than one application in any given year.
Information on applications for extensions of stay is not published within the Immigration Statistics
releases.
Using the data
EEA nationals are not subject to immigration control so are not included in the figures. When a country
joins the EU its nationals are no longer included in the figures e.g. Bulgarian and Romanian nationals
are not included from 2007 onwards.
The data in the briefing include dependants, except where stated otherwise, and take account of the
outcomes of reconsiderations and appeals. All figures for 2017 and 2018 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 and changes to the
length of leave granted (either for initial entry clearance or for subsequent extensions). The availability
and allocation of resources within the Home Office can also affect the number of decisions.
Entry clearance visas granted and grants of an extension of stay should not be summed as they are
indicators of different aspects of migration. Also, individuals could be counted twice if the two grants
occur within the same year.
Key terms
Key terms for extensions can be found in the glossary of terms.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
47
Other factors affecting the statistics
Changing resource priorities within the Home Office as well as policy changes and other factors need
to be considered when comparing the number of decisions on extensions of stay.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of those granted an extension of stay is considered to be
high. These data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following May;
and
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex, category and nationality is low, with such missing data
reported as unknown and therefore no statistical grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are
used. For a very small proportion of the data (less than 0.5%) further information is used for validation
and classification purposes, further reducing missing data (e.g. where the sex of the applicant was not
recorded, three cases in 2017 was classified based on the applicant’s title).
Compilation method
Each quarter, generally during the first week after the end of the reference period, an extract of
extensions data is taken from the Case Information Database (CID) by Migration Statistics. This
extract is filtered using established, tested computer code, which, for example, ensures there are no
duplicates within the data, to produce the data due to be published.
The previous immigration category of students granted an extension has been estimated for 2013,
2014, 2015 and 2016. The data are provisional and subject to revision.
Quality and process checks carried out
A cross-check of tables, to ensure consistent totals, is undertaken as part of the production process.
Data are also checked for consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated
with Home Office operational and policy teams.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Entry clearance visas, see the Passenger arrivals, visitors and visas topic;
Passenger arrivals, see the Passenger arrivals, visitors and visas topic; and
Statistics specific to work, study and family routes, see the Work, Study and Family topics.
48
A short statistical article on ‘Extensions of stay by previous category’,
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/extensions-of-stay-by-previous-category, was published
alongside the Immigration Statistics April to June 2013 release which was further updated by
information in the Immigration Statistics January to March 2018 release How many people continue
their stay in the UK topic https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-
march-2018.
Information on the changes to the student and high value 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 http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN05829.pdf.
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 the Home
Office as part of their performance data. Details are given on the GOV.UK website
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.
49
9 Settlement
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published – as National Statistics – on:
Grants of settlement, by category of grant, and refusals (Tables se_01 - se_06).
Data source
The statistics on grants and refusals of settlement are extracted from the Home Office’s Case
Information Database (CID) and data from landing cards. The data derived from CID are
administrative information used for the processing of applications for settlement. Before 2002, data
were extracted from legacy systems.
Background on statistics
The settlement figures comprise people granted settlement on arrival (also known as ‘indefinite leave
to enter’), and people who have applied for settlement having lived in the UK for a certain length of
time – for example, currently five years for workers in certain routes (also known as ‘on removal of
time limit’ or ‘indefinite leave to remain’). Following changes in immigration legislation in the 1980s, the
majority of grants (around 98%) are to people already in the country.
The statistics of grants of settlement – i.e. people subject to immigration control who are allowed to
remain in the UK indefinitely – provide a measure of the longer-term immigration of people subject to
immigration control. Settlement generally occurs after a period of two or more years of residency in the
UK.
Most applicants also have to demonstrate knowledge of the English language. Those granted
settlement are able to, without restriction: work or study; travel into and out of the UK; access state
benefits, including access to the National Health Service (NHS); sponsor an immigration application,
for example to be joined by a spouse or an elderly relative; and register their UK-born child as a British
citizen. It does not entitle the person to a British passport (which requires British citizenship) or to vote
in general elections, which requires Commonwealth or Irish Republic citizenship.
Dependants are eligible to apply for settlement at the same time as the main migrant, as long as they
have lived with him or her in the UK for a probationary period. Dependants who entered the UK after 9
July 2012 are required to complete a five year probationary period before they can apply for
settlement (previously there was a two year probationary period).
Grants are counted once in the year in which they occur; subsequent journeys are counted in Table
ad_02 as described in the Admissions topic notes. If a settled person is absent from the UK for more
than two years he/she will be treated as a new arrival unless there are special circumstances;
immediate settlement may be granted again, in which case the person would be counted in more than
one year’s figures of settlement, or the person might be re-admitted with limited leave.
Numbers of applications for settlement are not published within the Immigration Statistics releases.
Using the data
EEA nationals are not subject to immigration control so are not included in the figures. When a country
joins the EU its nationals are no longer included in the figures e.g. Bulgarian and Romanian nationals
are not included from 2007 onwards.
50
When comparing some aspects of settlement data, changes over time in levels of those entering the
country, significant changes in the Immigration Rules, enlargement of the European Union, and
various Home Office programmes need to be considered, including:
family formation and reunion grants in 2003 to 2005 and from 2015 are likely to have been
affected by the increase in the qualifying period for settlement, delaying grants that may
otherwise have occurred earlier;
work-related grants in 2006 to 2008 are likely to have been affected by the increase in the
qualifying period in April 2006, delaying grants that may otherwise have occurred earlier; and
asylum-related grants of settlement were at high levels between 2004 and 2007 due to the
Family Indefinite Leave to Remain exercise and due to grants to people given exceptional leave
four years previously.
The availability and allocation of resources within the Home Office can also affect the number of
decisions.
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 the EEA table ee 02. Further information can be
found in the How many people continue their stay in the UK topic.
Table se_05 provides data on grants of settlement following a stay in the UK (on removal of time limit)
to non-EEA nationals by age. The age profile is not representative of the age profile of everyone
granted settlement, as a relatively high proportion of under 16s are granted settlement on arrival.
In Table se_06, Pakistan, which rejoined the Commonwealth on 1 October 1989, has been regarded
as ‘Commonwealth’ for the whole period since 1960; South Africa, which rejoined the Commonwealth
on 1 June 1994 has only been regarded as ‘Commonwealth’ for the period it has been a member;
Mozambique joined the Commonwealth in 1995 and has been regarded as ‘Commonwealth’ from
1996; Zimbabwe has been included in ‘Foreign’ from 2004; Rwanda has been included in
‘Commonwealth’ from 2010, having joined the Commonwealth on 29 November 2009; The Gambia
left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013 and has been included in ‘Foreign from 2014. The
Maldives left the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016. For the purposes of this table, the term
‘Foreign’ means ‘non-Commonwealth’ up to 1998 and ‘non-Commonwealth and non-EEA’ from 1999
onwards.
Key terms
Many of the key terms are covered in the glossary of terms.
Granted settlement in own right means that the individual was eligible to apply for settlement under
one of the provisions of the Immigration Rules and this was not dependent on their relationship to
another person (for example, a spouse or parent) already settled or settling at the same time.
Other grants on a discretionary basis include grants after a long period of continuous residence in
the UK. It also includes those people granted settlement after applying under the regularisation
scheme for overstayers (people who had permission to enter or remain in the UK for a limited time
only and who had remained beyond the time allowed) and people granted indefinite leave outside the
Immigration Rules under measures aimed at clearing the backlog of outstanding unresolved cases
from before March 2007 involving unsuccessful asylum applicants.
Claim to right of abode upheld and other grants includes grants to those previously settled but
then absent from the UK for some time and who, on return, were initially re-admitted with limited leave.
51
Grants of settlement to refugees and exceptional leave, humanitarian protection and
discretionary leave cases are of those granted settlement after a period of residence in the UK.
Between July 1998 and 30 August 2005, it also includes grants of settlement at the time of the grant of
asylum.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of those granted settlement is considered to be high.
These data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
databases;
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following
August; and
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex, category and nationality is low, with such missing data
reported as unknown and therefore no statistical grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are
used. For a very small proportion of the data (less than 0.5%) further information is used for validation
and classification purposes, further reducing missing data (e.g. where the sex of the applicant was not
recorded, 1 case in 2012 was classified based on the applicant’s title).
Compilation method
Each quarter, generally during the first week after the end of the reference period, an extract of in-
country settlement data is taken from the Case Information Database (CID) by Migration Statistics.
This extract is filtered using established, tested computer code, which, for example, ensures there are
no duplicates within the data, to produce the data due to be published.
Data on persons admitted to the UK with an indefinite leave to enter visa are extracted from the
Landing Card System (LCS) database. In 2017, settlement grants of this type made up only 4% of
total grants.
Quality and process checks carried out
The data are checked for completeness and any data issues investigated.
A cross-check of tables, to ensure consistent totals, is undertaken as part of the production process.
Data are also checked for consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated
with Home Office operational and policy teams.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
52
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Statistics specific to work and family routes, see the Work and Family topics;
Asylum grants, see the Asylum topic;
IPS estimates of long-term international migration, see below for an explanation of the
differences between the data; and
Data on the number of Life in the UK Tests taken and the pass rate, for settlement applications,
are published as Official Statistics and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.
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 the Home
Office as part of their immigration performance data. Details are given on the Migration transparency
data webpage, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.
Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016’ analysis (formerly known as the
‘Migrant journey’) 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. Of those granted settlement in the 2016 cohort, 28%
had originally been issued an initial starting visa for study, 26% for work, 12% were granted settlement
on arrival. The remaining 34% had originally entered on other routes, including Family and
Dependants joining or accompanying visas.
Source: Home Office, Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016,
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-changes-in-migrants-visa-and-leave-status-
2016, 22 February 2018.
Long-Term International Migration estimates of immigration
Estimates of people immigrating to the UK, broken down by country of citizenship and reason for
immigration are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in two series:
Long-Term International Migration (LTIM): and
International Passenger Survey (IPS) estimates of long-term international migration, providing a
series by country of citizenship and reason for immigration.
The statistics of grants of settlement – i.e. people subject to immigration control who are allowed to
remain in the UK indefinitely – provide a measure of the longer-term immigration of people subject to
immigration control. Settlement generally occurs after a period of two or more years of residency in the
UK.
By comparison, international migration as measured by the ONS International Passenger Survey is
based on change of usual residence for a period of at least a year, using the UN definition of an
international migrant: ‘An international long-term migrant is defined as a person who moves to a
country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country
of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence.’
53
10 Citizenship
54
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published – as National Statistics – on:
Applications received for British citizenship (Tables cz_01, cz_01_q, cz_01_q_a and cz_03);
Grants of British citizenship, including basis of grant, previous country of nationality, age and
sex (Tables cz_02, cz_02_q and cz_03 – cz_07);
Renunciations of British nationality (Table cz_10);
Refusals of British citizenship, including reason for refusal (Tables cz_03 and cz_09); and
Attendances at British citizenship ceremonies (Table cz_08).
Data source
Data for late 2001 to date are extracted from the Home Office’s Case Information Database (CID),
after caseworkers have entered information relating to the applications, decisions and ceremonies
attended. Data for 1990 to mid/late 2001 are derived from the legacy administrative database of
citizenship grants used before the introduction of CID. Figures for 1962 to 1989 are drawn from the
relevant published statistical bulletins or Command Papers for those years.
Background on the statistics
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 2016 and 2017 are provisional.
There are currently six forms of British nationality.
British citizens are the majority. They have that citizenship usually through: birth, adoption,
descent, registration, or naturalisation; and have the right of abode in the UK.
British overseas territories citizens (BOTCs) – known as British dependent territories citizens
(BDTCs) before February 2002 – have that citizenship through a connection with a British
overseas territory such as Gibraltar, St Helena, etc. Hong Kong BDTCs lost that citizenship
automatically on 1 July 1997 but may still hold another form of British nationality (see below).
On 21 May 2002, BOTCs became British citizens. People granted BOT citizenship after 21 May
2002 may be able to register as a British citizen if they meet certain conditions.
British overseas citizens (BOCs) are a smaller group connected with the former British
colonies who, for the most part, did not acquire citizenship of the new country when it attained
independence. Hong Kong BDTCs became BOCs on 1 July 1997 if they would otherwise have
been stateless.
British nationals (overseas) (BN(O)s) are a separate sub-group of former Hong Kong BDTCs.
The vast majority of British Nationals (Overseas) are ethnically Chinese who became Chinese
on 1 July 1997. Although their BDTC status was lost on that date they are, as BN(O)s, entitled
to hold a British passport.
British subjects (BSs) are a reducing group of people who normally hold that status either:
(a) by virtue of their birth in Eire (now the Irish Republic) before 1 January 1949;
(b) because they were BSs before 1 January 1949 through a connection with a place
which became a Commonwealth country on that date and, although they were
potentially citizens of that country, did not acquire citizenship of that or any other
country before 1 January 1983. Known as British subjects without citizenship before
1983, they would lose that status if they acquired another nationality.
55
British protected persons (BPPs) are a small group of people who hold that status through a
connection (normally birth) with a place which was either a UK protectorate, protected state,
mandated or trust territory. In most cases, BPP status was lost if the place was part of a country
which attained independence or if they acquired another nationality.
Further information on the types of British nationality can be found on the Home Office web site:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/citizenship/citizenship.
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. Categories of grants
relate to the section of the British Nationality Act 1981 under which citizenship was acquired. The
following is a brief summary of the provisions of the relevant sections of the Act, grouped as they
appear in table cz_07.
Naturalisation based on residence
s.6(1) – naturalisation of an adult by virtue of five years’ residence in the UK or UK Crown
service.
Naturalisation based on marriage
s.6(2) – naturalisation of an adult who is married to a British citizen by virtue of three years’
residence in the UK.
Entitlement to registration as an adult
s.7 – transitional entitlements to registration of a Commonwealth citizen who was resident in the
UK.
s.10(1) – entitlement to acquire British citizenship by a person who had renounced citizenship of
the UK and Colonies before 1983.
s.13(1) – entitlement to resume British citizenship by a person who has previously renounced it.
s.8(1) – transitional entitlement to registration of a woman still married since before 1983 to a
man who became a British citizen on 1 January 1983.
Entitlement to registration as a child
s.1(3) – entitlement to registration of a minor born in the UK after 1 January 1983 when one of
his/her parents later becomes a British citizen or becomes settled in the UK.
s.1(3A) – entitlement to registration of a minor born in the UK after 1 January 1983 when one of
his/her parents later becomes a member of the armed forces.
s.3(2) – entitlement to registration of a minor less than one year old born outside the UK after 1
January 1983 (or outside the UK and the qualifying territories since 21 May 2002) to a parent
who was a British citizen by descent.
s.3(5) – entitlement to registration of a minor born outside the UK after 1 January 1983 (or
outside the UK and the qualifying territories after 21 May 2002) to a parent who was a British
citizen by descent where the minor and parents are resident in the UK or a qualifying territory.
s.4D – entitlement to registration for children born outside the UK after 13 January 2010 to a
parent serving in the armed forces.
s.9 – transitional entitlement to registration of a minor less than one year old born abroad on or
after 1 January 1983 who, if they had been born before 1 January 1983 and had been
registered by a consul, would have become a British citizen on 1 January 1983.
Entitlement to registration on other grounds
s.1(4) – entitlement to registration of a person in the UK after 1 January 1983 who spent the first
ten years of his/her life in the UK.
s.4B – entitlement to registration for British overseas citizens, British subjects, British protected
persons and British nationals (overseas) who have no other citizenship or nationality.
s.4C – entitlement to registration for certain people born after 7 February 1961 and before 1
January 1983 to mothers who were citizens of the UK and Colonies at the time of their birth.
56
s.4F - entitlement to registration if the person meets the general conditions in 4E and would be
entitled to be registered as a British citizen under the specified registration provisions of the
1981 Act had the person’s mother been married to the person’s natural father at the time of his
or her birth.
s.4G - entitlement to registration if the person meets the general conditions in 4E and if, at any
time after commencement of the 1981 Act, the person would automatically have become a
British citizen at birth under the 1981 Act or the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983,
had the person’s mother been married to the person’s natural father at the time of the person’s
birth.
s.4H - entitlement to registration if the person meets the general conditions in 4E, was a citizen
of the United Kingdom and Colonies immediately before commencement of the 1981 Act and
would automatically have become a British citizen under the 1981 Act had the person’s mother
been married to the person’s natural father at the time of the person’s birth.
s.4I - entitlement to registration if the person meets the general conditions in 4E, is an eligible
former British national or non-British national and would have automatically become a British
citizen under the 1981 Act had the person’s mother been married to the person’s natural father
at the time of the person’s birth.
s.4(2) – entitlement to registration of a British overseas territories citizen, a British overseas
citizen, a British national (overseas), a British subject or a British protected person resident in
the UK.
Schedule 2 – entitlement to registration of a stateless person.
Entitlement to registration under section 5
s.5 – entitlement to registration of a British overseas territories citizen from Gibraltar.
Discretionary registration as an adult
s.10(2) – discretionary registration of a person connected with the UK who renounced
citizenship of the UK and Colonies before 1983.
s.13(3) – discretionary registration of a person who has previously renounced British citizenship.
s.8(2) and 8(3) – transitional discretionary registration of a woman married before 1983 to a
man who either (a) became or would have become a British citizen but for his death (and they
were no longer married) or renounced citizenship (and they were still married).
Discretionary registration as a child
s.3(1) – discretionary registration of a minor as a British citizen.
Discretionary registration on other grounds
s.4A – discretionary registration for adults and minors who are British overseas territories
citizens by connection with a qualifying territory.
s.4(5) – discretionary registration on the grounds of Crown service in a British overseas territory
of a British overseas territories citizen, a British overseas citizen, a British national (overseas), a
British subject or a British protected person.
Transitional arrangement, small numbers of which were granted mainly under sections 6(1) and 6(2)
between 1990 and 1999
Schedule 8 – relates to applications made before the commencement of the 1981 Act and
provides that: (a) applications will continue to be decided in accordance with the provisions of
the previous nationality Acts and (b) applicants, if successful, acquire the citizenship they would
have acquired on 1 January 1983 if the application had been decided before 1983.
Under the British Nationality Act 1981 it is possible for British citizens who are over 18 years of age
and of full capacity to apply to renounce their nationality, although renunciation will only be granted
where that applicant already has or is about to acquire citizenship of another country. Further
information on renunciation of British nationality is available on the Home Office website:
https://www.gov.uk/renounce-british-nationality.
57
Key terms
Grant: A positive outcome of an application for British citizenship before attending a citizenship
ceremony by applicants over 18 years of age. Children under 18 do not have to take the
Oath/Affirmation or Pledge.
Rejection: In 2005 and 2006, new processes for rejecting applications, before any substantive
consideration of the case, were introduced. Those with situations where the applicant is found to be
British already or whose application is not at the outset supported by the requisite evidence of
entitlement to or qualification for British citizenship.
Entitlement: The applicant satisfied the conditions specified by the 1981 Act.
Discretionary: The success of the application depends, either in whole or in part, on the Secretary of
State being satisfied on the basis of all the information at their disposal that it would be appropriate to
grant.
Ceremony attended: A ceremony organised by County or Local Authorities for successful applicants
over 18 years of age for British citizenship. At the ceremony the applicant takes the Oath or
Affirmation of allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen and the Pledge of loyalty to the UK. Since 1
January 2004 this has been the final stage in the process of attaining British citizenship.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
Reported figures of applications have previously included both British citizenship and right of abode in
the UK as a Commonwealth national, although right of abode decisions are not included in the tables
on decisions. From 2002, it has been possible to separately identify right of abode and British
citizenship applications allowing the figures to be presented separately.
The figures relating to grants of British citizenship to residents of Hong Kong in the UK from 2006
onwards are drawn from a new source of more complete data. It is understood that figures for 2005
and earlier years significantly undercount grants of this type. There is, therefore, a discontinuity in the
series between 2005 and 2006.
Figures relating to grants of renunciation of British nationality between 2002 and 2004 were subject to
minor revision in Immigration Statistics October – December 2011. They were revised to include cases
found to have been previously excluded due to their being recorded using an unexpected value within
the administrative database. The increases were from 1,141 to 1,194 in 2002 (up 5%), from 684 to
755 in 2003 (up 10%) and from 675 to 680 in 2004 (up 1%). Data for 2005 onward were unaffected by
this issue.
The reported number of British citizenship ceremonies attended, 2004 to 2015, were subject to minor
revisions in Immigration Statistics January to March 2017. A further 1,761 persons attending
ceremonies in 2015 were added due to late reporting by some authorities, increasing the total by 2.1%
from 82,960 to 84,721. Previously small revisions were made for the same reason in Immigration
Statistics January to March 2013, Immigration Statistics January to March 2014, Immigration Statistics
January to March 2015 and Immigration Statistics January to March 2016; details of which are
available on request. Revisions in the latest May 2017 release are shown in the table below.
Citizenship ceremony attended data revisions, May 2017
Published
May 2016
Published
May 2017
Year
ceremony
attended
Ceremonies
attended
Ceremonies
attended
Revision
%
revision
58
2004
43,724
43,977
253
0.6%
2005
119,758
119,986
228
0.2%
2006
111,249
111,533
284
0.3%
2007
124,840
125,055
215
0.2%
2008
95,987
96,205
218
0.2%
2009
155,649
156,122
473
0.3%
2010
146,867
147,175
308
0.2%
2011
136,405
136,668
263
0.2%
2012
145,888
146,267
379
0.3%
2013
157,142
157,430
288
0.2%
2014
104,151
104,655
504
0.5%
2015
82,960
84,721
1,761
2.1%
2016
z
111,596
z
z
Figures for citizenship applications and decisions in 2015 and 2016 were revised in May 2017,
correcting a issue found in the data extraction process that had lead to incorrect biographic details
(date of birth, sex and nationality) being included in the reported data in some cases. The headline
totals for these periods change very little due to this revision (grants in 2015 increase by 56 from
118,053 to 118,109 and for 2016 fall by 36 from 149,457 to 149,421). The revisions main impact is in
the calculated ages of persons granted British citizenship shown in table cz_05.
When originally published in May 2016 table cz_05 showed 8,472 male children under 16 and 8,154
female children under 16 granted British citizenship in 2015. After revision these figures rose to 13,936
and 13,281 respectively; increases of 64.5% and 62.9%. The adult age bands consequently reduced
in the revised data.
Citizenship grants for 2010 to 2014 were revised in the May 2017 release to include small numbers of
decisions under section 4D of the British Nationality Act 1981 previously excluded because of an
oversight in the computer code used to categorise records for publication purposes.
Section 4D relates to an entitlement to registration for children born outside the UK after 13 January
2010 to a parent serving in the armed forces. The revision has most notably affected the figures for
grants to former nationals of Fiji and Nepal; countries with historic ties to the UK armed services.
Revisions in the May 2017 release are shown in the table below:
Citizenship grants by selected nationality 2010 to 2014 data revisions, May 2017
Published
May 2016
Published
May 2017
Year of
grant
Country of previous
nationality
Grants
Grants
Revision
% revision
2010
Total
195,046
195,094
48
0.0%
Fiji
96
100
4
4.2%
Nepal
2,118
2,150
32
1.5%
2011
Total
177,785
177,934
149
0.1%
Fiji
105
123
18
17.1%
Nepal
3,468
3,563
95
2.7%
59
2012
Total
194,209
194,370
161
0.1%
Fiji
215
243
28
13.0%
Nepal
4,282
4,368
86
2.0%
2013
Total
207,989
208,095
106
0.1%
Fiji
443
468
25
5.6%
Nepal
7,447
7,491
44
0.6%
2014
Total
125,653
125,754
101
0.1%
Fiji
222
247
25
11.3%
Nepal
2,667
2,707
40
1.5%
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Other factors affecting the statistics
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 Home Office
can also affect the number of decisions.
The number of decisions made in 2008 was comparatively low when staff resources were temporarily
transferred from decision-making to deal with the administration of new applications.
Grant levels reduced in the second and third quarters of 2014 as UKVI resources were used to assist
HM Passport Office.
Grant rates fell in 2015 following the introduction of enhanced checks on cases requiring higher levels
of assurance in April 2015.
Data quality
The data include the outcome of reconsidered decisions. These may result in outcomes recorded in
later periods i.e. a refusal which is followed by a reconsidered decision may be shown as a grant in a
later period. Such reconsiderations appear to make little difference to the overall trends in the data,
based on the size of revisions made.
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of those granted and refused British citizenship is
considered to be high. These data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
are scrutinised regularly as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following May
and have not, in recent years, had to be revised at all when the annual data are subsequently
checked 12 months later and the provisional status of the data is altered to final;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors; and
60
undergo a thorough reconciliation process including some data cleansing.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex and nationality is very low, with such missing data reported
as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used. The
following are known data quality issues which affect a small number of cases (under 0.1%).
In a small number of cases (under 0.01% annually) data appear inconsistent, for example
where the recorded case type and section of the British Nationality Act 1981 do not represent
a valid combination under the published Immigration Rules. These records are excluded from
the published data and, where resources allow, are passed back to UK Visas and Immigration
for investigation and correction.
In Table cz_05 data for 2002 includes a significant proportion of records (27%) for which the
sex of the applicant was not recorded. This was due to the introduction of a new
administrative database (the Case Information Database – CID) in late 2001. Processes for
the capture of this information were introduced during 2002, reducing missing values to 2% or
less of the total in 2003 and subsequent years.
Additionally, data relating to decisions are subject to revisions as a result of the outcomes of the
administrative reconsideration of a small (0.01%) proportion of cases.
Applications made in the first quarter of 2012 were originally estimated based on a combination of
records in the Home Office administrative IT system and manual counts of applications which had not
yet been recorded on the IT system. These estimates were rounded to the nearest 100. The estimates
of application figures were revised to show the actual numbers in May 2013. The estimate for the first
quarter of 2012 of 53,600 first published in May 2012 was replaced with actual figures derived from
the IT system of 54,972 in May 2013.
Data are supplied to Eurostat, the European statistical organisation, under definitions in line with EU
statistical legislation. There are slight differences between the presentations of nationality breakdowns
in Immigration Statistics and those provided to Eurostat, relating to the regional geographic groupings.
Compilation method
On a quarterly basis, generally during the first week after the end of the reference period, extracts of
British citizenship applications and decisions data are taken from a weekly refreshed ‘snapshot’ of the
Case Information Database (CID) by Migration Statistics. This extract is filtered using established,
tested computer code, which, for example, ensures there are no duplicates within the data, to produce
the data due to be published.
A further extract of applications data is taken three weeks after the end of the period to mitigate a
degree of late recording on CID, due to resource issues within the Home Office. This is, where
necessary, combined with manual counts of applications awaiting entry on the database to arrive at
estimates of applications received. These data are revised subsequently following input of applications
data.
Annual data on persons attending citizenship ceremonies are extracted from CID as part of an annual
process. Data for grants of British Overseas Territory Citizenship granted in the British Overseas
Territories (see Table cz_05) are supplied annually by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel in
the British Overseas Territories.
Home Office processes require persons granted British citizenship who go on to sponsor another
person applying for a change in their immigration status to be recorded as a British citizen in CID;
hence a small number of records (under 0.5% of the data) in the original CID extract are found to have
a recorded nationality of British Citizen, rather than the applicant’s original nationality. A data-
cleansing exercise is undertaken quarterly by staff in Migration Statistics to recode the recorded
61
nationalities in these cases within the statistical dataset, by referring to the audit logs for the nationality
field in CID.
Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics reconcile the summary figures for applications along with grants and refusals of
citizenship with teams within the Home Office, by comparing the figures with similar data compiled for
operational management purposes. Where these figures differ by more than 1 or 2% the discrepancy
is investigated. Differences of less than 1 or 2% may occur due to differences in definition employed in
the generation of the Home Office operational management information or due to slight differences in
the date on which data were extracted from CID.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trends seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Eurostat comparisons of grants of citizenship across different European countries:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-statistics-in-focus/-/KS-SF-11-024; and
Data on the number of Life in the UK Tests taken and the pass rate, for citizenship applications,
are published as Official Statistics and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data
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). http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-statistics-in-focus/-/KS-SF-12-
045
Eurostat news release: ‘EU Member States granted citizenship to fewer persons in 2015’
(66/2017 - 21 April 2017) http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7991019/3-
21042017-AP-EN.pdf/4aa9aa53-e1f4-491c-99e9-a832a4569ecf
Eurostat news release: ‘EU Member States granted citizenship to almost 1 million persons in
2016’ (59/2018 - 9 April 2018) http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/8791096/3-
09042018-AP-EN.pdf/658455fa-c5b1-4583-9f98-ec3f0f3ec5f9
The regular data on grants (acquisition) and renunciation (loss) of citizenship collected by Eurostat for
all Member States is published at:
Acquisition of citizenship data for European member states, 2002 to 2016.
http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_acq&lang=en
Loss of citizenship data for European member states, 2007 to 2015.
http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_lct&lang=en
62
11 Asylum
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published – as National Statistics – on:
Applications for asylum (including fresh claims) (Tables as_01 – as_04, as_06);
Initial decisions on asylum applications (grants and refusals of asylum, discretionary leave and
humanitarian protection) (Tables as_01, as_02, as_05, as_06);
Asylum applications received in Europe and elsewhere (Table as_07);
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASCs) (Tables as_08 – as_09);
Age-disputed cases (Table as_10);
The fast-track process (Tables as_11 and as_12);
Non-suspensive appeals (Table as_13_q);
Asylum appeals (Table as_14);
Applications for asylum support and those in receipt of support (Tables as_15 – as_18);
Resettlement schemes (Table as_19_q – as_20_q).
Family reunion visas granted (Table as_21_q)
Transfers under the Dublin regulation (Table as_22 – as_23)
Data source
The data relating to the processing of asylum applications and appeals are extracted from the Home
Office’s Case Information Database (CID).
From March 2018, asylum support data are extracted from the asylum support database ATLAS. Prior
to this period, data were extracted from the ASYS system.
Resettlement scheme data up until the end of September 2015 were extracted from a separate
database maintained by the Home Office, specifically for this process. From September 2015
onwards, resettlement scheme data have been recorded on the Home Office’s Case Information
Database (CID).
Data on family reunion visas are extracted from the Trojan system which is used to collect data on
entry clearance visas.
Background on statistics
Asylum is protection given by a country to someone who is fleeing persecution in their own country. It
is given under the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The Convention
defines a refugee as a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of
race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality and unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the
protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former
habitual residence, as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to
it.”
The criteria for recognition as a refugee, and hence the granting of asylum, are set out in the 1951
United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, extended in its application by the 1967
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. The 1951 Convention is given effect in British law by
references in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, the Asylum and Immigration Appeals
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Act 1993, the Refugee and Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations
2006, and the Immigration Rules.
Under paragraph 334 of the Immigration Rules, an asylum applicant will be granted asylum in the UK
if the Secretary of State is satisfied that:
they are in the UK or have arrived at a port of entry in the UK;
they are a refugee, as defined in regulation 2 of the Refugee or Person in Need of International
Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006;
there are no reasonable grounds for regarding them as a danger to the security of the UK;
they do not, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitute
danger to the community of the UK; and
refusing their application would result in them being required to go (whether immediately or after
the time limited by any existing leave to enter or remain), in breach of the Geneva Convention,
to a country in which their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion,
nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group.
An application which does not meet these criteria will be refused. In certain circumstances an
applicant may be granted humanitarian protection (HP) in accordance with paragraph 339C of the
Immigration Rules, discretionary leave (DL) for a limited period, or a grant of leave to remain (LTR)
under family or private life rules.
Under the 1951 Geneva Convention and the Immigration Rules, there is no obligation to consider an
asylum application made overseas. An individual seeking international protection would be expected
to approach the authorities or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in the
first country of refuge and has no entitlement to travel to the UK in order to submit an asylum claim or
further submissions. No overseas applications by the individual should be recorded as having been
lodged since 1992.
The figures for applications only relate to the initial application for asylum. They exclude applications
to upgrade HP or DL to refugee status and for further extensions of stay. Grants of HP, DL or LTR
under family or private life rules are only recorded in the statistics on the first occasion that it is
granted, not again when it is extended.
Fresh claims
When a human rights or asylum claim has been refused, withdrawn or treated as withdrawn under
paragraph 333C of Immigration Rule 353 and any appeal relating to that claim is no longer pending,
the decision-maker will consider any further submissions and, if rejected, will then determine whether
they amount to a fresh claim. The submissions will amount to a fresh claim if they are significantly
different from the material that has previously been considered. The submissions will only be
significantly different if the content:
had not already been considered; and
taken together with the previously considered material, created a realistic prospect of success,
notwithstanding its rejection.
Asylum cases pending
This series counts the number of asylum cases lodged since April 2006 that are pending. These
pending cases include those awaiting an initial decision, together with those that have had an initial
decision and are still pending further review, such as those in the appeals process, but exclude those
that are pending a judicial review. They do not include failed asylum seekers.
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Further work is needed to assure the quality of the earlier records before information on applications
from earlier years can be published.
An individual’s asylum application may be pending a decision for a number of reasons, including
reasons within and outside the control of the Home Office. These reasons may include, but are not
exclusively, the complexity of the case, the paperwork provided by the individual, the resources
available to process the application and the decision by an individual as to whether to appeal against
an initial decision.
Outcomes of applications
The analysis of the outcomes of asylum applications are the recorded outcomes of the group (or
cohort) of applicants in any one year, as at a particular time. A proportion of applications made in each
of the years provided will be awaiting the outcome of an initial decision or an appeal. Applications from
earlier years will inherently have had longer for the case to be processed than those from more recent
years and will therefore have a smaller proportion of cases awaiting an outcome. This dataset is
updated, in full, annually.
There are a large variety of routes that an asylum application can take to a final asylum outcome. As a
consequence, analysis of the outcomes of asylum applications in any one year requires interpretation
for a small percentage of cases. This interpretation is undertaken consistently by established
computer code. The proportions and underlying figures for final outcomes of the analysis of
applications for the group (or cohort) of applicants in any one year, are therefore estimated.
Children granted asylum or protection
Breakdowns of the number of children (under the age of 18) granted asylum or an alternative form of
protection, are published for the first time in February 2018 in table as_02_q_c. This includes all
children granted protection as part of an asylum application, either as a main applicant, or as a
dependant. For applications, age is as at time of application. For initial decisions, age is as at time of
decision.
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children
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 method for counting Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children was changed in August 2013.
The counting definition for applications from a UASC now used is: An asylum application received
from a main applicant who is treated as an unaccompanied child for at least one day from the date of
their application, up until, where applicable, the initial decision.
The counting definition for an initial decision or withdrawal is: An initial decision on or application
withdrawal from someone treated as an unaccompanied child for at least one day between the dates
of their asylum application and the initial decision, though excluding anyone whose recorded date of
birth indicates they were over 18 at the date of the application.
The age groups provided relate to the age at application, initial decision or withdrawal (as
appropriate), based on the date of birth recorded when the data were extracted.
Age-disputed cases
When an asylum applicant’s claim to be a child is doubted and they have little or no evidence to
support their claimed age, the Home Office will conduct an initial age assessment. Applicants whose
physical appearance/demeanour very strongly suggests that they are significantly over 18 years of
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age will be treated as adults until there is credible documentary or other persuasive evidence to
demonstrate the age claimed. All other applicants will be afforded the benefit of doubt and treated as
children until an assessment of their age has been completed.
The method for counting age disputed applications was changed in August 2013. The counting
definition for age disputes raised now used is: An age assessment request raised for a main asylum
applicant. 'Age disputes raised' relates to the number of age assessment requests made in a quarter
where the asylum application was made in the same or an earlier quarter, together with asylum
applications raised where there is an age assessment outstanding from a previous quarter. Within the
quarterly table, the data are split based on whether the asylum application was existing (i.e. made in a
previous period).
The number of ‘age disputes resolved’ are also provided and relate to the number of age assessments
marked as completed during a quarter. The age groups provided relate to the age the individual was
considered to be when the age assessment request were raised, based on the date of birth recorded
when the data were extracted. It is expected that the date of birth would have been updated to reflect
the outcome of the age assessment. Therefore these data are provided to give an indication of
proportions of individuals who have been subject to an age assessment that are considered to be a
child or adult as result of the assessment. Not all age disputes are fully recorded as closed following
an age assessment, so data quality is not considered as high for resolved age disputes as other
asylum data sets.
Fast-track process
The Detained Fast-Track process (DFT) was an expedited process for considering the asylum claims
of those claimants who were held in detention. Asylum cases were considered for the fast-track
process by the NAAU (National Asylum Allocations Unit) only if there was a power in immigration law
to detain and it appeared that a quick decision was possible. Children; pregnant women; families
(except in some instances of a family split); and people with a physical or mental condition (which
could not be treated in a detained situation) were not considered for the process. A decision on the
asylum case, including appeal, was normally concluded within 14 days under the former process.
Cases were taken out of the fast-track system before the initial decision and processed by Regional
Asylum Teams under the non-detained system. Reasons for removal from the fast-track process
included: pre-decision appointments made by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of
Torture or the Helen Bamber Foundation; applicants granted bail by the courts; and cases reclassified
by the courts.
The Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Fast-Track Procedure) Rules set out the procedure for
appealing if asylum and leave to enter was refused for those designated as fast-track cases. The Fast
Track Procedure Rules had shorter time limits for the appellant and the respondent throughout the
appeals process. Those claimants on the fast-track scheme were detained during the course of their
appeal. The rules also set out the times within which the Tribunal dealt with the appeals. The rules
included safeguards, which enabled appellants who were not suitable for the fast-track process to be
transferred from the scheme to the main appellate system.
On 26 June 2015, the Court of Appeal declared the Fast Track Rules (FTR) unlawful. A separate legal
challenge highlighted risks surrounding the protections within the system for particularly vulnerable
applicants. In light of these issues, on 2 July 2015, the government suspended the operation of the
detained fast track (DFT) policy until it is satisfied that the right structures are in place to minimise any
unfairness.
The decision to suspend the detained fast track policy means that until such notice is given, no
applicant for asylum may be detained in the DFT process. It does not mean that asylum seekers
cannot be detained – it simply means they cannot be detained under the DFT policy. All asylum cases
in detention must be held in accordance with the usual detention criteria.
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The non-suspensive appeals process
Applicants who are refused asylum, HP and DL may have the application for asylum termed clearly
unfounded, whether due to their country of nationality being a ‘designated’ state or on a case-by-case
basis. Where an application is clearly unfounded, any subsequent appeal has to be made through the
non-suspensive appeals process (see glossary of terms).
The table for Non-Suspensive Appeals been redesigned to provide more detailed information and
clarity of definitions. 'Total eligible for the non-suspensive appeals process' includes main applicants
who have been refused asylum, HP or DL where the refusal was certified as clearly unfounded.
Previously this category included a broader definition; main applicants refused asylum, HP or DL.
Since 22 May 2007 the designated countries have been: Albania, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Ecuador,
Gambia (males only), Ghana (males only), India, Kenya (males only), Liberia (males only),
Macedonia, Malawi (males only), Mali (males only), Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro,
Nigeria (males only), Peru, Serbia, Sierra Leone (males only), South Africa and Ukraine. Kosovo was
designated until 17 February 2008, but returned to the list on 3 March 2010. South Korea has been
designated since 3 March 2010. Jamaica was designated until 3 March 2015, when designation was
ruled unlawful by a Supreme Court judgment.
Asylum appeals
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 Home Office. 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’).
Before April 2005, there was a two-tier system for asylum and immigration appeals. Appeals were
made initially to Immigration Adjudicators in the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) at the first tier,
with an onward right to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal (IAT). If the application to the IAT was
refused there was the right to seek a statutory review of that decision by a High Court judge (on the
papers). If the application was allowed by the Tribunal, or by a judge following statutory review, and
the appeal was then given a fresh decision by the IAT, parties could appeal to the Court of Appeal on
the ground that the IAT made an error of law when reaching its decision.
The creation of the AIT, under the provisions of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants
etc.) Act 2004, intended to improve the speed and finality of the appeals and returns system. The
provisions of the Act aim to tackle abuse of the asylum system and illegal immigration; encourage
properly managed legal migration that benefits the UK economically and socially; and help to integrate
legal migrants, genuine refugees and new citizens.
Between April 2005 and 1 February 2010 there was a single-tier system for asylum and immigration
appeals, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT). Appeals before the AIT were decided by
Immigration Judges.
In the event that a party (either the appellant or the Secretary of State) thinks that the First-tier
Tribunal made an error of law when reaching its decision, they can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for
permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. If the application is refused, an application for permission
to appeal can be made directly to the Upper Tribunal. Cases heard at the Upper Tribunal Immigration
and Asylum Chamber are a subset of data published in Quarterly statistics for the Tribunals Service.
Following consideration a party may request a High Court Judge and, subsequently, the Court of
Appeal to consider the case. Data on appellate cases heard by a High Court Judge or the Court of
Appeal are available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-
justice/series/courts-and-sentencing-statistics.
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Asylum appeals data published by Home Office Migration Statistics are sourced from the Case
Information Database (CID) and relate to main asylum applicants at the First-Tier Tribunal Immigration
and Asylum Chamber. Records on the database are updated from record-level data provided by the
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), who produce similar statistics for main appellants. This
procedure provides consistent data across all datasets relating to asylum published in the release
Immigration Statistics, but different from those published by The Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
MOJ published statistics provide counts of principal appellants sourced from the HMCTS database.
Within these statistics there tend to be higher numbers of principal appellants than main asylum
applicant appeals because:
1) HMCTS has a wider definition of asylum appeals, including some human rights cases and
appeals on extensions of asylum, humanitarian protection and discretionary leave; and
2) principal appellants include some individuals classed as dependants by the Home Office.
The MOJ statistics on immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages
are available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
Asylum support
Section 95 and 98 asylum support
Section 95 asylum support was set up to provide for asylum seekers while they await a decision on
their asylum application. Asylum seekers who apply for asylum support under Section 95 of the
Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 can receive:
accommodation only (where they are allocated accommodation in a dispersal area and must
otherwise support themselves); or
subsistence only (where they receive cash to support themselves but must find their own
accommodation); or
accommodation and subsistence (where they are allocated accommodation in a dispersal area
and cash to support themselves).
The provision of initial accommodation is a temporary arrangement for asylum seekers who would
otherwise be destitute and who are:
supported under Section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and are awaiting a
decision from the Secretary of State on whether they may receive asylum support under Section
95 of that Act; or
supported under Section 95 and are awaiting transfer to their dispersal accommodation.
Section 4 asylum support
Individuals are generally eligible for support under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if
their asylum application has been finally determined as refused but they are destitute and there are
reasons that temporarily prevent them from leaving the UK. These reasons are that:
the applicant is in the process of taking reasonable steps to leave the UK or place themselves in
a position in which they can leave the UK; or
the applicant is unable to leave the UK because of a physical impediment to travel or some
other medical reason; or
the applicant is unable to leave the UK because there is no current viable route of return to the
country of origin; or
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permission has been obtained to proceed with a judicial review against a decision relating to the
person’s asylum claim; or
the provision of support is otherwise necessary to avoid a breach of a person’s human rights.
Support under Section 4 is provided in the form of accommodation and vouchers to cover the cost of
food and other basic essential items.
Section 4(1)(a) (b) and (c) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 had provided the Secretary of
State with the power to provide accommodation and support for persons temporarily admitted to the
United Kingdom, released from detention, or released on bail from detention. These provisions were
repealed with effect from 15 January 2018, to coincide with the commencement of Schedule 10 to the
Immigration Act 2016. Paragraph 9 of Schedule 10 provides a replacement means of providing
support to individuals granted immigration bail, if they meet published criteria.
Under the previous policy an administrative ‘provisional offer’ of accommodation was made and the
power was generally exercised if a detainee (usually an FNO) intended to apply to an Immigration
Judge for bail, but did not have an address they could propose as the place where they would live if
granted bail. The detainee could only take up such an offer if their application for bail was successful.
Under the new policy, detainees do not have to provide an address in advance of making a bail
application. If the judge deems it necessary to require the person to live at a particular address, the
judge can grant conditional bail subject to accommodation being provided. This means that that the
Secretary of State only needs to offer bail accommodation to those who meet published criteria and
have been granted conditional immigration bail. Any support provided under Schedule 10 would be a
Schedule 10, as opposed to section 4, grant.
The number of grants of s4 support fell in 2018 Q1 as a result of the repeal of section 4(1) on 15
January. Under transitional arrangements, any application for section 4(1) support received prior to 15
January 2018 continues under the old provisions. The number of grants of s4 support is expected to
continue to fall as transitional cases are concluded.
Other information about asylum support
Asylum applicants who are receiving asylum support can have their support terminated for various
reasons. If an asylum seeker receives refugee status, humanitarian protection (HP), discretionary
leave (DL), or another form of grant, they cease to be eligible for asylum support, and become entitled
to apply for mainstream benefits. If an asylum seeker receives a final negative decision, and is a
single applicant or a family with no children under 18, they also have their support terminated,
although asylum support policy incorporates safeguards for a number of categories of vulnerable
failed asylum seekers including families with dependent children under the age of 18 years who
continue receiving support until they leave the UK. Support can also be terminated or suspended if
asylum seekers do not abide by the regulations set out when the support is provided to them, for
example, if the asylum seeker does not move into the allocated accommodation.
The Home Office assumed responsibility for supporting asylum seekers from April 2000 when the
National Asylum Support Service (NASS), a directorate of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate
(IND), was created. NASS was set up to provide accommodation and/or subsistence payments to
asylum seekers so that they could support themselves while they were awaiting a decision on their
asylum application. Any person applying for asylum in the UK after 3 April 2000 would only be eligible
to apply for support through NASS (apart from some in-country cases that were part of the roll-out).
Before 3 April 2000, asylum seekers, depending on the location of their application for asylum, could
apply for support from the Department of Social Security (now part of the Department for Work and
Pensions) or local authorities.
NASS was disbanded in 2006. This service is now delivered by Asylum Support teams (part of
International and Immigration Asylum Group) based in various regional locations, but managed
centrally. The legislation in respect of eligibility for asylum support, and the categories of support
available, has not changed.
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Where an applicant has made more than one application for support during a year, only one
application is recorded in the tables. The data in the tables therefore reflect the total number of main
applicants applying for support. It should be noted, however, that where an applicant has made an
application for support in two separate years this will be recorded as an application in each year.
The figures relating to asylum seekers in receipt of support include dependants, unless otherwise
stated.
Asylum seekers are accommodated in Northern Ireland only if they apply for asylum there.
Section 95 support data are published by local authority. The local authority list has been updated to
reflect the following structural changes to Local Government.
Old local authority
boundaries
New local authority
boundaries
Date of change
Alnwick
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Blyth Valley
Castle Morpeth
Tynedale
Wansbeck
Northumberland
1 April 2009
Bridgnorth
North Shropshire
Oswestry
Shrewsbury and Atcham
South Shropshire
Shropshire
Caradon
Carrick
Kerrier
North Cornwall
Penwith
Restormel
Cornwall
Chester
Ellesmere Port and Neston
Vale Royal
Chester West and Chester
Chester-le-Street
Derwentside
Durham
Easington
Sedgefield
Teesdale
Wear Valley
County Durham
Congleton
Crewe and Nantwich
Macclesfield
Cheshire East
Kennet
North Wiltshire
Salisbury
West Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Mid Bedfordshire
South Bedfordshire
Central Bedfordshire
Antrim
Newtownabbey
Antrim and Newtownabbey
1 April 2015
Armagh
Banbridge
Craigavon
Armagh, Banbridge and
Craigavon
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Ballymoney
Coleraine
Limavady
Moyle
Causeway Coast and Glens
Derry City
Strabane
Derry and Strabane
Fermanagh
Omagh
Fermanagh and Omagh
Lisburn
Castlereagh
Lisburn and Castlereagh
Ballymena
Larne
Carrickfergus
Mid and East Antrim
Cookstown
Dungannon
Magherafelt
Mid Ulster
Down
Newry and Mourne
Newry, Mourne and Down
Ards
North Down
North Down and Ards
Resettlement schemes
This release includes data on the number of people bought to the UK under various resettlement
schemes. For the first time in February 2017, data on the number of children (under the age of 18)
granted resettlement has been included in the ‘How many people do we grant protection to?’ topic.
These data are provisional, and subject to revision following further quality assessment.
Gateway Protection Resettlement Programme
The UK Gateway Protection Resettlement Programme is operated in partnership with the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).Gateway demonstrates the UK’s proud tradition of
providing protection to refugees; and of the UK’s commitment to supporting UNHCR’s global effort to
provide durable solutions to the plight of refugees. On resettlement the refugees are provided with a
twelve month package of housing and integration support provided by partnerships involving local
authorities and NGOs.
Mandate scheme
The Home Office also operates the smaller Mandate scheme which is designed to resettle individual
refugees from anywhere in the world who have been recognised as refugees by UNHCR, and judged
by them to be in need of resettlement; and who have a close family member in the UK who is willing to
accommodate them.
Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme
Those arriving in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are granted
Humanitarian Protection (not refugee status). The scheme was launched in January 2014 with the first
arrivals coming in March 2014. On 7 September 2015, the Prime Minister announced an expansion to
the existing Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. Through this expansion, it is expected that
20,000 people in need of protection will be resettled in the UK by 2020.
Vulnerable Children Resettlement Scheme (VCRS)
On 21 April 2016, the government announced they will work with UNHCR to resettle children from the
Middle East and North Africa region. The new Vulnerable Children Resettlement Scheme aims to
support vulnerable and refugee children at risk and their families, with a view of resettling up to 3,000
individuals over the course of this parliament. Figures on the number of people resettled in the UK, by
nationality, under this scheme were published for the first time in August 2017 (see Asylum Table
as_19_q).
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The figures do not include those relocated to the UK under the ex gratia scheme for Afghan locally
engaged civilians.
The figures presented in table as_20q relate to the local authority people are allocated to under the
Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), as recorded on Home Office databases at the
time the data were extracted. This breakdown is available from Q4 2015 onwards, when resettlement
scheme data, including local authority information, began to be recorded on the Home Office’s Case
Information Database (CID). Prior to this, resettlement scheme data were recorded in a separate
database maintained by the Home Office specifically for this purpose, and local authority information
was not captured. To aid the operation of the VPRS, people are allocated to a lead local authority in
advance of resettlement and will be recorded on the database as such. However, on arrival in the UK,
some may actually be resettled in a different local authority to that originally recorded (generally one
that neighbours the lead authority) and the database will be updated to reflect this. These revisions will
be incorporated into the data series on a quarterly basis to coincide with the regular publication of
Immigration Statistics.
Post-decision review
There are a number of reasons why an initial decision may be subject to a post-decision review; an
asylum decision by the Secretary of State can be later reviewed as a result of additional information
and/or significant changes in the applicant’s current circumstances and the relevant country of origin
information. Following consultation in 2011, data on post-decision reviews are no longer published in
the Immigration Statistics releases. See the Summary of responses to the consultation published
alongside Immigration Statistics: April – June 2011.
Family reunion visas
Data on the number of family reunion visas granted, broken down by age group and sex, were
published in February 2018 for the first time, and are backdated to 2010. Data on family reunion visas,
broken down by adult and child, are available on a quarterly basis. More detailed age and sex
breakdowns are available on an annual basis.
A family reunion visa allows a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 of those granted
refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to reunite with them here, providing they formed
part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin or habitual residence.
The sponsor is the individual who has refugee status or humanitarian protection, including those
resettled under the Gateway Protection Programme, Mandate Refugee Programme or the Syrian
Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme. Family reunion applications can be made from
abroad by making an entry clearance application or from within the UK. Those granted under family
reunion provisions are granted leave in line with their sponsor and are entitled to the same rights and
benefits.
Further information on family reunion can be found in the family reunion guidance on gov.uk.
Family reunion visas are a subset of the ‘family: other’ visa category. The vast majority of ‘family:
other’ visa grants, as published in the visa tables, relate to family reunion visas. However, data on
family reunion visas come from a different system to the broader visa data so are not directly
comparable. Data on the number of applications and their outcome for ‘family: other’ visas are found in
table vi_01_q.
Dublin regulation
The Dublin Regulation (EU) No.604/2013 (‘Dublin III’) is EU legislation that establishes the criteria and
mechanisms for determining which single State is responsible for examining an application for
international protection (an asylum claim). The Dublin III Regulation applies to all 28 EU member
states, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
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In order to identify a single State that is responsible for examining the asylum claim, the Dublin III
Regulation uses a number of specific criteria listed in descending order of importance to identify the
responsible State, enabling the transfer of an asylum applicant once responsibility has been agreed.
Where no responsible Dublin state can be designated on the basis of the criteria in the Dublin III
Regulation the first State in which the asylum claim is lodged shall be responsible.
The operation of the Dublin III Regulation is supported by the Eurodac fingerprint system that allows
fingerprints to be transmitted, stored and cross-checked. The Eurodac system provides results on a
‘hit’ (match) or ‘no hit’ (no match) basis to see whether someone has already lodged an asylum claim
in a Dublin state or if they have first entered into territory, covered by the Dublin and Eurodac
Regulations, illegally in a Dublin state and then moved on to another Dublin state to claim asylum.
Overview of Dublin articles (criteria for determining the responsible state)
The Dublin process includes transfers into and out of the UK. Other Dublin states can request the UK
takes responsibility for asylum claimants in the same way as we can make requests to them with
reference to the Dublin III Regulation. In terms of formal requests to acknowledge (accept)
responsibility there are 2 types of request:
‘Take charge’ requests relate to the premise that a first application (claim) has been lodged, so the
responsible Dublin state is to be determined in accordance with the criteria in the Dublin III Regulation.
‘Take back’ requests involve cases where the applicant has lodged an application (claim) in one
Dublin state and has moved on to another Dublin state where he or she has lodged a further
application or is present illegally, without making a further application. The notion of ‘take back’ implies
that an applicant has previously been known as an asylum applicant in another Dublin state and so his
or her application can be ‘taken back’ into the asylum system there.
Articles 8 to 15 set out the criteria for determining the Dublin State responsible for examining
the asylum claim.
Article 8(1) – Minors (Children)
If the applicant is an unaccompanied child the responsible Dublin State shall be that where a
qualifying family member is legally present, provided that is in the best interests of the child.
Article 8(2)
Where another relative is legally present and where it can be established that the relative can take
care of the child and best interests are protected then the Dublin State where the relative is present
shall be responsible.
Article 9 – Family members who are beneficiaries of international protection
If the applicant has family members who are beneficiaries of international protection in a particular
Dublin State (regardless of whether they are post-flight family members), then that Dublin State is
responsible for examining the asylum claim, provided that the persons concerned consent in writing.
Article 10 – Family members who are applicants for international protection
If the applicant has (pre-flight) family members who are also applicants for international protection
whose asylum claims have not been subject to a first decision then the Dublin State responsible for
examining those claims will be responsible, provided that the persons concerned consent in writing.
Article 11 – Family procedure
Where several family members submit asylum claims and strict application of the criteria would lead to
different Dublin States being responsible for different family members, resulting in the splitting of a
group, the responsible State shall be that otherwise responsible for the largest number of family
members or failing that the one responsible for the oldest applicant.
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Article 12 – Issue of residence document or visa
The responsible State shall be that which issued a residence document (such as leave to enter or
remain under the UK’s immigration law) or a visa. There are additional rules in the Article concerning
the situations where the applicant is in possession of more than one valid residence document or visa
and those where residence documents or visas have recently expired.
Article 13 – Entry and/or stay
Article 13(1) sets out the responsible State shall be that where the applicant made his or her first
illegal entry into the territory of a Dublin State across an external border, provided the asylum claim is
made within 12 months of the date of that illegal entry.
Article 13(2) sets out that where a State cannot or can no longer be held responsible on the basis of
Article 13(1), the responsible State is that where the individual has entered the territories of the Dublin
States irregularly (or the circumstances of entry cannot be established) and it can be shown that the
applicant has been living in the State for at least 5 consecutive months (‘tolerated illegal presence’).
Or if the applicant has been living for a period of 5 months in several States, the State where they
have been living most recently shall be responsible.
Article 14 – Visa waived entry
If a person enters a Dublin State where there is no need for him or her to hold a visa (‘visa waived
entry’) then that State is responsible for examining the claim for protection.
Article 15 – Application in an international transit area of an airport
If a person makes a claim in the international transit area of an airport of a Dublin State, that State
shall be responsible for examining the claim for protection.
Article 16 and 17 sets out the provisions for dependent persons and discretionary clauses.
Article 16 – Dependent persons
Where an applicant is dependent on the assistance of his or her child, sibling or parent legally resident
in one of the Dublin States or vice versa, States shall normally keep or bring together the parties. This
must be for at least one of the following reasons:
• on account of pregnancy
• a new-born child
• serious illness
• severe disability
• old age
Article 17 – Discretionary clauses
Article 17(1) is known as the ‘sovereignty clause’. It permits a Dublin State to decide to examine a
claim for international protection lodged with it even if it is not responsible in the event of exceptional
compassionate circumstances.
Article 17(2) makes specific reference to the situation where either a Dublin State carrying out the
procedure to determine responsibility or the responsible Dublin State itself may, at any time before a
first decision on the substance of the protection claim is made, request another Dublin State to bring
together any family relations on humanitarian grounds based in particular on family or cultural
considerations.
Article 18 (1) and Article 20 (5)
The basis for take back requests is reflected in Article 20.5, Article. 18.1.b, Article. 18.1.c and Article.
18.1.d which correspond to different legal basis in the Dublin Regulation.
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If a Dublin state fails to adhere to the time limits for taking action as set out in Articles 21, 22, 23, 24,
25 and 29, then, by default the applicant becomes the responsibility of that Dublin state.
Definitions
Family members refer to, insofar as the family already existed in the country of origin, the following
members of the applicant’s family who are present on the territory of the Dublin States (although in
cases where a family member is a beneficiary of international protection, Article 9 of the Dublin
Regulation negates the requirement that the family was previously formed in the country of origin):
the spouse of the applicant or his or her unmarried partner in a stable relationship, where the
law or practice of the Dublin State concerned treats unmarried couples in a way comparable
to married couples under its law relating to third-country nationals
the children of couples referred to in the first indent, or of the applicant, on condition that they
are unmarried and regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock or adopted as
defined under national law
when the applicant is a child and unmarried, the father, mother or another adult responsible
for the applicant, whether by law or by the practice of the Dublin State where the adult is
present
when the beneficiary of international protection is a child and unmarried, the father, mother or
another adult responsible for him or her whether by law or by the practice of the Dublin State
where the beneficiary is present
Relative refers to the applicant’s adult aunt or uncle or grandparent who is present in the territory of a
Dublin State, regardless of whether the applicant was born in or out of wedlock or adopted as defined
under national law
Minor (child) refers to a third-country national or a stateless person below the age of 18 years
Unaccompanied minor refers to a child who arrives on the territory of the Dublin States,
unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him or her, whether by law or by the practice of the Dublin
State concerned, and for as long as he or she is not effectively taken into the care of such an adult; it
includes a child who is left unaccompanied after he or she has entered the territory of Dublin States
Legally present is the term contained within Article 8 is not defined in the Dublin III Regulation.
‘Legally present’ in the UK refers to all persons holding a residence document, and any other person
allowed to stay in the UK as an applicant for asylum (including a person under a Dublin procedure to
determine responsibility for examining his or her claim), a person holding a valid visa, leave to enter or
remain or a person awaiting a decision to vary existing leave to enter or remain.
Comparison to asylum applications in other countries
Data on asylum applications made in selected other countries are sourced from a number of
international organisations, including Eurostat, UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees) and IGC (Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees). The data
have been provided to these organisations by the named countries. In some cases, the countries
listed have not released asylum applications for the full time period and figures have been estimated
through extrapolation from earlier data. In consequence, figures for countries other than the UK may
over- or under-record depending on data available and recent trends.
Figures for Belgium and United States are adjusted to include an estimated number of dependants.
Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013, and is included in the EU 28 total, and also in the Total Europe
(Selected countries) and Total (Total selected countries) from 2013 Q3 onwards. The 400 asylum
applications to Croatia in 2013 Q3 and Q4 have been included in the annual 2013 figure for the EU 28
total, Total Europe (Selected countries) and Total (Total selected countries).
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In Quarter 3 (July to September) 2017, figures for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and the United Sates of America are estimated.
Key terms
Other grants: grants under family and private life rules from 9 July 2012; Leave Outside the Rules,
which was introduced for those refused asylum from 1 April 2013; and UASC leave, which was
introduced for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children refused asylum but eligible for temporary
leave from 1 April 2013.
Other key terms for asylum can be found in the glossary of terms.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
Asylum applications and decisions
Data after April 2000 for asylum applications and May 2000 for asylum decisions have been taken
from the Asylum Case Information Database. Prior to this date, manual counts were taken. Most of the
historical manual count figures relate to main applicants excluding dependants.
Since 2007, third country cases are no longer automatically defined as asylum cases unless the
person has claimed asylum in the UK. This change affects a small number of cases.
Following the introduction of a new approach to family and private life involving considering
applications against a new set of immigration rules from July 2012, asylum tables have been updated
to include outcomes related to these types of applications. For more information please see the
glossary for definitions of Private Life and Family Life (10-year) route and the Policy and Legislative
Timeline.
From April 2013, grants of DL to UASCs was replaced by UASC leave when the policy on granting
discretionary leave to UASC was incorporated into the Immigration Rules, under Paragraphs 352ZC –
352ZF. The asylum tables were updated to include the new outcome related to these types of UASC
applications. For more information please see the glossary for a definition of UASC leave.
From 2 September 2011, all individuals refused asylum or Humanitarian Protection on the grounds of
their war crimes or other international crimes committed prior to their arrival in the UK, but who cannot
be immediately removed due to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), may be granted
Restricted Leave to Remain for a maximum of six months at a time. The asylum tables were updated
to include the new outcome under the Discretionary Leave category for these types of applications.
For more information please see the glossary for a definition of Restricted Leave and the Policy and
Legislative Timeline.
The Home Office has continued to review and update its country guidance for Eritrea, following the
judgment given in the country guidance case of MST and Others (national service - risk categories)
Eritrea CG [2016] UKUT 443 (IAC) - http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/IAC/2016/443.html. The
latest country guidance information for Eritrea is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eritrea-country-information-and-guidance.
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and age disputed cases
An internal review of the UASC and age dispute data highlighted issues with the definitions used for
these data up to May 2013, in particular that the definition for UASCs was broader than it should be as
it included all asylum applicants who had ever been recorded as an unaccompanied minor and not just
those who were unaccompanied during their asylum application.
From Immigration Statistics April - June 2013, the definitions were refined.
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UASC application
An asylum applicant previously counted in the UASC application data is no longer included if:
(a) They were considered an unaccompanied minor only in the period before the asylum
application;
(b) They were considered a UASC for less than 1 day;
(c) The applicant is listed as over 18 at application, but remain recorded as an unaccompanied
minor on the administrative database; or
(d) They were only considered a UASC after the initial decision was made.
UASC initial decisions and withdrawals
The definitional change made for initial decisions and withdrawals are the same as for a UASC
application, above, except the addition that the recorded date of birth must now show that they are
under 18 when they applied.
For applications, initial decisions and withdrawals only the last time they are considered a UASC is
counted.
Raised age dispute
An age dispute previously included in the data will no longer be included if it was resolved before the
date of the asylum application. In addition, each separate age dispute on the same person are now
counted.
The numbers now relate to the quarter when the individual becomes an asylum applicant with an age
dispute rather than the quarter the asylum application is made.
Overall, the changes reduced the number of asylum applicants counted in the published figures as
UASCs, while it made little overall difference to the number of age disputes counted in the published
figures. The actual impact as a result of these counting definition changes for 2012 and the first
quarter of 2013 were reported in the ‘About this release’ section of Immigration Statistics April - June
2013.
Asylum support
A new Asylum Support casework system, ATLAS, was introduced from March 2018. Historic data from
the previous ASYS system has been migrated from ASYS to ATLAS and all new support applications
have been recorded directly to ATLAS from this date. Therefore data from 2018 Q2 are not directly
comparable with previous periods.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Other factors affecting the statistics
In July 1998 the White Paper entitled ‘Fairer, Faster and Firmer – A Modern Approach to Immigration
and Asylum’ was published. It made a number of proposals on asylum, several of which were
implemented immediately (27 July 1998) as there was no need for primary legislation. These had the
effect of abolishing the four-year qualifying period for grants of settlement to those recognised as
refugees and given asylum and reducing it from seven to four years for those granted exceptional
leave. In early 1999 the Home Office established units to implement further measures outlined in the
White Paper.
In February 2005 the Government announced a five-year strategy for asylum and immigration:
‘Controlling our borders: Making migration work for Britain’. This was built upon by the Immigration and
Nationality Directorate (IND) Review (Fair, Effective, Transparent and Trusted) in July 2006. Both
outlined how asylum claims would be managed more closely under the New Asylum Model and
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introduced a single case owner managing both the case and the claimant throughout; changes in the
process for managing detained fast-track and non-detained cases; and a change from obtaining
settlement when asylum is granted to settlement after five years, during which time cases are
reviewed for any changes to the situation of the country of nationality and any circumstances that
would make the refugee ineligible for refugee status. The first complete case management teams
became operational in June 2005 and since March 2007 the majority of new asylum claims cases
have been managed end-to-end by one of the regional asylum teams. The aim is to recognise readily
those with well-founded claims, to maximise deterrents against unfounded applications, and to ensure
that a higher percentage of asylum seekers whose claims fail are quickly removed from the UK.
Changes in non-detained cases included the use of managed accommodation, requirements to report
regularly, the serving of appeal outcomes in person and linking an applicant’s access to support to
their compliance with the process. The Home Affairs Select Committee was informed in December
2006 that the programme of work on the older unresolved (legacy) asylum cases had begun. A Case
Resolution Directorate was formed to carry through this work. The review of legacy asylum cases was
completed in March 2011.
In July 2006, the Home Secretary announced to Parliament that the backlog of cases involving
unsuccessful asylum applicants who were still living in the UK would be resolved on a case-by-case
basis within the next five years in accordance with the legal framework and with the following priorities:
those who may pose a risk to the public;
those who can be removed more easily;
those receiving support; and
those who may be allowed to stay in the UK.
Data quality
All asylum data relating to the UK:
are administrative counts of casework processes, which are defined in UK legislation and are
recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative databases;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following
August; and
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex and nationality is very low, with such missing data reported
as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used. The
following are known data quality issues which affect a small number of cases:
incomplete date of birth;
incorrect outcome selected, for example, exceptional leave to remain (after 1 April 2003),
humanitarian protection (HP) and discretionary leave (DL) (before 1 April 2003); and
case created on CID before the date of application.
Asylum applications and initial decisions
The data quality for the total numbers of asylum applications and initial decisions is considered to be
high. In addition to the above, these data:
undergo a reconciliation process;
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office; and
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework.
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The number of asylum applications and decisions relating to dependants are subject to a slightly
larger percentage increase than those relating to main applicants between the data published each
quarter and the revised data published in August. This increase is expected, and is not considered to
be a data quality issue, as the count of dependants includes those who are born or join the main
applicant after the asylum application is made, with the dependant being counted in the same quarter
that the original asylum claim was recorded. This also affects the number of dependants counted as
‘Age unknown’ in Table as_04. For asylum dependants, the age at application is based on their age at
the date the main application was made. Therefore, in cases where the child is born after the original
asylum application, the recorded age at application will be negative. These are not considered to be
data quality issues, but will appear in ‘Age unknown’ as the age is not known at the time of the
application.
Non-suspensive appeals process and asylum cases pending
Data are considered to be of high quality. The non-suspensive appeals data are subsets of the asylum
applications and initial decisions data and undergo a separate reconciliation process. Both datasets
undergo a detailed reconciliation process.
Asylum appeals, asylum support and resettlement
Data on asylum appeals are considered to be high and are tracked against similar data from Ministry
of Justice.
Data on resettlement are considered to be high; these data are regularly assessed as part of the
Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework.
Data of asylum support are considered to be high; the totals are quality assured by the Home Office.
Outcome analysis
The outcome analysis of asylum applications table provides data relating to asylum applications,
appeals, fresh claims and returns. The quality of these data is considered to generally be high. The
table also provides estimated outcomes of applications; these data are considered to be of medium
data quality as they report on the outcomes of a complex system and in a small proportion of cases,
the outcome has to be interpreted. This interpretation is undertaken consistently through established
computer code.
Fresh claims, the fast-track process, UASCs and age disputes
Data are considered to be medium to high quality.
All data on the fast-track process have undergone a reconciliation process with Harmondsworth and
Yarl’s Wood. For data relating to 2012 an improved reconciliation exercise was undertaken. A total of
270 cases (slightly more than 10%) were removed from the original data following this detailed
exercise as they were determined to have never been accepted on the Fast-Track process. This
suggests that data for earlier years may over-count.
In 2013, the data on asylum applicants accepted onto the fast-track process, and outcomes of these
applications, were consolidated to show totals rather than being broken down by detention facility.
This is to reflect changes to operational procedures which mean that it is not possible to allocate fast-
track cases to specific sites.
In 2014, the data went through a detailed reconciliation process with Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood
and a few data quality issues were identified. A number of improvements were made to the extraction
process. Data for earlier years do not get revised.
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Data covering the period 1 January 2015 to 2 July 2015 went through a detailed reconciliation process
with Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood. A number of data quality issues were identified and affected
cases excluded (6% of Harmondsworth cases were excluded). On 2 July 2015, the operation of the
detained fast track policy was suspended.
The method for recording an individual as being an UASC or being subject to an age assessment on
the CID database means that while new cases are considered to be well-recorded, instances where
the individual is no longer a UASC or has had an age assessment made may not be recorded in a
quantifiable way. For example, theoretically (1) the CID database allows those who turn 18 to remain
recorded as an unaccompanied minor; and (2) the caseworker may record the outcome of an age
assessment as a note, but not officially close the age dispute. The computer code employed has been
written and tested to mitigate these possible scenarios as far as possible, although the counts may
include some applicants as UASCs and age disputes in error.
Data supplied to Eurostat
Data are supplied to Eurostat, the European statistical organisation, under definitions in line with EU
statistical legislation. There are differences between definitions of the asylum figures in Immigration
Statistics and those provided to Eurostat. These are detailed under ‘Related statistics published
elsewhere’.
Data on asylum applications in other countries
Data on the number of asylum applications received in other countries are based on data supplied by
the individual countries to international organisations. Not all countries provide data to the end of the
period in time for each release of Immigration Statistics. Where a figure is unavailable for a given
month, we estimate it using the average of the last three months available, provided that the time
series has not shown large increases or decreases. Where a series is erratic, we estimate the figure
using the average of the last 12 months.
The sources and countries currently requiring estimation are detailed in the asylum table notes.
Compilation method
Each Friday evening, a weekly ‘snapshot’ of the Case Information Database (CID) is taken. On a
monthly and quarterly basis, generally during the second week after the end of the reference period,
an extract of asylum data is taken from this ‘snapshot’ by Migration Statistics. This extract is filtered
using established, tested computer code, which, for example, ensures there are no duplicates within
the data, to produce the data due to be released.
The only exceptions to this are the data on supported asylum seekers, the fast-track process and
resettlement of refugees.
The process for compiling data on asylum support for years up to and including 2012 used a different
method to data for 2013 onwards, although the data source is the same. For data up to 2012, each
day, a list of the records added or amended on the Asylum Support System (ASYS) was produced. On
a weekly basis, the daily lists were added together and then to the information from the previous week
to produce a ‘snapshot’ of ASYS for Migration Statistics. For data from 2013, each week a ‘snapshot’
of the Asylum Support System (ASYS) is taken. During the second week after the end of the reference
period, an extract of support data are taken from the appropriate ‘snapshot’ by Migration Statistics. In
both cases, the ‘snapshot’ is filtered using established, tested computer code, which, for example,
adds Region, Local Authority, Parliamentary Constituency and Ward to each record using the
postcode information.
Data on the resettlement of refugees are provided directly by the Home Office.
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Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics reconcile the asylum applications, initial decisions, withdrawals, fresh claims and
asylum cases pending data for main applicants with teams within the Home Office, by ensuring that
the total number of records produced separately by the Home Office is within 2% of the data extracted
by Migration Statistics. If the total is not within 2%, then analysis of the individual records are made.
Migration Statistics reconcile data on the non-suspensive appeals process with a team within the
Home Office, by comparing a unique identifier from each case in the Migration Statistics extract
against record-level data provided by the Home Office. When an individual is found within only one of
the extracts detailed data quality checks are carried out to ascertain whether the case should be
counted.
Data on asylum support are quality assured with a team within the Home Office, by comparing the
figures against their own records.
Data on the fast-track process are quality assured by teams at Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood
against their own records. See the data quality section above for further details.
Trends of asylum appeals are compared against figures published by the HM Courts and Tribunal
Service.
All data are also checked for consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated
with Home Office operational and policy teams.
After these reconciliation checks, the tables ready for release are checked by a second member of the
Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked against the tables.
Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary appropriately describes the trend seen
in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Figures on asylum applicants who are removed or depart voluntarily are included in the
Returns tables;
Figures on asylum-related grants of settlement are included in the Settlement tables;
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on immigration and asylum appeals at First-tier Tribunal
and subsequent stages; see below for an explanation of the relationship and differences
between the data;
Data on asylum applications, withdrawals and cases pending are released on a monthly basis
and are available from
http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_asyappctzm&lang=enHome
Office Business Plan impact indicators showing the percentage of asylum applications
concluded in one year are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration;
Asylum performance framework measures and data on the controlled asylum archive are
published as Official Statistics and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data;
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) publishes an annual report entitled ‘Asylum
Trends in Industrialised Countries’ http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c4b8.html which
includes an international comparison of the number of applications for asylum;
Eurostat comparisons of various data relating to asylum applications and decisions are
available from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database;
see below for an explanation of the relationship and differences between the data; and
International comparisons for asylum applications and decisions can be found on the Eurostat
website, at:
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http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/asylum-and-managed-migration/publications
Asylum appeals
Asylum appeals data are sourced from the Home Office database and relate to main asylum
applicants at the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber. The Home Office database
records are updated from record-level data provided by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service
(HMCTS). This provides consistent data across all datasets relating to asylum published in
Immigration Statistics, but is different from the HMCTS published statistics which provide counts of
principal appellants sourced from the HMCTS database. There tend to be higher numbers of principal
appellants than main asylum applicant appeals as:
HMCTS has a wider definition of asylum appeals, including some human rights cases and
appeals on extensions of asylum, humanitarian protection and discretionary leave; and
principal appellants include some individuals classed as dependants by the Home Office.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on immigration and asylum appeals at First-tier Tribunal and
subsequent stages. These data are available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/series/tribunals-statistics.
Eurostat data
Under European legislation the UK is required to comply with parts of Article 4: (Asylum Statistics) of
regulation (EC) No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics
on migration and international protection:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:199:0023:0029:EN:PDF.
This regulation aims to achieve greater comparability in migration and asylum statistics across Europe
through the adoption of harmonised definitions.
There are differences between definitions of the asylum figures in Immigration Statistics and those
provided to Eurostat. For asylum applications these are as follows:
the Immigration Statistics figures on fresh applications include those who have made a fresh
claim in the same reference month, while figures provided to Eurostat exclude these applicants;
the figures on withdrawn applications published in Immigration Statistics only show withdrawn
first applications and will continue to do so. The figures provided to Eurostat include withdrawn
re-applications as well;
the Immigration Statistics figures on pending applications include withdrawn applications, while
figures provided to Eurostat exclude these;
figures in the Immigration Statistics are National Statistics, whereas the monthly information on
the most recent months provided to Eurostat is based on provisional Official Statistics, which is
subject to change;
from November 2012, the data have been provided to Eurostat monthly and revised annually,
usually in August; the data are not revised quarterly in line with the Immigration Statistics
release.
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12 Detention
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published on three main series of data as National Statistics:
People entering detention– (Tables dt_01 – dt_04_q);
People leaving detention – (Tables dt_05 – dt_010_q);
People in detention as at the last day of each quarter (i.e. on a snapshot basis) – (Tables
dt_11_q – dt_14_q); and
Defendants proceeded against for offences under Immigration Acts 1971 to 2007 in England
and Wales – (Tables pr_01).
DETENTION
Data source
The statistics on detention are extracted from the Home Office’s Case Information Database (CID).
The data are derived from administrative information used for the allocating of bed occupancy. Those
relating to people in detention (on a snapshot basis) on the last day of each quarter are reconciled
with all immigration removal centres, short-term holding facilities, pre-departure accommodation and H
M Prisons in the Home Office immigration detention estate.
The information on detainees held in prison establishments in England and Wales solely under
Immigration Act Powers has been supplied by the National Offender Management Service (an
Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice) until Q3 2017. The information is now available from CID
following the addition of new location names for each prison. At any given time, the data may include a
small number of individuals who have never served a custodial sentence. These individuals are held in
prisons as they present specific risk factors that indicate they pose a serious risk of harm to the public
or to the good order of an Immigration Removal Centre, including the safety of staff and other
detainees, which cannot be managed within the regime applied in Immigration Removal Centres.
Further information on the prisons data can be found in the prisons section below.
Background on the statistics
Immigration legislation provides powers of detention. Every person detained, including special cases,
is issued with an IS91 Authority to Detain form. Detention may be used whilst identity and basis of
claim are established, where there is a risk of absconding, as part of fast-track asylum procedures,
until 2nd July 2015 (in the case of straightforward asylum claims that can be decided quickly) and in
support of the return of failed asylum seekers and others who have no legal right to be in the UK.
Special cases include: sensitive cases; spouses of British Citizens or EEA nationals; unaccompanied
young persons under 18; unaccompanied children who are to be returned to an EU Member State; an
FNO under the age of 18 who has completed a custodial sentence; families with minor children; and
detention in police cells for longer than two nights.
An individual may be held and remain in immigration detention for a variety of reasons, including
reasons within and outside the control of the Home Office. Those outside the control of the Home
Office may include but are not exclusively: individual compliance with immigration procedures,
including providing appropriate paperwork; and barriers to removal relating to the individual’s personal
circumstances or circumstances related to the intended country of return. Reasons within the control
of the Home Office include: where the Home Office has assessed it is not in the public interest to
release the individual pending return. The Home Office has a statutory duty to review detention at
least every 28 days to ensure that the detained person continues to meet the published detention
criteria and that detention is still the most appropriate course.
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Published detention figures relate only to those detained solely under Immigration Act powers, in
immigration removal centres, short term holding facilities, pre departure accommodation and H M
Prisons, and exclude those detained for criminal purposes and those who are detained under both
criminal and immigration powers. Published detention statistics exclude detainees in short-term
holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours) and police cells; reliable data have not
been available for these individuals since March 2006.
The detention estate as at 30 June 2018:
Place
Category of detainee
Brook House IRC
Male only
Campsfield House IRC
Male only
Colnbrook IRC
Male and Female
Dungavel IRC
Male and Female
Harmondsworth IRC
Male only
Morton Hall IRC
Male only
Tinsley House IRC
Male and Female, Families with or without
children
Yarl’s Wood IRC
Male and Female, Families without children
Manchester STHF
Male and Female
Larne House STHF
Male and Female
Gatwick PDA
Families with children
H M Prisons
Male and Female
Immigration removal centre (IRC), short-term holding facility (STHF) and pre-departure
accommodation (PDA). Children are those recorded as being under 18 years of age.
Published data on people entering detention (including occurrences of people entering detention) have
only been available since 2009.
Published data on people leaving detention from 2010 are not directly comparable with previous
figures due to a revised methodology being used.
Reasons for people leaving detention are published under general detention categories and do not
relate to individual case types. The options available for the ‘closed reason’ field located in the
detention management screen of CID were increased from Q4 2017 for operational purposes and to
coincide with the introduction of the single power to grant immigration bail (from 15/01/2018). The
power to grant immigration bail to a detained person is available to the Secretary of State and the
First-tier Tribunal (Immigration Judge), as outlined in Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016.
Data on reasons for leaving detention are based on the ‘detention closed reason’ entered into CID.
The published categories are:
Returned from the UK
Granted leave to enter / remain
Bailed (Secretary of State) – formerly ‘granted temporary admission / release’
Bailed (Immigration Judge) – formerly ‘bailed’
Other
Granted leave to enter / remain is used when a person has been found eligible for entry to the UK,
following further investigation to ascertain if the person is eligible or if a caseworker has granted
asylum.
Bailed (Secretary of State) is used when a person who is liable to be detained under paragraph 16 of
Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act is not so detained while awaiting the implementation of removal directions,
the resolution of any outstanding appeal or the completion of examination (of usually an asylum
claim)).
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Bailed (Immigration Judge) has replaced ‘bailed’ to differentiate from ‘Bailed (Secretary of State)’.
The ‘other’ category includes people who have returned to criminal detention, those released
unconditionally, absconders, those sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and deaths in detention.
Detention [for removal] may continue lawfully only for as long as there is a realistic prospect of
removal within a reasonable period of time. People may be released from detention for a wide range
of reasons: they may be granted bail by the courts, lodge appeals or other legal proceedings, or there
may have been a material change in their circumstances. Regular reviews of detention are undertaken
to ensure that it remains lawful and proportionate in each case. Individuals can apply for bail and
challenge the legality of detention by Judicial Review or habeas corpus applications.
Detention in HM Prisons
In November 2017, data on people entering and leaving immigration detention through prison were
published for the first time.
The majority of those recorded as entering immigration detention through prisons will subsequently be
transferred to an immigration removal centre (IRC) or short term holding facility (STHF) prior to
removal. Previously these individuals would have been recorded as entering immigration detention in
an IRC or STHF at the point of their transfer from prison. However, a small number of those entering
immigration detention through prisons will not go on to enter the immigration detention estate (for
example, because they are removed from the UK directly from prison and are not held at any point in
the immigration detention estate). These individuals would not have previously been recorded in the
figures.
Where an individual recorded as leaving immigration detention through prison had previously been
detained in another part of the immigration detention estate, they would previously have been
recorded as leaving that part of the detention estate. Those recorded as leaving immigration detention
through prison, who had not been detained in another part of the estate, would not previously have
been included in the figures.
Data on the number of individuals held in HM prisons under immigration powers at the end of the
period are included in the detention tables from the end of Q3 2017. These data include time served
foreign national offenders (FNOs), those formerly on remand, and those unsuitable to be held in the
immigration detention estate. Previous releases have cited data for England and Wales only, provided
by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). As the NOMS data come from a different
system to the Home Office data, the figures are not directly comparable. The data in this section
should be considered provisional while the Home Office continue to make improvements to the
process that captures the data.
From the third quarter of 2017, the Home Office began capturing data of those held in prisons under
immigration detention powers in their system. Previously, data have been provided by NOMS and
included in the How many people are detained or returned section of the quarterly bulletin. From
November 2017, data included in the bulletin are from Home Office systems and are not directly
comparable with the data provided by NOMS for a number of reasons:
NOMS data cover England and Wales only, Home Office data cover the UK
The data extracts are run on different days
Changes in prisoner status, or location that have not been picked up at the same time in both
reports
For a case to be recorded on Home Office systems, the Home Office caseworker must be notified that
an individual is being transferred into immigration detention. This must then be input into the system.
There may be a small number of cases where this fails, or there is a delay in notification. The Home
Office are working to improve administrative processes to ensure that this issue is minimised in future.
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Background on the statistics relating to families and children
In 2010, the Coalition Programme for Government made a commitment to end the detention of
children (i.e. persons aged under 18) for immigration purposes.
A Home Office review began in June 2010 to consider how this could be done in a way which protects
the welfare of children while ensuring the return of families who have no right to be in the UK. For the
purpose of the review, Home Office defined “detention” as the holding of children with families in
immigration removal centres such as Yarl’s Wood. As a result of this review, in December 2010, the
Government published details of its new approach to returning families without permission to be in the
UK. The new process for managing the removal of families with no right to be in the UK (The Family
Returns Process) began on 1 March 2011.
The final stage of the process includes the possibility of requiring families to stay in 'pre-departure
accommodation' as a last resort if they fail to co-operate with other options to leave the UK, such as
the offer of assisted voluntary return. Families can only be referred to pre-departure accommodation
after advice has been sought from the Independent Family Returns Panel, an independent body of
child welfare experts.
The pre-departure accommodation located near Gatwick Airport, in West Sussex, Cedars, opened in
August 2011 and closed on 17 October 2016. It provides freedom of movement within a secure
perimeter for up to nine families at a time who are accommodated in self-contained apartments. It was
replaced by Gatwick PDA on 22 June 2017 with facilities for two families.
The 2010 Home Office review stated that families with children may be held on arrival while checks
are made to determine whether they should be admitted to the country and, if not, until a return flight
can be arranged for them and the December 2010 report of the review stated that ‘We will hold
families only in very limited circumstances for border and other high risk cases’. The family unit at
Tinsley House remains in use for these families. In rare cases, it may be used for families with criminal
and other high-risk members who cannot be safely accommodated in pre-departure accommodation.
This includes where a foreign national mother and baby from a prison mother and baby unit are being
returned during the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) period but it is not practicable or desirable, owing to
time or distant constraints, to transfer them direct from prison to the airport for removal. The family unit
may be used for adults deemed more at risk, if there are no families detained.
Stays within pre-departure accommodation and the family unit at Tinsley House are limited to a
maximum of 72 hours prior to a family’s planned removal date from the UK, although there is provision
for a family to remain for up to seven days with ministerial approval.
The other circumstances in which children are detained at immigration removal centres and are:
where an individual considered an adult on entry to the immigration detention estate has their
age disputed. Once identified as an ‘age dispute case’ it is Home Office policy to release the
individual into the care of a local authority as soon as appropriate arrangements can be made
because of the possibility that he/she is under 18 years of age and while awaiting a Merton
compliant age assessment, which will be conducted in the community. While awaiting an age
assessment and if an age assessment shows the individual is under 18, the individual will be
counted as aged under 18; and
in criminal cases, detention of a foreign national offender under 18 may be authorised in
exceptional circumstances where it can be shown that they pose a serious risk to the public and
a decision to deport or remove has been taken. This detention is subject to Ministerial
authorisation and advice is also sought from the Independent Family Returns Panel.
Further information is available from:
December 2010 report into the ‘Review into Ending the Detention of Children For Immigration
Purposes’:
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https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fi
le/257654/child-detention-conclusions.pdf
The independent family returns panel annual reports:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/independent-family-returns-panel-reports
Further information on immigration removal centres and short-term holding facilities can be found on
the UK Border Agency (now Home Office) ‘Immigration Removal Centre’ web pages at the following
link: https://www.gov.uk/immigration-removal-centre.
Further information on Gatwick pre-departure accommodation can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gatwick-pre-departure-accommodation.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
Following the closure of the Detainee Location and Management Information System (DELMIS) in
October 2006, figures on all people in detention (on a snapshot basis) by length of detention and all
people leaving detention ceased to be published as no sufficiently robust quality assurance could be
performed on the data. However:
Figures on children detained by length of detention continued to be published. Figures for all
people detained by length of detention resumed publication in February 2009.
Figures on people returned from the UK on leaving detention resumed in August 2007 and,
following the publication of figures on people entering detention in February 2009, it became
possible to publish overall figures on all people leaving detention. Figures on all people leaving
detention resumed publication (broken down by reason for leaving, place of last detention, age
and sex) in November 2010, with a breakdown by country of nationality following in February
2011 and length of detention in May 2011.
Before 2009, data on people in detention (on a snapshot basis) were published as at the last Saturday
of each quarter; from 2009 onwards the data have been published as at the last day of each quarter.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Revisions
Revisions to the data on the number of children entering detention occur when a more recent data
extract is used to produce the figures. Later extracts will reflect changes made to date of birth
information about individuals (after reviews, new evidence or ‘Merton’ assessments). These changes
do not change the total number of people entering detention, but may increase or decrease the
number of children entering detention.
For more information see ‘Revisions Analysis’ in the ‘Conventions used in Immigration Statistics’
section of this User Guide.
Other changes affecting the statistics
Since the beginning of 2004, the following immigration removal centres and short-term holding
facilities have closed:
Dover Harbour – 31 July 2010;
Oakington Reception Centre – 12 November 2010;
Harwich – 30 November 2010;
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Lindholme – 23 December 2011;
Haslar IRC – 23 April 2015;
Dover IRC – 28 October 2015;
Pennine House STHF – 31 March 2017; and
The Verne IRC – 31 December 2017.
Additionally, Yarl’s Wood closed to families with children on 16 December 2010.
Since the beginning of 2004, the following immigration removal centres and short-term holding
facilities have opened:
Brook House – 18 March 2009;
Morton Hall – 16 May 2011;
Larne House – 5 July 2011; and
The Verne – 28 September 2014.
Manchester STHF – 4 June 2018
In March 2011 Tinsley House (Family Unit) IRC was reopened, after refurbishment, predominately for
families detained at the Border, whilst awaiting a decision to allow entry to the UK. Tables for
detention of children now identify numbers held in Tinsley House (Family Unit) IRC from 2013
onwards.
Cedars, the pre-departure accommodation designed for children and their families opened on 17
August 2011 and closed on 17 October 2016. Cedars was specifically designed to provide a secure
facility for children and their families. Whilst children are detained in Cedars PDA under Immigration
Act powers, they are not held in the same conditions as previously found in adult detention facilities.
Cedars has been replaced by Gatwick pre-departure accommodation which opened on 22 June 2017.
From 16 July 2012, following a change in operational policy, Colnbrook immigration removal centre
now accepts detainees directly on entering detention, rather than initially entering detention at
Colnbrook short term holding facility before being transferred to Colnbrook immigration removal
centre.
Tinsley House IRC closed on 21 September 2016 for refurbishment and reopened on 22 June 2017.
From July 2017 people who are detained in H M Prisons have been reassigned a different location
code on CID, which allows them to be included in the published figures. It is not possible to backdate
their duration to the start of their detention.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for people detained (snapshot figures) and children entering and leaving
detention is considered to be high; data quality for people entering and leaving detention is considered
to be medium to high.
All data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office detention bed occupancy allocation on Home
Office administrative database;
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of Home Office;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling error;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in February each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following
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August and have not, in recent years, had to be revised at all when the annual data are
subsequently checked 12 months later and the provisional status of the data is altered to final;
and
undergo a detailed reconciliation process.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex and nationality is very low, with such missing data reported
as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used. The
following are known data quality issues which affect a small number of cases:
overlapping periods of detention;
incomplete date of birth;
not detained in a immigration removals centre, short-term holding facility or pre-departure
accommodation;
incorrect detention closure reason; and
incorrect detention closure date/time.
These issues are mostly captured within specified data quality reports run at the same time as the
data are filtered. As part of the quarterly reconciliation process, Migration Statistics investigate these
cases and pass the issues back to operational colleagues. If the record is amended, the relevant
additional information is included.
Length of detention is the number of nights spent in the place of detention, which is calculated using
the date that a bed is allocated to an individual and the date that the bed is unallocated. The data
extracted do not allow for a calculation of the exact number of hours of detention.
Compilation method
Each Friday evening, a weekly ‘snapshot’ of the Case Information Database (CID) is taken by Home
Office. On a quarterly basis, extracts of the detention data are taken from this ‘snapshot’ and provided
directly by Home Office. These extracts are filtered using established, tested computer code, which,
for example, ensures there are no duplicates within the data, to produce the data due to be published.
Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics reconcile the detention datasets with immigration teams within Home Office, by
comparing a unique identifier for each detention in the Migration Statistics extract against record-level
data provided by Home Office. Where an individual is found within only one of the extracts detailed
data quality checks are carried out to ascertain whether the case should be included.
Data on children undergo more detailed checks, including confirmation of the place of detention and
individual case-by-case reconciliation with the Family Returns Unit.
A cross-check of tables, to ensure consistent totals, is undertaken as part of the production process.
Data are also checked for consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated
with immigration operational teams.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
All returns from the UK, see the Returns topic;
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Asylum cases in the detained fast-track process, see the Asylum topic;
Data on the Family returns process are published as Official Statistics and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data ; and
Short statistical article on Foreign National Offenders in detention and leaving detention,
available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/foreign-national-offenders-in-detention-
and-leaving-detention
PROSECUTIONS FOR IMMIGRATION OFFENCES
Data source
The statistics on prosecutions for immigration offences are supplied by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
Background on the statistics
The figures relate to the principal immigration offence. This is where a defendant is prosecuted for at
least one immigration offence but may have also been prosecuted for another non-immigration
offence. When a defendant has been prosecuted for two or more immigration offences it is the
immigration offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed
for two or more immigration offences, the immigration offence selected is the immigration offence for
which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. Where a defendant is prosecuted for one or
more non-immigration offences and one or more immigration offences the offence recorded is the
principal immigration offence. More detailed information is available from the MOJ Criminal Statistics
Guide https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/series/criminal-justice-statistics
- the guide is available with the latest ‘Criminal justice statistics’ release.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is
important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems
generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data
collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics perform a number of checks on the data supplied by the MOJ; these are:
joint working with immigration policy teams and the MOJ statistical team to identify new
immigration offences or changes to existing offences to ensure they have been accounted for;
checking that totals sum; and
examining the data to identify differences in the trends that may require further investigation.
Revisions
Revisions to the data on prosecutions for immigration offences occur when the sources of
administrative systems or methodology changes, receipt of subsequent information, and errors in
statistical systems and processes. More detailed information is available from the ‘Revisions’ section
of the MOJ Criminal Statistics Guide https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-
justice/series/criminal-justice-statistics.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Data on all prosecutions are published by the MOJ and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/series/criminal-justice-statistics
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13 Returns
Statistics covered by this topic
Data on returns are based on individual cases. If a person is returned more than once in the same
year, these will be recorded as multiple returns.
Figures are published on returns from detention, enforced removals, refused entry at port and
subsequently departed and voluntary returns from the UK – as National Statistics – broken down by:
Type of applicant, split by: asylum cases and non-asylum cases (Tables rt_01 and rt_01_q);
Type of return, split by: returns from detention, enforced removals, non-asylum cases refused
entry at port and subsequently departed, assisted returns, controlled (notified) returns and other
verified returns (Tables rt_01);
Country of nationality (Tables rt_02 - rt_04q);
Age and sex (Tables rt_03);
Country of destination (Tables rt_05 and rt_05_q);
Returns of foreign national offenders (Table rt_06_q); and
Harm assessment of returns (Table rt_07 and rt_07_q).
Data source
The statistics on returns are extracted from the Home Office’s Case Information Database (CID). The
data are derived from administrative information used for the processing of cases which are subject to
removal action.
Background on statistics
Individuals seeking to enter the UK must satisfy a Border Force Officer that they meet the relevant
criteria for entry, as defined under the Immigration Rules drafted in accordance with the Immigration
Act 1971 (as amended). In order to comply with this requirement, passengers must present
themselves, on arrival at a port of entry, to a Border Force Officer. Under Schedule 2 of the
Immigration Act 1971 officers have the power to conduct further examinations in cases where they are
not immediately satisfied that the passenger meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
Officers who exercise these powers are utilising the powers provided under paragraph 2(1) of
Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971.
A Border Force Officer may examine a person who has arrived in the UK in order to determine the
following: whether or not they are a British citizen; whether or not they may enter without leave; and
whether:
they have been given leave to enter which is still in force;
they should be given leave to enter and for what period and on what conditions, (if any); or
they should be refused leave to enter.
A person who is initially refused entry may then be returned to their country of origin, another EU
Member State or a third country where they are permanently admissible. The return may be
immediate; on the next available flight, which may require temporary admission; or may be after a
grant of temporary admission for another reason, such as an appeal against a refusal of entry. The
return may therefore be in a different period to the initial refusal.
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The Home Office also seeks to return people who do not have any legal right to stay in the UK. This
includes people who:
enter, or attempt to enter, the UK illegally (including people entering clandestinely and by
means of deception on entry);
overstay their period of legal right to remain in the UK;
breach their conditions of leave;
are subject to deportation action; for example, due to a serious criminal conviction and
have been refused asylum.
People who have claimed asylum and whose claims have been refused, and who have exhausted any
rights of appeal, which would suspend the return, can be returned as a result of enforcement action
(by deportation, administrative or illegal entry powers); this may include some cases dealt at
port/juxtaposed controls. People who have claimed asylum can also be returned under third country
provisions without substantive consideration of their asylum claim.
Data on cases refused entry at port and subsequently departed by port location (UK/juxtaposed
controls) have only been available from 2007.
Information prior to 2004 is not compatible with latest years.
It is not possible within the figures split by main applicants and dependants to determine what
proportion of returns are families, and these figures should not be used for the purpose of considering
family returns.
For the financial year 2016/17 (from 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017), other verified returns
include non-visa nationals matched against records with no valid leave in the UK to establish as a
proxy those leaving the UK without informing the immigration authorities. These returns have been
included as part of a one-off data matching exercise.
The detained figures relate to those detained in immigration removal centres (IRCs), short term
holding facilities (STHF), pre departure accommodation (PDA) and H M Prisons (from July 2017
onwards).
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Key terms
Other key terms for returns and foreign national offenders can be found in the glossary of terms.
Enforced removals from detention include all those who were subject to enforced removal either
from detention or up to 2 days after leaving detention. There may be delays with flight arrangements
or recording on the case-working system and a 2 day lag period allows us to ensure we have included
all returns occurring following a period in detention.
Non-detained enforced removals include all enforced removals taking place more than 2 days after
leaving detention, or where there was no period of detention prior to the enforced removal.
Other returns from detention relate to those returns occurring either from detention or up to 2 days
after leaving detention AND where it had been established that a person has breached UK
immigration laws and / or have no valid leave to remain in the UK. Removal directions may or may not
have been set but the person has notified the Home Office that they wish to make their own
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arrangements to leave the country and has provided evidence to this effect. The Home Office will have
been required to facilitate or monitor the return.
Controlled returns relate to those returns occurring more than 2 days after leaving detention or
where there was no period of detention prior to the return AND where it had been established that a
person has breached UK immigration laws and / or has no valid leave to remain in the UK. Removal
directions may or may not have been set but the person has notified the Home Office that they wish to
make their own arrangements to leave the country and has provided evidence to this effect. The
Home Office will have been required to facilitate or monitor the return.
Enforced returns cover enforced removals from detention, non-detained enforced removals and
other returns from detention where the Home Office will have been required to facilitate or monitor the
return. This new grouping has been created to reflect the likely level of enforcement activity that led to
these returns.
Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) is a scheme designed to help and incentivise non-EEA foreign
national offenders’ return to their home country. The scheme covers time-expired prisoners and those
who wish to benefit from the early return scheme or to serve the remainder of their custodial sentence
in a prison in their home country.
Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) refers to a range of programmes that were available to individuals
who were in the asylum system or who were irregular migrants and who wished to return home
permanently to either their (non-EEA) country of origin or to a third country where they are
permanently admissible. The Home Office has been funding AVR programmes since 1999. From 1
April 2014, the AVR programme was not available to people held in detention. Until the end of
December 2015, they were delivered by Choices, a subsidiary of the independent charity Refugee
Action (prior to April 2011, by the International Organization for Migration). From January 2016, the
support formerly described as AVR is now provided by the Home Office’s Voluntary Returns Service
(VRS). See explanation of VRS below.
There were three main programmes available under AVR:
The Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP) assists asylum
seekers at any stage of the process, or failed asylum seekers. This also includes those who
have been granted time-limited exceptional leave to remain or discretionary leave.
The Assisted Voluntary Return for Irregular Migrants (AVRIM) programme assists irregular
migrants. This includes victims of trafficking or smuggling, illegal entrants and those who have
overstayed on their visa.
Assisted Voluntary Return for Families and Children (AVRFC) is for families comprising a
maximum of two adult parents or legal guardians and at least one child (under 18) and for
unaccompanied children (under 18) who have either sought asylum or who are in the UK
illegally and wish to return home. Returnees receive support in acquiring travel documentation,
flight to country of origin and onward domestic transport, assistance at departure and arrival
airports and reintegration assistance including a relocation grant on departure for immediate
resettlement needs and, once home, a range of reintegration options. The scheme offers
flexibility of reintegration for the whole family and increased emphasis is placed on the use of
reintegration assistance for educational needs as well as income generation.
Voluntary Returns Service (VRS) – Since January 2016, the support formerly described as AVR is
now provided by the Home Office’s Voluntary Returns Service (VRS). These are referred to in the
tables as ‘Assisted returns’. The term ‘Assisted returns’ relates to support provided under AVR, the
Choices programme managed by Refugee Action, up to Q4 2015 and support under VRS from Q1
2016.
VRS provides different levels of support for all those who want to return home, from providing access
to a passport or emergency travel document, through to complex assisted returns of vulnerable
people. The support for all returnees is provided on a case-by-case basis and offers advice and
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practical support including, if applicable, reintegration funds and overseas support for vulnerable
people.
For individuals and families that need more support the new VRS programme focuses on the following
types of cases:
Vulnerable individuals - including those with certified severe physical and or mental health
needs, the elderly (over 65), pregnant women and the long term sick.
Families - those with legal responsibility for at least one child under the age of 18 regardless of
their asylum status.
Asylum cases - those with pending or failed asylum claims.
Other verified returns: persons who it has been established have left or have been identified leaving
the UK without formally informing the immigration authorities of their departure. These persons can be
identified either at embarkation controls or by a variety of data-matching initiatives.
Examples of such initiatives include:
Embark Operations: Immigration Officers interview departing foreign nationals to establish
their immigration status and confirm the person’s embarkation. Embarkation controls ceased
from June 2014.
Operation Hedera: Visa applications are matched against records of foreign nationals with no
valid leave in the UK to establish whether the person has left the UK without informing the
immigration authorities.
Operation Semaphore: Airline passenger data are matched against records of foreign
nationals with no valid leave in the UK to establish whether the person has left the UK without
informing the immigration authorities.
Deportations refer to a legally-defined subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal
conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good.
Information on those deported is not separately available but the published statistics refer to enforced
returns. This includes deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration
laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers who have declined to
leave voluntarily. Most illegal immigrants are removed under administrative or illegal entry powers
from the UK and not deported.
EU nationals returned: For EU nationals there are two distinct types of return under the EU law
framework – administrative return which specifically applies for those EU nationals not exercising or
abusing Treaty rights, and deportation on public policy grounds. Both types of return are included in
the published data under “Enforced removal” category.
Harm Matrix: The harm matrix is a tool to assess the level of harm associated with a particular
individual. In order to provide clarity, consistency and measurement, levels of harm have been divided
into four broad categories: A, B, C and D, with A being the highest harm.
Category A (highest harm) – has committed offences including serious criminal offences such
as terrorist activity, murder, rape, people and drug trafficking, violent crime and child abuse;
Category B (high harm) – has committed other criminal offences including illegal working,
dishonest claim for asylum support and identity fraud;
Category C (medium harm) – has committed other offences, not linked to any of the above
more serious criminality, including minor immigration offences, a drain on public funds and
antisocial behaviour;
Category D (low harm) – has committed other low level offences, including shoplifting. Harm
Category “D (low harm)” was introduced in the first quarter of 2012. Prior to 2012, Harm
Category D would have been classified as part of the previous Harm Category C.
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In some cases, people who have returned will not have been assessed and these are reported as
‘Cases not assessed’. These mainly relate to people who have already left or are detected leaving the
UK of their own accord and were not subject to a pre-departure harm assessment.
The harm matrix was introduced in 2007 for the Public Service Agreement 3 Indicator 4, which is no
longer an official measurement of Home Office performance. However, the data continue to be
collected and monitored.
A foreign national offender (FNO) is someone who:
is not a British citizen; and
is/was convicted in the UK or abroad of any criminal offence.
Following the introduction of Association of Chief Police Officers Criminal Records Office (ACRO)
cases, the FNO returns figure has included cases where foreign nationals, who had a criminal
conviction in another country, were picked up by police in the UK, and subsequently returned from the
UK. In addition, these people could also have a UK conviction. This case type is now sufficiently well
established to warrant separate identification in the statistical series. These figures are a count of an
administrative process and, as such, are provisional and will be revised in line with the existing series.
Those with an overseas criminal record may also have a UK criminal record.
For the first time in February 2018, data on FNOs returned from the UK, broken down by EU and non-
EU nationals have been included. These data have been backdated to 2009. Prior to this, the total
number of FNO returns from the UK was published.
Changes to data affecting the statistics
Since 2006, cases that had initially been refused leave to enter at ports but were subsequently dealt
with in-country are classified as ‘Enforced returns’ or ‘voluntary returns’ and no longer classified as
‘Refused entry at port and subsequently removed’.
Since 2007, third country cases are no longer automatically defined as asylum cases unless the
person has claimed asylum in the UK. This change affects a small number of cases. This
reclassification has no effect on the total returns recorded.
As a result of feedback from users of the Returns statistics, Home Office statisticians have revised the
existing terminology and category groupings to better reflect categories used operationally. The aim of
these changes are to produce a set of categories and naming that more accurately represent the
types of returns taking place in practice. As a result, some categories have been renamed:
Enforced removals from detention include all those who were subject to enforced removal
either from detention or up to 2 days after leaving detention. There may be delays with flight
arrangements or recording on the case-working system and a 2 day lag period will ensure most
of the returns occurring following a period in detention are now included here.
Non-detained enforced removals include all enforced removals taking place more than 2 days
after leaving detention, or where there was no period of detention prior to the enforced removal.
Other returns from detention relate to those returns occurring either from detention or up to 2
days after leaving detention AND where it had been established that a person has breached UK
immigration laws and / or have no valid leave to remain in the UK. Removal directions may or
may not have been set but the person has notified the Home Office that they wish to make their
own arrangements to leave the country and has provided evidence to this effect. The Home
Office will have been required to facilitate or monitor the return.
Enforced returns cover enforced removals from detention, non-detained enforced removals
and other returns from detention where the Home Office will have been required to facilitate or
monitor the return. This new grouping has been created to reflect the likely level of enforcement
activity that led to these returns.
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Controlled returns relate to those returns occurring more than 2 days after leaving detention or
where there was no period of detention prior to the return AND where it had been established
that a person has breached UK immigration laws and / or has no valid leave to remain in the UK
and the Home Office has actively facilitated or monitored the return. Removal directions may or
may not have been set but the person will have notified the Home Office that they intend to
make their own arrangements to leave the country and provide evidence to this effect.
Other verified returns (previously ‘Other confirmed voluntary departures’) relate to persons
who it has been established have left or have been identified leaving the UK without formally
informing the immigration authorities of their departure. These persons can be identified either
at embarkation controls or by data-matching.
Since January 2016, the support formerly described as an Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) has
been replaced with support provided by the Home Office’s Voluntary Returns Service (VRS).
These are referred to in the tables as ‘Assisted returns’. The term ‘Assisted returns’ relates to
support provided under AVR up to Q4 2015 and support under VRS from Q1 2016.
In addition, the term 'return' has been used extensively in place of removal or departure, where
possible, in order to simplify the language used and bring the terminology in line with operational use
and international definitions. The underlying statistics collected have not been changed as a result of
these clarifications.
Revisions
Data matching for “Other verified returns” is undertaken retrospectively, which means these figures
are particularly subject to greater upward revision than for other categories of return. In the light of the
high use of retrospective data matching to check returns, figures are also reviewed for the previous
two quarter to decide whether they require revision. For consistency purposes, all types of return
figures are revised for the previous two quarters.
For more information on revisions please see ‘Revisions Analysis’ in the ‘Conventions used in
immigration statistics’ section of the User Guide.
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of those returned is considered to be high. These data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
are scrutinised closely as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
enforced removals and cases initially refused entry at port and subsequently departed have not,
in recent years, altered significantly between initial provisional totals released in February each
year and subsequent revised totals released in the following August and have not, in recent
years, had to be revised at all when the annual data are subsequently checked 12 months later
and the provisional status of the data is altered to final;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors;
undergo a detailed reconciliation process; and
are subject to internal data quality checks.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex and nationality is very low, with such missing data reported
as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used. The
following are known data quality issues which affect a small number of cases.
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In some cases, there is insufficient evidence on the database to confirm that a return took place,
in which case it will not be counted. As part of the quarterly reconciliation process, Migration
Statistics investigate these cases and pass the issues back to the relevant unit within the Home
Office. If the record is amended and the relevant additional information added, these returns are
counted in the same quarter or in revised figures.
Figures for ‘Under 14’/‘14-15’/‘16-17’ may overstate because some applicants aged 18 or over
may claim to be younger on their date of departure.
Data are supplied to Eurostat, the European statistical organisation, under definitions in line with EU
statistical legislation. There are differences between definitions of the returns figures in Immigration
Statistics and those provided to Eurostat. These are detailed under ‘Related statistics published
elsewhere’. The figures supplied to Eurostat are not quality assured to the same level as the data
published in Immigration Statistics, as it is not possible to reconcile the data under the definitions used
by Eurostat with the Home Office.
Compilation method
Each Friday evening, a weekly ‘snapshot’ of the Case Information Database (CID) is taken. On a
quarterly basis, generally during the second week after the end of the reference period, an extract of
the returns data is taken from this ‘snapshot’ by Migration Statistics. This extract is filtered using
established, tested computer code, which, for example, ensures there are no duplicates within the
data, to produce the data due to be published.
The only exceptions to this are the data on the harm assessment of those returned, which are
provided directly by the relevant unit within the Home Office.
Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics reconcile the returns dataset with teams within the Home Office, by comparing a
unique identifier from each return in the Migration Statistics extract against record-level data provided
by the Home Office. Where a return is found in only one of the extracts, a number of data quality
checks are carried out, including: that each asylum return is correctly linked to an asylum case
outcome on CID; and that the return categories are consistent with Home Office data. The team in the
Home Office are also asked to investigate the discrepancies using detailed sources on individual
cases. A case is only included in the published tables if: it appears in both extracts; or it appears in
one of the extracts and Migration Statistics team is content that it is correctly recorded as a return. For
example, if the removal date indicated was before an application date for the same case, then further
investigation would be undertaken.
These checks against record-level data are not undertaken for the statistics on foreign national
offenders and harm assessment. However, the harm assessment data are matched to the reconciled
enforced removals and returns data to ensure consistency.
A cross-check of tables, to ensure consistent totals, is undertaken as part of the production process.
Data are also checked for consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated
with Home Office operational and policy teams.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked
against the publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary
appropriately describes the trend seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Asylum applications and decisions, see the Asylum topic;
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People recorded as being returned from the UK on leaving detention, see the Detention topic;
Passengers initially refused entry at port, see the Passenger arrivals, visitors and visas topic;
Data on the Family returns process are published as Official Statistics and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data; and
Eurostat comparisons of returns including returns from the UK are available from
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/asylum-and-managed-migration/data/database; see below for
an explanation of the differences between the datasets.
Eurostat data
Under European legislation the UK is also required to comply with parts of Article 7 of regulation (EC)
No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on migration and
international protection:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:199:0023:0029:EN:PDF.
This regulation aims to achieve greater comparability in migration and asylum statistics across Europe
through the adoption of harmonised definitions.
There are slight differences between definitions of the returns figures in Immigration Statistics and
those provided to Eurostat, as follows:
data provided to Eurostat since 2010 have been counts of individuals returned; multiple notices
issued to the same person in the same year are not counted, while data published within
Immigration Statistics count each return;
the Immigration Statistics figures include: Dublin returns; multiple returns by the same person in
the same reference month; and returns of European Union nationals, while figures provided to
Eurostat exclude these returns; and
data provided under Article 7.1b also exclude returns to the following destinations: European
Union countries, Norway, Switzerland and Northern Cyprus.
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14 European Economic Area
Statistics published in Immigration Statistics
The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of countries within the EU as at end of March 2017
together with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. 28 nations of the EEA and Switzerland have rights of
free movement within the UK. This means that there is less information on numbers coming to the UK
than for nationals of other countries.
Some data on nationals of the European Economic Area and Swiss nationals are included in:
Entry clearance visas where applications have been made;
Total passenger arrivals;
Grants of settlement (where applicable and available);
Grants of British citizenship;
Asylum where applications have been made;
Detention;
Returns;
Bulgarian, Romanian and Croatian nationals who require work authorisation
documentation or are exercising a Treaty right; and
Issue and refusal of residence documentation to EEA nationals and their family
members.
Specially, figures are published on:
Applications from Bulgarian and Romanian nationals for accession worker cards, registration
certificates, the Sector Based Scheme (SBS) and the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme
(SAWS) (Table ee_01_q);
Issues and refusals of residence documentation to EEA nationals and their family members
(Table ee_02 and ee_02_q).
Enlargement of the EU/EEA since 1994
European Union (EU) nationals, previously European Community (EC) nationals, have had the right to
enter and live in the UK without immigration control since 1973.
On 1 January 1994, the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement came into force, meaning that
this right was extended to all EEA nationals. At the time, the EEA countries were the 12 Member
States of the European Union, together with Austria, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway.
Austria, Finland and Sweden subsequently became Member States of the European Union on 1
January 1995 and Liechtenstein became part of the European Economic Area on 1 May 1995.
An agreement, giving the same rights to Swiss nationals, came into force on 1 June 2002.
The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia (‘EU8
countries’) together with Cyprus and Malta became part of the European Union on 1 May 2004. From
this date, nationals of Cyprus and Malta have had full free movement rights and rights to work, and
restrictions on nationals from EU8 countries working in the UK via the Worker Registration Scheme
were put in place; these restrictions ended on 1 May 2011.
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Bulgaria and Romania (the ‘EU2 countries’) became part of the European Union on 1 January 2007.
Nationals from these countries did not have an automatic right to work in the UK; under the Accession
(Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006, under which they were required to obtain
appropriate authorisation to work, unless they are exempt from the requirements. Transitional
restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals were lifted on 1 January 2014.
Croatia joined the European Union (EU) on 1 July 2013. Transitional arrangements were introduced to
restrict Croatian nationals' access to the UK labour market. Transitional restrictions on Croatian
nationals were lifted on 1 July 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/restrictions-on-croatian-
workers-to-expire-in-june).
Related statistics published elsewhere
Figures on the transitional measures put in place by the UK Government to regulate EU8 nationals’
access to the labour market (through the Workers Registration Scheme) and to restrict access to
benefits were previously published in Immigration Statistics. The data tables were dropped from the
release after the transitional measures came to an end. The full data sets are available in Immigration
Statistics: October – December 2011 available from
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130128103514/http:/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/
science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2011/
The Migration Advisory Committee report ‘Migrant Seasonal Workers’,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257242/migrant-
seasonal-workers.pdf includes detailed analysis of the SBS and SAWS schemes.
Croatia joined the European Union (EU) on 1 July 2013. Transitional arrangements were introduced
to restrict Croatian nationals' access to the UK labour market. Transitional restrictions on Croatian
nationals were lifted on 1 July 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/restrictions-on-croatian-
workers-to-expire-in-june).
APPLICATIONS FROM BULGARIAN, ROMANIAN AND CROATIAN NATIONALS
Data source
Data are extracted from Home Office administrative databases, after caseworkers have entered
information relating to the applications and decisions. Data relating to Accession Worker Cards and
Registration Certificates are derived from a subset of records on the Case Information Database
(CID). Figures of Sector Based Scheme applications granted are taken from information recorded in
the globe database (originally used for the administration of work permits before the implementation of
the Points Based System) while Seasonal Agricultural Workers information is taken from a dedicated
database used to administer the scheme by the Home Office.
Background on the statistics
On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania (the EU2 countries) joined the European Union. Access to
the UK labour market was opened gradually to workers from the EU2 countries. The transitional
arrangements enforced by the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006
required EU2 nationals to apply for an accession worker card to gain authorisation to work in the UK,
or a registration certificate if a student (and working whilst they study) or highly skilled person, unless
they were exempt from those requirements.
Access for skilled workers at NVQ level 3 and above was managed through the work permit
arrangements. Access for lower-skilled workers was restricted to those using existing schemes (the
Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and the Sector Based Scheme) for the agricultural and food-
processing sectors. These low-skilled schemes were restricted to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals.
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Following 12 months’ legal employment in the UK, EU2 national workers obtained full free movement
rights.
Those who were: exempt from worker authorisation requirements due to their status in the UK prior to
accession or certain family links to UK nationals, settled persons or EEA nationals; self-employed;
self-sufficient; a student; or a family member of main applicants could apply for a registration
certificate to confirm they are entitled to live in the UK.
These restrictions were not affected by the closure of the Worker Registration Scheme, which only
applied to the countries which joined the European Union in 2004.
The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was asked in May 2011 to consider whether
the UK labour market was experiencing, or threatened by, a serious disturbance and to look at the
consequences of maintaining or lifting the current employment restrictions on workers from these two
countries. A report, ‘Review of the transitional restrictions on access of Bulgarian and Romanian
nationals to the UK labour market’, from the MAC looked at the impact on the domestic labour market
if the transitional controls were removed. The report, available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-restrictions-on-bulgaria-and-romanian-
nationals, found that lifting the current restrictions could cause more EU2 nationals to come to the UK
to work, particularly in lower-skilled occupations where there is greater risk of displacement of resident
workers and a negative impact on wages. The Government announced on 23 November 2011 that
these controls would be extended until the end of 2013.
Transitional restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals were lifted on 1 January 2014.
Following the accession of Croatia to the EU on 1st July 2013 similar transitional restrictions to those
relating to Bulgarian and Romanians were placed on their working in the UK. Transitional restrictions
on Croatian nationals were lifted on 1 July 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/restrictions-on-
croatian-workers-to-expire-in-june).
Key terms
Accession worker cards were issued to highly skilled, skilled and temporary workers from Bulgaria
and Romania. Highly skilled applicants were exempt from transitional restrictions while skilled and
temporary workers employed by companies in the UK were issued a certificate for 12 months, after
which they may apply for a registration certificate.
Registration certificates are issued to Bulgarian, Romanian and Croatian nationals who are exempt
from the transitional controls and employed workers after 12 months living in the UK in accordance
with the Regulations.
Definitions of document types can be found in the glossary of terms.
Changes in the data affecting the statistics
The Immigration Statistics: July–September 2011 release significantly revised the figures for
applications received and approvals for registration certificates and accession worker cards from EU2
nationals, to include additional data found to have been incorrectly excluded from previous reports.
This mainly affected figures for the first and second quarters of 2011, which were revised upward
significantly; the revised total approvals for accession worker cards and for registration certificates for
the first six months of 2011 are approximately six times higher than previously indicated. Figures for
2007 to 2010 were also revised, but changed by only 1 or 2%.
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Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
Data quality
Data regarding applications and decisions in accession worker card and registration certificate
requests from EU2 (Bulgarian and Romanian) and Croatian nationals along with approvals under the
Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) and Sector Based Scheme (SBS) are based on
defined reports supplied by the Home Office and are not subject to the detailed checks of record-level
data used for other data included in this release. However, overall the data quality for the numbers
published is considered to be high, although initial estimates of quarterly totals for applications and
decisions are subject to considerable revisions. These data:
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
are scrutinised regularly as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors; and
undergo thorough checks by staff in Migration Statistics prior to publication.
For both accession worker cards and registration certificates there are two reasons why initial
quarterly figures have underestimated the final position:
decisions data relate to the corresponding cohort of applications, such that for applications
made in the latest quarter, decisions will be made in the same or later quarters (e.g. not all
applications made in Q1 have decisions made in Q1, so the level of decisions made relating to
those Q1 applications will increase over time as more decisions are completed); and
as decisions are made, and data are entered on administrative systems, the initial figures for
the number of applications are likely to increase slightly.
Compilation method
On a quarterly basis, during the first week after the end of the reference period Migration Statistics
issue a request to Home Office staff responsible for the administration of the schemes relating to EU2
and Croatian workers in the UK for updated figures, supplying template tables and instructions for their
completion. Home Office staff use reports tested and validated for accuracy to extract the data from
the administrative database and place it in the template, which is then returned to Migration Statistics.
The figures for SAWs approved in Table ee_01 do not exactly match quotas for each calendar year.
This is due in part to lags between the issue of cards by the Home Office to scheme operators,
sometimes up to three months in advance of the quota year in order to facilitate their recruitment
process, and the actual issue of cards. SAWs approved may also include replacement cards not
included in the quota figure. SAWs quotas for 2007 and 2008 were 16,250 and for 2009 to 2013 were
21,250.
Quality and process checks carried out
Before the refreshed template is returned to Migration Statistics the data it contains are checked by at
least one other member of the Home Office team to ensure local compilation of data has been carried
out correctly.
On receipt of the refreshed template Migration Statistics review the figures supplied by the Home
102
Office, comparing them with data supplied previously and query any changes of more than 1% in
those figures published previously. Where error or omissions in the data provided are found they are
corrected before publication, wherever possible.
A cross-check of tables, to ensure consistent totals, is undertaken as part of the production process.
Data are also checked for consistency against previous totals, and significant changes investigated
with Home Office operational and policy teams. Where the reasons for changes in the data can be
identified (e.g. operational or policy changes) appropriate commentary is added to the text and table
notes.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables and text are checked by a second
member of the Migration Statistics team. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the
commentary appropriately describes the trends seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Figures on allocations of National Insurance numbers (NINos) – compulsory for people wishing to
work in the UK, whether short term or long term and which give an approximation of the uptake of
work by non-UK nationals – are published by the Department for Work and Pensions:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-insurance-number-allocations-to-adult-overseas-
nationals-entering-the-uk
The Office for National Statistics has published on its web site a guide to the availability of data
regarding Bulgarian and Romanian migration in 2014:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/november-2013/sty-
bulgaria-and-romania.html
ISSUES AND REFUSALS OF RESIDENCE DOCUMENTATION TO EEA
NATIONALS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS
Data source
Data are extracted from the Home Office administrative database, after caseworkers have entered
information relating to the applications and decisions.
Background on the statistics
Under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006, (since 1st February 2017, Immigration (EEA)
Regulations 2016) EEA nationals (and their family members) have an initial right to reside in the UK
for three months without conditions. To have a right to reside in the country longer than this the EEA
national must be exercising a Treaty Right, described in domestic regulations as being a qualified
person. To be considered a qualified person, they must be a jobseeker, worker, self-employed person,
self-sufficient or a student. After living in the UK for a continuous period of five years in accordance
with the EEA Regulations, an EEA national and any family member will acquire the right of permanent
residence in the UK.
These data include decisions in requests for derivative rights of residence however such cases are not
readily identifiable in the available data. More information regarding derivative residence rights can be
found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488448/Derivative_right
s_of_residence_v2.0_ext_clean.pdf
Figures for 2004 and 2005, while generally comparable to later years, are based on data relating to
cases dealt with under the 2000 European Economic Area Regulations. These data were previously
published in table 4.4 of the Control of Immigration Statistics command paper for 2006. The 2000
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European Economic Area Regulations were replaced on the 30 April 2006 by the Immigration (EEA)
Regulations 2006.
Key terms
Registration certificates and residence cards are issued as confirmation that an EEA national is a
qualified person, or as conformation of a person’s right to reside as a family member of an EEA
national.
Documents certifying permanent residence and permanent residence cards are issued after five
continuous years living in the UK in accordance with the EEA Regulations.
Definitions of document types can be found in the glossary of terms.
Changes in the data affecting the statistics
The number of decisions made in 2009 and 2010 rose compared to 2008 following various operational
and procedural measures introduced during 2009 to improve performance in the Home Office.
In 2011 and 2012 a pre-consideration sift of applications was used to identify those without key
information or documentation. These applications were rejected as invalid and returned to the
applicant. The pre-consideration sift was discontinued in late 2012. Applicants whose request for
documentation is rejected as invalid may apply again including the required information and this is
likely to account for a proportion of the increase in decisions in 2011. Applications rejected as invalid
are now shown separately in Tables ee_02 and ee_02_q.
On 1st July 2013 a fee for the processing of EEA residence documentation was introduced. This led to
a increase in the number of applications rejected as invalid in the later half of 2013 due to their not
including the fee.
Provisional data for 2016 published in August 2016 showed higher numbers of decisions categorised
as 'Other'. A review of these records indicated that the majority were invalid applications. The tables
were revised in December 2016 to correctly categorise these cases.
After 12 November 2015, a person applying for citizenship who is claiming to have permanent
residence as an EEA national or the family member of an EEA national has been required to provide a
permanent residence card or a document certifying permanent residence as evidence that they meet
the requirement to be free of immigration time restrictions. These rule changes, along with EEA
nationals’ response to perceived uncertainty follow the 2016 EU referendum, are likely to have
contributed to the steep increase in demand for EEA residence documentation during 2016 and 2017.
The number of decisions made in 2016 and 2017 rose compared to 2015 and previous years following
various operational and procedural measures introduced during 2016 to improve performance in the
Home Office.
In April 2017 updated guidance regarding rejection of applications for EEA documents as invalid
where documentation, other evidence or the application fee are not received with a completed
application form were issued in 'Processes and procedures for EEA documentation applications'
(Version 6.0).
Data quality
Overall, the data quality for the total numbers of those granted and refused EEA residence documents
is considered to be high. These data:
104
are administrative counts of the Home Office’s casework processes, which are defined in UK
legislation and are recorded under detailed categories on the Home Office’s administrative
database;
are scrutinised regularly as part of the performance monitoring of the Home Office;
are regularly assessed as part of the Home Office’s Quality Assurance Framework;
have not, in recent years, had to be altered significantly between initial provisional totals
released in May each year and subsequent revised totals released in the following May and
have not, in recent years, had to be revised at all when the annual data are subsequently
checked 12 months later and the provisional status of the data is altered to final;
do not require sampling processes for the compilation of the figures and hence have no
associated sampling errors; and
undergo a thorough reconciliation process.
The main types of errors are thought to relate to recording and classification errors. The level of
missing data on related fields such as sex and nationality is very low, with such missing data reported
as unknown and therefore no grossing, imputation or other estimation methods are used. The
following are known data quality issues which affect a small number (less than 1%) of cases:
In a small number of cases the recorded data appears inconsistent, for example where the
recorded case type and statistics category do not represent a valid combination under the
published Immigration Rules e.g. for a non-EEA national allowed to stay in the UK by virtue of
their relationship to a non-British EEA citizen the Statistics Category recorded should indicate
a document recognising their right to reside has been issued rather than a grant of leave to
remain under the Immigration Rules. These records are included in the category ‘Other’ within
the published data and, where resources allow, are passed back to the Home Office for
investigation and correction.
Compilation method
On an quarterly basis, generally during the first week after the end of the reference period, extracts of
general immigration casework decisions data are taken from a weekly refreshed ‘snapshot’ of the
Case Information Database (CID) by Migration Statistics. This extract is filtered using established,
tested computer code, which selects EEA residence document records into a separate dataset and,
for example, ensures there are no duplicates within the data, to produce the data tables that are
subsequently published.
Quality and process checks carried out
Migration Statistics reconcile the summary figures for grants and refusals of EEA residence
documents with teams within the Home Office, by comparing the figures with similar data compiled for
operational management purposes. Where these figures differ by more than 1 or 2% the discrepancy
is investigated. Differences of less than 1 or 2% can occur due to differences in definition employed in
the generation of Home Office management information for operational reasons or due to slight
differences in the date on which data were extracted from CID.
After these reconciliation checks, the publication-ready tables are checked by a second member of the
Migration Statistics team against the raw data. The prepared text is also checked against the
publication-ready tables. Statisticians are responsible for checking that the commentary appropriately
describes the trends seen in the data and is not biased.
Related statistics published elsewhere
Entry clearance visas – EEA Family Permits, see the Passenger arrivals, visitors and visas topic.
Data on the number of applications received for EEA residence documentation (described as ‘EURO’
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in table Inc 01a), are published as Official Statistics and are available from
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.
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15 Work
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published on:
Entry clearance visas granted for work;
Sponsored visa applications (Certificate of Sponsorship used)
Admissions for work;
Grants of (in-country) extensions of stay for work;
Work-related grants of settlement; and
International Passenger Survey estimates of work-related immigration.
Background on the statistics
There are a range of measures used to monitor those subject to immigration control coming to the UK
to work. These include those listed above together with numbers allocated National Insurance
numbers, which provide an indication of migrants entering the labour market.
The figures reflect changes over time in levels of immigration to the UK, as well as policy and
legislative changes. The availability and allocation of resources within the Home Office can affect the
number of decisions.
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. They also
count different aspects of the immigration process, with some showing intentions or permissions,
whilst others show actual events.
The Points-based system
The Points-based system (PBS) rationalises the immigration control processes for people coming into
the UK for work or study who are not EEA or Swiss nationals; although not all work and study
endorsements were superseded by a PBS endorsement.
The PBS has five “Tiers”; four of these (Tiers 1, 2, 3 and 5) relate to permission to work:
Tier 1 provides a route for high value workers;
Tier 2 provides a route for skilled workers with a job offer;
Tier 3 relates to unskilled workers (never implemented);
Tier 5 is for temporary workers and youth mobility, providing a route for those coming to the UK
for primarily non-economic reasons.
Within Tiers 1, 2 and 5 there are sub-categories of endorsements.
Tier 1 was phased in between February and June 2008. Subsequent changes are:
Tier 1 General route was closed to new “out of country” entry clearance visa applicants from 23
December 2010 and to those applying inside the UK to switch from most categories from 6 April
2011;
a new Tier 1 route (Exceptional Talent) was introduced from 9 August 2011;
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Tier 1 Post-study route (which allowed successful applicants to be free to seek employment
without having a sponsor for the duration of their Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) leave) was closed to
new applicants from 6 April 2012;
a new Tier 1 Graduate entrepreneur category was introduced from 6 April 2012;
continuing routes for Tier 1 are: Entrepreneurs; Investors; Graduate entrepreneurs; and
Exceptional Talent.
Tiers 2 and 5 were implemented in November 2008. Tier 3 has never been implemented.
All pre-PBS equivalent entry clearance visas should now be obsolete, but visas continue to be granted
in old endorsements. For admissions, extensions of stay and settlement, the phasing out of old
categories will take longer.
The government asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in March 2011 to consider the
following question: ‘In which occupation(s) or job title(s) skilled to National Qualifications Framework
level 4 or above is there a shortage of labour that it would be sensible to fill using labour from outside
the European Economic Area (EEA)?’ The MAC published a report (12 September 2011) on ‘Skilled
shortage sensible – full review of the recommended shortage occupation lists for the UK and Scotland’
recommending changes to the shortage occupation list under Tier 2 of the points-based system. The
MAC’s report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recommended-shortage-
occupation-lists-for-the-uk-and-scotland-full-review-sep-2011.
In October 2015 the MAC were asked to examine if there was a national shortage of nurses or specific
nursing job titles. On 24 March 2016 they published a report recommending that nurses should remain
on the Government’s shortage occupation list, suggesting that there is a maximum annual cap of
5,000 places for nurses under Tier 2, with the limit reducing gradually over the next three years. The
report was published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-
mac-partial-review-shortage-occupation-list-and-nursing
The government response to this review is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/migration-advisory-committee-reviews-of-tier-2
The MAC also published a report, ‘Analysis of the points-based system – Settlement rights of migrants
in Tier 1 and Tier 2’, on 4 November 2011 advising the government on how to determine which skilled
migrant workers can settle in the UK. The MAC was commissioned by the government in June 2011 to
identify the most suitable economic criteria for determining which Tier 2 migrant workers could settle
permanently in the UK and what the economic effects of restricting or removing Tier 1 or Tier 2
settlement rights would be. The report is available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/settlement-rights-of-migrants-tier-1-and-2
The MAC’s report on its review of Tier 2: ‘Balancing migrant selectivity, investment in skills and
impacts on UK productivity and competitiveness’ was published in January 2016 at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-review-tier-2-
migration
The government response to this review is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/migration-advisory-committee-reviews-of-tier-2
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Accession countries
The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was asked in May 2011 to consider whether
the UK labour market was experiencing, or threatened by, a serious disturbance and to look at the
consequences of maintaining or lifting the current employment restrictions on workers from Bulgaria
and Romania. A report, ‘Review of the transitional restrictions on access of Bulgarian and Romanian
nationals to the UK labour market’, from the MAC looked at the impact on the domestic labour market
if the transitional controls were removed. The report, available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-restrictions-on-bulgaria-and-romanian-
nationals, found that lifting the current restrictions could cause more EU2 nationals to come to the UK
to work, particularly in lower-skilled occupations where there is greater risk of displacement of resident
workers and a negative impact on wages. The Government announced on 23 November 2011 that
these controls would be extended until the end of 2013. More information on the restrictions on
workers from Bulgaria and Romania are described in the EEA section.
CERTIFICATE OF SPONSORSHIP (COS)
Please refer to the Visas and Sponsorship section of this User Guide for further information.
ENTRY CLEARANCE VISAS
Where possible, entry clearance visas that have been superseded by the PBS and are therefore now
obsolete have been linked to the tier that they relate to and are referred to as ‘pre-PBS equivalents’.
This helps to provide a consistent time series. For some work-related endorsements, an obsolete
endorsement has been split between one or more of the tiers or could now be equivalent to
endorsements both within and outside the PBS. These are grouped into Work (Other): Other permit
free employment not allocated’.
Please refer to the Visas and Sponsorship section of this User Guide for further information,
including a comparison of entry clearance data with admissions data and IPS estimates of
immigration.
ADMISSIONS
Please refer to the Admissions section of this User Guide for further information, including a
comparison between admissions data and IPS estimates of immigration.
EXTENSIONS OF STAY
Please refer to the Extensions section of this User Guide for further information.
GRANTS OF SETTLEMENT
Please refer to the Settlement section of this User Guide for further information.
IPS ESTIMATES OF WORK-RELATED IMMIGRATION
These data are provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and further information can be
obtained from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Migration.
In addition, information on the comparison of inflow of long-term migrants with entry clearance visas
and admissions can be found in the Visas and Sponsorship and Admissions section of this User
Guide, respectively.
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Data quality
The data are mainly based on the International Passenger Survey and therefore subject to sampling
error. Information on the sampling errors for ONS’s international migration statistics can be found at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration
/methodologies/internationalmigrationmethodology
Related statistics published elsewhere
Office for National Statistics international migration statistics on those migrating for work, and
labour market statistics (including employment rates and changes by country of birth and by
nationality) can be found at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmi
gration
and
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Migration
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Labour+Market
Report on international migration data sources: July 2018 can be found at
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmi
gration/articles/reportonthecomplexityandqualityofinternationalmigrationstatistics/july2018
National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals entering the UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/national-
insurance-number-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk are published by the
Department for Work and Pensions.
On 25 August 2016, DWP published a report on ‘Nationality at point of NINo registration of
DWP working age benefit recipients: data to Feb 2016
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/nationality-at-point-of-nino-registration-of-dwp-
working-age-benefit-recipients-data-to-feb-2016#history
‘Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants:
February 2011 working age benefits’
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/196677/nat_nino
_regs.pdf
Note on the difference between National Insurance number registrations and the estimate of
long-term international migration: 2016 published at
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmi
gration/articles/noteonthedifferencebetweennationalinsurancenumberregistrationsandtheestimat
eoflongterminternationalmigration/2016
Reports of the Migration Advisory Committee can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/migration-advisory-committee including EEA
workers in the UK labour market: interim update
Salt, J., 2017, International Migration and the United Kingdom: Report of the United Kingdom
SOPEMI Correspondent to the OECD
http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/research/research-centres/migration-research-
unit/publications/mru-publications , 2017, London: Migration Research Unit.
OECD publish an annual volume analysing international migration and presenting international
comparisons, entitled International Migration Outlook
http://www.oecd.org/migration/international-migration-outlook-1999124x.htm
The ‘Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016’ (formerly the ‘Migrant
Journey’) research report provides analysis on migrants’ journeys through the immigration
system. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/statistics-on-changes-
in-migrants-visa-and-leave-status-2016. For more information see ‘Other sources of information
on immigration and migration’.
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The reason for migration and labour market characteristics of UK residents born abroad,
Cooper, Campbell, Patel and Simmons, Occasional Paper 110, September 2014
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-reason-for-migration-and-labour-market-
characteristics-of-uk-residents-born-abroad
The UK Border Agency report ‘Points-based system Tier 1: an operational assessment –
November 2010’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-tier-1-an-
operational-assessment looked into the jobs being done by migrants who were in the UK under
Tier 1 of the points-based system, to inform subsequent decisions about the points-based
system, in particular the closure of the Tier 1 General and Tier 1 Post-Study routes.
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16 Study
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published on:
Entry clearance visas granted for study;
Sponsored visa applications (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies used)
Admissions for study;
Grants of (in-country) extensions of stay for study; and
IPS estimates of immigration for study.
Background on the statistics
There are a number of different measures monitoring numbers of people coming to the UK for study,
as listed above.
These various statistics and research can appear to give different pictures of student immigration.
Often this is because the latest data for different measures cover different time periods. They also
count different aspects of the immigration process, with some showing intentions or permissions, while
others show actual events.
The Points-based system
The points-based system (PBS) rationalises the immigration control processes for people coming into
the UK to work or study who are not EEA or Swiss nationals; although not all work and study
endorsements were superseded by a PBS endorsement.
The PBS has five “tiers”, one of which (Tier 4) provides a route for students to study with an approved
education provider. Tier 4 was implemented in March 2009.
All pre-PBS equivalent entry clearance visas should now be obsolete, but visas continue to be granted
in old endorsements. For admissions and extensions of stay, the phasing out of old categories will
take longer.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
For information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
CONFIRMATION OF ACCEPTANCE FOR STUDIES (CAS)
Please refer to the Visas and Sponsorship section of this User Guide for further information.
ENTRY CLEARANCE VISAS
In the Study section, student entry clearance and passenger arrivals data are quoted excluding the
‘short-term study’ category to make them more consistent with the IPS estimates of immigration for
study, as ‘short-term students’ are allowed a maximum six-month stay (or 11 months if they will be
studying an English Language course) and would not be counted as long-term migrants.
Individuals applying under the ‘short-term study’ category, which is for those people who wish to come
to the UK and undertake a short period of study and those studying on short courses who do not
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intend to work part-time or undertake a paid or unpaid work placement as part of their course, may
previously have been classified as ‘visitors’, ‘student visitors’ or ‘short-term students’.
Where possible, entry clearance visas that have been superseded by the PBS and are therefore now
obsolete have been linked to the tier that they relate to and are referred to as ‘pre-PBS equivalents’. In
addition, ‘short-term students’ which was closed as a route in September 2007 and ‘student visitor’ are
counted within the ‘short-term study’ classification for the purpose of the visa data. This helps to
provide a consistent time series.
Please refer to the Visas and Sponsorship section of this User Guide for further information,
including the comparability of entry clearance visas with passenger arrivals data, extensions and
inflow of long-term migrants.
ADMISSIONS
‘Short-term students’ which was closed as a route in September 2007 are counted within the ‘student’
classification for the purpose of the admissions data.
Please refer to the Admissions section of this User Guide for further information, including a
comparison between admissions data and IPS estimates of immigration.
EXTENSIONS OF STAY
Please refer to the Extensions section of this User Guide for further information.
IPS ESTIMATES OF IMMIGRATION FOR STUDY
These data are provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and further information can be
obtained from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Migration.
In addition, information about the comparison of inflow of long-term migrants with entry clearance
visas and admissions can be found in the Visas and Sponsorship and Admissions sections of this
User Guide respectively.
Data from ONS on long-term international migration provide a better indication of long-term trends of
immigration than visa grants and passenger arrivals data, due to changes in immigration legislation
and lack of information on the intentions of those not subject to immigration control; in particular,
trends of student immigration are better tracked due to the introduction of the ‘student visitor’ category
on 1 September 2007.
However, ONS records those coming to the UK who state their main reason for migrating is for study;
people migrating for other reasons may also choose to study while in the UK.
Data quality
The data are mainly based on the International Passenger Survey and therefore subject to sampling
error. Information on the sampling errors for ONS’s international migration statistics can be found at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/
qmis/longtermmigrationindicatorssuiteqmi
Long-Term International Migration 1 series (methodology) 2010 contains tables showing the
components and adjustments for Long-Term International Migration (LTIM) and the standard errors
and non response associated with the International Passenger Survey (IPS) estimates.
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Related statistics published elsewhere
The ‘Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016’ research report provides
analysis on migrants’ journeys through the immigration system. For more information see
‘Other sources of information on immigration and migration’.
Data published by the Higher Education Statistics Authority on Overseas students in UK
Higher Education Institutions provides student flows (e.g. entrants) and stocks (e.g.
enrolments) available from https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis
ONS summary note – ‘What’s happening with international student migration?’ – explained
ONS learnt from recent research and clearly highlighted key messages (aimed at
policymakers, Parliament, media and influencers).
ONS accompanying technical paper – ‘International student migration research update:
August 2017’ – set out the methodology and findings in more detail (aimed at expert users).
Migration Advisory Committee briefing paper
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/international-students-economic-and-social-
impacts
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17 Family
Statistics covered by this topic
Figures are published on:
Entry clearance visas granted for family reasons;
Admissions for family reasons;
Grants of (in-country) extensions of stay for family reasons;
Family formation and reunion grants of settlement;
Issues of residence documentation to EEA nationals and their family members; and
IPS estimates of immigration for family reasons.
Key terms
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 fiancé(e)s, proposed civil partners, spouses, civil partners,
unmarried or same-sex partners, children and adult dependent relatives. Others come as dependants
of people who have not been granted the right to stay permanently, for example the family members of
those working or studying in the UK (dependants joining / accompanying). There are also those who
come for a short time to visit family members (visitors).
The numbers coming for family reasons are monitored using a number of different measures, as listed
above.
These various statistics can appear to give different pictures of family immigration. This is because
they use different definitions of ‘family’ and count different aspects of the immigration process, with
some showing intentions or permissions, while others show actual events.
Changes in legislation and policy affecting the statistics
The numbers of applications and decisions made reflect changes in levels of immigration over time, as
well as policy and legislative changes, including changes to immigration legislation. The availability
and allocation of resources within UK Visas and Immigration can also affect the number of decisions
on applications.
Following a consultation on family migration, a number of changes to the Immigration Rules came into
effect on 9 July 2012. The changes included:
introduction of a minimum income threshold of £18,600 (with higher levels for also sponsoring
non-EEA dependent children);
extending from 2 years to 5 years the minimum probationary period before non-EEA spouses
and partners can apply for settlement in the UK;
a requirement for individuals to renew their temporary leave after 2.5 years;
abolishing immediate settlement for the migrant spouse or partner where a couple have been
living together overseas for at least 4 years, and requiring them to complete a 5 year
probationary period.
introduction of a genuineness test for relationships; and
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allowing adult dependants to settle in the UK only where they can demonstrate that, as a result
of age, illness or disability, they require a level of long-term personal care that can only be
provided by a relative in the UK, and requiring them to apply from overseas rather than switch in
the UK from another category, for example as a visitor.
The new Immigration Rules also aims to balance the rights of the individual with the public interest in
controlling immigration and protecting the public, with requirements defining the basis on which a
person can enter or remain in the UK on the basis of their family or private life.
Further information about the rules changes, including consultation proposals and responses,
announcements about the changes, impact assessments and the report of the Migration Advisory
Committee are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-and-private-life-rule-
changes-9-july-2012. The 2011 Family Consultation concentrated on the ‘family route’ (non-EEA
nationals entering or remaining in the UK on the basis of a relationship with a British citizen or a
person settled in the UK) but also looked more widely at all forms of family migration, including Point
Based System dependants, refugee family reunion and family visitors.
It is not possible to separately identify applications made or decided under the previous or new rules.
Not all of the family route statistics from 9 July 2012 onwards relate to the new Immigration Rules in
Appendix FM for the reasons outlined below:
Applications made in the quarters shown in the data may be resolved in subsequent periods or
may be resolved at the end of the period covered by the data. Decisions may relate to
applications made in earlier quarters, and may include decisions based on the family
Immigration Rules in place before 9 July 2012.
There was a late surge, prior to 9 July 2012, in applications under the old rules which will be
reflected in the data on decisions made on or after that date. The data also include the outcome
of appeals: an appeal outcome from a case decided under the rules in force prior to 9 July 2012
may appear as a decision from 9 July 2012.
The Immigration Rules in force before 9 July 2012 still applied after this date to fiancé(e)s or
proposed civil partners granted entry clearance or leave to remain before 9 July 2012 or who
applied before this date and were awaiting a decision. They could apply to switch into the
partner route on the basis of the previous maintenance requirement and two year probationary
period before settlement.
Some applicants could still apply under old family rules via transitional arrangements. Hence the
statistics include both cases under the new and old rules and this will continue particularly in the
extensions data (where transitional arrangements will have a longer effect) for future years.
The new family rules were not applied to partners of members of HM Forces on 9 July 2012:
applicants could rely on the pre-9 July 2012 rules until 30 November 2013. New Immigration
Rules for partners of members of HM Forces were introduced on 1 December 2013 in Appendix
Armed Forces but further transitional arrangements mean that some partners of members of
HM Forces still received a decision under the pre-9 July 2012 rules from 1 December 2013.
Some family rules were unaffected by the 9 July 2012 changes, such as children eligible to
apply for immediate settlement under Part 8 of the Immigration Rules.
Adult Dependent Relatives
The published statistics do not separately identify adult dependent relatives (ADRs) or cases decided
under the old or new rules. Within the published entry clearance visa tables, data relating to adult
dependent relatives of a British Citizen in the UK or a settled person in the UK are included in the
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category ‘Family: Other (for immediate settlement)’ but cannot be identified separately from applicants
in other routes covered by this category.
The Home Office is reviewing the collection of data relating to ADR settlement visas. Data are being
developed and, subject to resolving any data quality/recording issues, it is planned to publish data in
the future specifically relating to those settlement visas.
A manual review of the available management information indicated that 2,782 ADR applications were
made in the period from 9 July 2012 (when the new rules came into force) to 31 December 2015. In
these cases, 167 visas were granted following initial consideration and a further 439 visas were
granted after an entry clearance manager review or on appeal.
These data were taken from a live operational database. As such, numbers may change as
information on that system is updated.
Further details can be found in the review of the Immigration Rules for adult dependent relatives
published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-dependent-relatives-
review.
Cases on hold
Spouse or partner and child applications under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules which fell for
refusal solely because they did not meet the minimum income threshold were subject to a hold on
decision-making following the 5 July 2013 High Court judgment in MM & Others
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/minimum-income-threshold-information-for-family-visa-
applicants/minimum-income-threshold-information-for-family-visa-applicants.
On 11 July 2014 the Court of Appeal upheld the lawfulness of the minimum income threshold for
spouses/partners and children applying in the family route. From 28 July 2014, the 4,000 individuals
whose applications (visa or extension) were then on hold, pending the Court of Appeal judgment
received a decision.
On 22 February 2017 a temporary hold on decision-making in respect of some spouse/partner or child
applications (visa or extension) was introduced so that the implications of the Supreme Court
judgment handed down that day in MM (Lebanon) & Others could be considered. The temporary hold
was lifted from 10 August 2017 when Immigration Rules changes addressing the judgment’s findings
come into effect. From 10 August 2017 the individuals whose applications (visa or extension) were
then on hold (around 5,000 as at 30 June 2017), pending the Rules changes, will receive a decision.
For further information on changes to immigration legislation affecting the statistics, see the Policy and
Legislative Changes Timeline published alongside the User Guide.
ENTRY CLEARANCE VISAS
Key terms
Dependants joining/accompanying are dependants applying for a visa on the basis of their
relationship with another migrant, who is not a settled person or a British Citizen. Following changes to
the rules, from the second quarter of 2011 until the second quarter of 2012, this category included new
family members who came to the UK to join a person granted refugee status or humanitarian
protection but who had yet to apply for or be granted settlement.
The Family route covers visas where an individual is applying for a visa on the basis of their
relationship to a person settled in the UK or a British citizen. The Family route: child includes adult
offspring of the settled person or British Citizen. The Family route: other encompasses dependants
who are not offspring or partners, such as elderly relatives. This category also includes:-
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following changes to the rules from July 2012, ’post-flight’ family members and adult dependent
relatives joining those who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection; and
family members of those granted refugee status and who had gained settlement, or who had yet
to gain settlement status if the individual coming to the country applied for a visa prior to the
second quarter of 2011.
Family reunion applications from dependants of those with refugee status or humanitarian protection
in the UK (made under Part 11 of the Immigration Rules) are included in the ‘Family: other’ category
Within the Visa tables.
Whilst this ‘Family: other’ category includes a small number of other applications, the vast majority
relate to family reunion and hence the published figures provide a good indication of trends for family
reunion cases.
Please refer to the Visas and Sponsorship section of this User Guide for further information,
including a comparison of entry clearance visas data with admissions data and IPS estimates of
immigration.
ADMISSIONS
Please refer to the Admissions section of this User Guide for further information, including a
comparison between admissions data and IPS estimates of immigration.
EXTENSIONS OF STAY
Please refer to the Extensions section of this User Guide for further information.
GRANTS OF SETTLEMENT
Please refer to the Settlement section of this User Guide for further information.
IPS ESTIMATES OF DEPENDANTS JOINING/ACCOMPANYING OTHERS
These data are provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and further information can be
obtained from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Migration.
In addition, information about the comparison of inflow of long-term migrants with entry clearance
visas and admissions can be found in the Visas and Sponsorship and Admissions sections of this
User Guide respectively.
Data quality
The data are mainly based on the International Passenger Survey and therefore subject to sampling
error. Information on the sampling errors for ONS’s international migration statistics can be found at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/
qmis/longtermmigrationindicatorssuiteqmi
Long-Term International Migration 1 series (methodology) 2010 contains tables showing the
components and adjustments for Long-Term International Migration (LTIM) and the standard errors
and non response associated with the International Passenger Survey (IPS) estimates.
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Related statistics published elsewhere
The ‘Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016’ research report provides analysis
on migrants’ journeys through the immigration system. For more information see ‘Other sources of
information on immigration and migration’.
More detailed analysis on family visas and extensions, and additional tables for years ending June
were included in the Immigration Statistics July to September 2014 release,
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2014, to assist users
in understanding the trends in family data before and after the changes to the Immigration Rules in
July 2012. Updates of the additional tables and analysis were included in the Immigration Statistics
April to June 2015 release, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-
june-2015).
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18 Other sources of information on
immigration and migration
The Statistics release calendar lists a wide range of statistical publications on immigration and
migration produced by Home Office, the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Work and
Pensions, the devolved administrations and agencies.
Current Home Office statistical and research publications
In 2018 the Home Office published Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016,
the eighth report of its kind (formerly called the Migrant Journey). This publication provides evidence
on the behaviour of migrants entering the UK immigration system for the four main routes of entry to
the UK and the common pathways through the immigration system that result in settlement.
Third report on statistics being collected under the exit checks programme provides data
collected on travellers departing and arriving in the UK as part of the Home Office exit checks
programme with a particular focus on the requirements for statistical reporting rather than the
operational use of the data.
Research Reports on immigration control are published by Home Office Analysis and Insight as
reports and occasional papers
Previous Home Office statistical publications
Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation was published in November 2017 as
experimental statistics. The report includes information on the number of asylum claims where sexual
orientation formed all, or part, of the basis for an asylum claim. This included data on claims, initial
decisions, and appeals.
Statistical information on grants of British citizenship was published annually in the Home Office
British Citizenship Statistical Bulletin (previously titled ‘Persons Granted British Citizenship, United
Kingdom’). The last bulletin was published on 27 May 2010 and is available from the archived Home
Office website.
Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom, available from the
archived Home Office website; published by the Home Office between 21 August 2008 and 26 May
2011.
Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom were published in the form of a Command
Paper until 2006 and as an online bulletin between 2007 and 2009. Previous editions are available
online from The Stationery Office website and the archived Home Office website.
Before 2008, statistics on asylum applications and decisions were published annually in the Asylum
Statistics United Kingdom bulletin available online.
The amalgamation of the Control of Immigration, British Citizenship Statistics and the Asylum
Statistics publications was in line with wider developments in the reporting of migration statistics to
reduce the number of separate publications and give a coherent picture within the annual and
quarterly publications following the Review of Border and Immigration Agency (now Home Office)
Statistics on “Control of Immigration” and the 2011 Consultation on changes to immigration-
related Home Office statistical outputs. See ‘Recent and previous reviews’ below.
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Until May 2009, the Home Office published quarterly Official Statistics on the Worker Registration
Scheme (Accession Monitoring Report) and the schemes for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals
(Bulgarian and Romanian Accession Statistics). Past copies are available from the archived Home
Office website. Key findings and summary data for the EU2 countries continue to be included within
the Immigration Statistics releases; data on the Worker Registration Scheme were published for the
final time on 25 August 2011 following its closure at the end of April 2011.
Migration transparency data
Performance data related to areas in the Home Office business plan which lists the key input and
impact indicators relating to borders and immigration are available here. This release also includes
data which is regularly requested from the Home Office by the Home Affairs Select Committee on
borders, immigration and HM Passport Office.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) publications
The Migration Statistics Quarterly Report summarises the latest migration-related statistics. It is
produced jointly by ONS, the Home Office and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It
includes data on long-term international migration to and from the UK and migrant applications for
work in the UK, and the control of immigration. It also links to the interactive ‘Local Area Migration
Indicators’ tool.
Final Long-Term International Migration (LTIM) estimates - a compendium of tables containing the
latest final estimates of long-term international migration.
Short-Term International Migration (STIM) Annual Report - a report and tables detailing estimates of
short-term international migration to and from England and Wales.
Local Area Migration Indicators Suite - an interactive product bringing together different migration-
related data sources to allow you to compare indicators of migration at local authority level.
International Migration Timeline - an interactive chart exploring the longer-term picture of international
migration to and from the UK from 1964 until the most recent published annual data.
ONS also publishes information about international migration alongside other population, the labour
market and demographic information in a number of publications, including:
Population of the UK by Country of Birth and Nationality - a short report focusing on changes in the UK
resident population by country of birth and nationality.
Labour Market Statistics - this includes estimates of the number of people in employment in the UK by
country of birth and nationality.
Internal Migration, England and Wales YE June 2015 – looks at migration between local authorities
and regions in England and Wales, as well as moves to or from the rest of the UK (Scotland and
Northern Ireland).
Population estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2015 –
estimates of the usual resident population, which migration statistics feed into.
The ONS have also published a conceptual framework for UK population and migration statistics,
which aims to facilitate communication with users of population and migration statistics through the
development of a shared understanding of the underlying concepts, the available data and the
methods used to produce key outputs. Where relevant, Home Office will adopt the framework in its
future development of statistics.
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International Passenger Survey Quality Information in Relation to Migration Flows provides an
overview of the quality of the International Passenger Survey (IPS) for estimating international
migration flows and has been updated following additional work carried out during 2016.
Other statistical publications
DWP publishes data on non-UK nationals registering for a National Insurance Number (NINo) for the
purposes of work, benefits or tax credits. National Insurance Numbers allocated to Adult Overseas
Nationals.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) publishes Long-term International
Migration Estimates for Northern Ireland and the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) reports
data on Population by Country of Birth and Nationality and the High Level Summary of
Statistical Trends publication includes data on migration.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes Tribunals Service, Quarterly Statistics and Annual Statistics
containing financial year data on applications and decisions of immigration appeals.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated, by the United Nations,
to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems
worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to
ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with
the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. The UNHCR
website includes statistics on refugees.
The Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) is the statistical arm of the European
Commission, producing data for the European Union (EU) and promoting harmonisation of statistical
methods across the member states. Since 2008, all Member States are required to submit data to
Eurostat on international protection and migration as part of the Migratory Statistics Regulation EC No.
862/2007. The long-term aim of this regulation is to enable international comparisons across the
European Union, focusing on international migration (stocks and flows), prevention of illegal entry and
stay (refusals, apprehensions and returns) and international protection (asylum).
The European Commission launched the European Migration Network (EMN) in 2003. The EMN is a
network of national contact points (NCPs) with the purpose of collating, analysing, providing access to
and facilitating the exchange of information on migration and asylum to inform policy making across
the European Union. As part of this work regular themed research reports are produced, which contain
an overview of the latest policy and statistical information, as well as an Annual Policy Report.
Currently, an Annual Report on Migration and International Protection Statistics is produced by
all Member States and combined into a synthesis report by the EMN as a source for international
comparisons across the European Union. Since 2008, this report has mainly used data supplied to
Eurostat as part of the Migratory Statistics Regulation (EC No, 862/2007).
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was established in 1961. Its
mission has been to help its member countries to achieve sustainable economic growth and
employment and to raise the standard of living in member countries while maintaining financial
stability. The OECD collects statistics annually from statistical agencies and other institutions of its
member countries needed for the analysis of economic and social developments by its in-house
analysts, committees, working parties, and member country governments. OECD databases and
publications of migration statistics, including Databases on Migration in OECD countries and the
annual International Migration Outlook (SOPEMI).
Salt, J., 2012, International Migration and the United Kingdom: Report of the United Kingdom SOPEMI
Correspondent to the OECD, 2012, London: Migration Research Unit.
OECD publish an annual volume analysing international migration and presenting international
comparisons, entitled International Migration Outlook.
122
The United Nations Statistics Division and the United Nations Population Division also provide data on
migration – including stocks, flows, labour migration and asylum.
Other sources of information
The Home Office is the lead government department for immigration and is responsible for securing
the UK border and controlling immigration, considering applications to enter and stay in the UK and
issuing visas.
The UK Visas and Immigration section of the Home Office website (provides details of most of the
routes available to foreign nationals who want to come to the UK to work, and a reference source on
immigration and asylum law. The Our statistics section provides a growing number of Official Statistics
on the immigration work of the Home Office.
Information about visa applications is available online.
Previously, the Home Office published Visa Statistics, which provided details of all visa applications,
grants and refusals worldwide. These are now incorporated within Immigration Statistics releases.
Users of migration statistics are able to join an email-based User Group forum for discussion. The
user group can be accessed here.
Recent and previous reviews
Consultation on changes to immigration-related Home Office statistical outputs (2011), summary of
responses to the consultation and outcomes are available here.
UK Statistics Authority Migration Statistics: The Way Ahead (July 2009)
Review of Border and Immigration Agency Statistics on Control of Immigration (February 2008)
These reviews followed the National Statistics Quality Review (NSQR) of “Control of Immigration
United Kingdom” publications. The final report and the Home Office’s implementation plan can be
found on the Home Office website.
Review of Home Office publications of Control of Immigration Statistics (August 2006)
Review of Home Office publications of Control of Immigration Statistics – Implementation Plan
Other documents with respect to this review are include:
Project Initiation Document
Early Findings Paper
Abstract
Implementation Plan August 2006
Asylum and migration – a review of Home Office Statistics by the National Audit Office (May 2004)
Legislation governing Home Office Science outputs
Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, and the Code of Practice for Statistics.
123
Control of Immigration statistics: The first permanent control over the admission and residence
of foreigners in peacetime was established by the Aliens Act 1905. Annual reports of HM
Inspector under the Act from 1906 to 1913 inclusive, which included statistics on foreign
passengers arriving and departing, were published as Command Papers. No foreign passenger
traffic figures were published for the period 1 July 1914 to 31 December 1919. Quarterly returns
of foreign passenger traffic were published as Command Papers for the period 1 January 1920
to 30 June 1939. Annual returns giving a more detailed analysis were published for the years
1921 to 1938. The series was suspended on the outbreak of war. Following a number of
requests for permission to use figures since 1939 a Command Paper volume was published
providing information for the years 1939 to 1951. This Command Paper stated the intention to
publish figures annually.
Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on
Community statistics on migration and international protection and repealing Council
Regulation, (EEC) No 311/76 on the compilation of statistics on foreign workers.
124
19 Geographical regions for tables
New geographical regions have been included in the Immigration Statistics tables from 27 November
2014 to broadly reflect the country groupings that ONS consulted on in early 2014. These will provide
a more detailed breakdown of our figures by geographical region and not in any way restrict the
information already available at the level of individual country of nationality. The following table shows
the old and new geographical region for each country of nationality. For consistency with the ONS
groupings, subdivisions of EU nationalities have been used in the breakdown, though the numbers in
our statistical series are generally very low, reflecting the fact that EU nationals are not normally
subject to most forms of immigration control. Along with other changes the definition of ‘Europe Other’
no longer includes central Asian former Soviet republics, such as Kazakhstan.
Country of nationality
Old region
New region
Afghanistan
Asia
Asia Central
Albania
Europe
Europe Other
Algeria
Africa
Africa North
American Samoa
Oceania
Oceania
Andorra
Europe
Europe Other
Angola
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Anguilla (British)
Americas
Other
Antigua and Barbuda
Americas
America Central and South
Argentina
Americas
America Central and South
Armenia
Europe
Europe Other
Aruba
Americas
America Central and South
Australia
Oceania
Oceania
Austria
Europe
EU 14
Azerbaijan
Europe
Europe Other
Bahamas, The
Americas
America Central and South
Bahrain
Middle East
Middle East
Bangladesh
Asia
Asia South
Barbados
Americas
America Central and South
Belarus
Europe
Europe Other
Belgium
Europe
EU 14
Belize
Americas
America Central and South
Benin
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Bermuda (British)
Americas
Other
Bhutan
Asia
Asia South
Bolivia
Americas
America Central and South
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Americas
America Central and South
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Europe
Europe Other
Botswana
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Brazil
Americas
America Central and South
British overseas citizens
Other
Other
Brunei
Asia
Asia South East
Bulgaria
Europe
EU 2
Burkina
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Burma
Asia
Asia South East
Burundi
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Cambodia
Asia
Asia South East
Cameroon
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Canada
Americas
America North
Cape Verde
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
125
Cayman Islands (British)
Americas
Other
Central African Republic
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Chad
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Chile
Americas
America Central and South
China
Asia
Asia East
Christmas Island
Oceania
Oceania
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Oceania
Oceania
Colombia
Americas
America Central and South
Comoros
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Congo
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Congo (Democratic Republic)
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Cook Islands
Oceania
Oceania
Costa Rica
Americas
America Central and South
Croatia
Europe
EU Other
Cuba
Americas
America Central and South
Curacao
Americas
America Central and South
Cyprus
Europe
EU Other
Cyprus (Northern part of)
Europe
Europe Other
Czech Republic
Europe
EU 8
Denmark
Europe
EU 14
Djibouti
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Dominica
Americas
America Central and South
Dominican Republic
Americas
America Central and South
East Timor
Asia
Asia South East
Ecuador
Americas
America Central and South
Egypt
Africa
Africa North
El Salvador
Americas
America Central and South
Equatorial Guinea
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Eritrea
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Estonia
Europe
EU 8
Ethiopia
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Falkland Islands (British)
Americas
Other
Faroe Islands
Europe
Europe Other
Fiji
Oceania
Oceania
Finland
Europe
EU 14
Former Yugoslavia
Europe
Europe Other
France
Europe
EU 14
French Guiana
Americas
America Central and South
French Polynesia
Oceania
Oceania
Gabon
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Gambia, The
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Georgia
Europe
Europe Other
Germany
Europe
EU 14
Ghana
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Gibraltar (British)
Europe
Other
Greece
Europe
EU 14
Greenland
Europe
Europe Other
Grenada
Americas
America Central and South
Guadeloupe
Americas
America Central and South
Guam
Americas
Oceania
Guatemala
Americas
America Central and South
Guinea
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Guinea-Bissau
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
126
Guyana
Americas
America Central and South
Haiti
Americas
America Central and South
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Oceania
Oceania
Honduras
Americas
America Central and South
Hong Kong
Asia
Asia East
Hungary
Europe
EU 8
Iceland
Europe
Europe Other
India
Asia
Asia South
Indonesia
Asia
Asia South East
Iran
Middle East
Middle East
Iraq
Middle East
Middle East
Ireland
Europe
EU 14
Israel
Middle East
Middle East
Italy
Europe
EU 14
Ivory Coast
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Jamaica
Americas
America Central and South
Japan
Asia
Asia East
Jordan
Middle East
Middle East
Kazakhstan
Europe
Asia Central
Kenya
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Kiribati
Oceania
Oceania
Korea (North)
Asia
Asia East
Korea (South)
Asia
Asia East
Kosovo
Europe
Europe Other
Kuwait
Middle East
Middle East
Kyrgyzstan
Europe
Asia Central
Laos
Asia
Asia South East
Latvia
Europe
EU 8
Lebanon
Middle East
Middle East
Lesotho
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Liberia
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Libya
Africa
Africa North
Liechtenstein
Europe
Europe Other
Lithuania
Europe
EU 8
Luxembourg
Europe
EU 14
Macau
Asia
Asia East
Macedonia
Europe
Europe Other
Madagascar
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Malawi
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Malaysia
Asia
Asia South East
Maldives
Asia
Asia South
Mali
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Malta
Europe
EU Other
Marshall Islands
Oceania
Oceania
Martinique
Americas
America Central and South
Mauritania
Africa
Africa North
Mauritius
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Mayotte
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Mexico
Americas
America Central and South
Micronesia
Oceania
Oceania
Moldova
Europe
Europe Other
Monaco
Europe
Europe Other
Mongolia
Asia
Asia East
127
Montenegro
Europe
Europe Other
Montserrat (British)
Americas
Other
Morocco
Africa
Africa North
Mozambique
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Namibia
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Nauru
Oceania
Oceania
Nepal
Asia
Asia South
Netherlands
Europe
EU 14
Netherlands Antilles
Americas
America Central and South
New Caledonia
Oceania
Oceania
New Zealand
Oceania
Oceania
Nicaragua
Americas
America Central and South
Niger
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Nigeria
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Niue
Oceania
Oceania
Norfolk Island
Oceania
Oceania
Northern Mariana Islands
Oceania
Oceania
Norway
Europe
Europe Other
Occupied Palestinian Territories
Middle East
Middle East
Oman
Middle East
Middle East
Other and unknown
Other
Other
Pakistan
Asia
Asia South
Palau
Oceania
Oceania
Panama
Americas
America Central and South
Papua New Guinea
Oceania
Oceania
Paraguay
Americas
America Central and South
Peru
Americas
America Central and South
Philippines
Asia
Asia South East
Pitcairn Islands (British)
Oceania
Other
Poland
Europe
EU 8
Portugal
Europe
EU 14
Puerto Rico
Americas
America North
Qatar
Middle East
Middle East
Refugee
Other
Other
Reunion
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Romania
Europe
EU 2
Russia
Europe
Europe Other
Rwanda
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Samoa
Oceania
Oceania
San Marino
Europe
Europe Other
Sao Tome and Principe
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Saudi Arabia
Middle East
Middle East
Senegal
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Serbia
Europe
Europe Other
Serbia and Montenegro
Europe
Europe Other
Seychelles
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Sierra Leone
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Singapore
Asia
Asia South East
Slovakia
Europe
EU 8
Slovenia
Europe
EU 8
Solomon Islands
Oceania
Oceania
Somalia
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
South Africa
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
128
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
Americas
Other
Spain
Europe
EU 14
Sri Lanka
Asia
Asia South
St. Helena (British)
Africa
Other
St. Kitts and Nevis
Americas
America Central and South
St. Lucia
Americas
America Central and South
St. Maarten (Dutch Part)
Americas
America Central and South
St. Martin (French Part)
Americas
America Central and South
St. Pierre and Miquelon
Americas
America Central and South
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Americas
America Central and South
Stateless
Other
Other
Sudan
Africa
Africa North
Sudan (South)
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Surinam
Americas
America Central and South
Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Europe
Europe Other
Swaziland
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Sweden
Europe
EU 14
Switzerland
Europe
Europe Other
Syria
Middle East
Middle East
Taiwan
Asia
Asia East
Tajikistan
Europe
Asia Central
Tanzania
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Thailand
Asia
Asia South East
Togo
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Tokelau
Oceania
Oceania
Tonga
Oceania
Oceania
Trinidad and Tobago
Americas
America Central and South
Tunisia
Africa
Africa North
Turkey
Europe
Europe Other
Turkmenistan
Europe
Asia Central
Turks and Caicos Islands (British)
Americas
Other
Tuvalu
Oceania
Oceania
Uganda
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Ukraine
Europe
Europe Other
United Arab Emirates
Middle East
Middle East
United States
Americas
America North
Uruguay
Americas
America Central and South
Uzbekistan
Europe
Asia Central
Vanuatu
Oceania
Oceania
Vatican City
Europe
Europe Other
Venezuela
Americas
America Central and South
Vietnam
Asia
Asia South East
Virgin Islands (British)
Americas
Other
Virgin Islands (US)
Americas
America North
Wallis and Futuna
Oceania
Oceania
Western Sahara
Africa
Africa North
Yemen
Middle East
Middle East
Zambia
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan
Zimbabwe
Africa
Africa Sub-Saharan

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