UK visa applications have drastically decreased since restrictions were put in place. A decline in the number of foreign care workers and students has caused the significant decline.
After limitations were put in place in an attempt to reduce the amount of legal migration, the number of persons seeking for visas to work and study in the UK dropped by almost 400,000.
547,000 applications were received between April and December 2024, according to preliminary Home Office data, compared to 942,500 over the same time period in 2023.
The goal was to reduce annual arrivals by 300,000.
Sharp declines in the number of foreign care workers and students wishing to enter the country have contributed to the 395,100, or 42%, dip.
Image Credits: Pexels, PA Graphics, Source Home Office
Amid pressure to reduce the record number of people entering Britain lawfully, the former Conservative government progressively implemented restrictions between January and April of last year. These included raising the salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700 and prohibiting foreign care workers from bringing family dependents.
Other changes made it more difficult for Britons making less than the national average to bring in foreign spouses and prohibited international students from bringing their families to the UK.
Universities and the care sector may find it difficult to handle the repercussions of the policy changes, according to warnings.
According to a PA news agency study of the most recent data released on Thursday, the 42% overall decline in visa requests for primary applicants and dependents conceals significant variations in the magnitude of the decline across the many categories of immigration documents available.
Between April and December 2023, there were 299,800 applications for health and care worker visas to the UK, compared to 63,800 during the same period in 2024. This is a far steeper 79% decline.
The social care industry previously criticised the dependents ban’s possible effects, calling it “brutal” and accusing the legislation of severing a “lifeline of overseas staff.”
The number of sponsored study visas decreased by 29% from 389,800 during the same period previous year to 546,100 during the nine months from April to December 2023.
Following the legislative changes, universities have warned of serious financial issues due to a fall in international students and frozen domestic tuition fees.
Main applicants and dependents seeking for skilled worker visas, on the other hand, saw a significantly lower decline of only 3%, going from 96,600 in April to December 2023 to 93,800 last year.
However, this is more than the 92,300 that were recorded during the same nine-month period in 2022.
UK visa applications