What data is included in this UK immigration table?

This table compiles quarterly official UK immigration figures covering Home Office entry clearance visa applications and grants, asylum claims and initial decisions, and DWP National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals.

How far back do these UK immigration series go?

The series cover quarterly data from official Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions records starting from 2001.

Which visa categories and routes are reported?

Breakdowns include sponsored study, skilled and health & care worker routes, family visas, temporary workers, visitor visas, Ukraine schemes, and the British National (Overseas) route.

How do NINo registrations differ from visa grants in the UK?

Visa figures record permissions granted by the Home Office to enter or stay, whereas National Insurance number registrations record adult overseas nationals registering with the DWP to work or claim benefits in the UK.

UK immigration: visas, asylum and NINos

Name: UK immigration: visas, asylum and NINos
Creator: GOV.UK official statistics; Home Office — Immigration system statistics; Department for Work and Pensions — Stat-Xplore
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Three quarterly measures of people coming to the UK: entry clearance visa applications, grants and refusals by route — work, study, family, visit (Home Office); asylum claims, initial decisions and the backlog awaiting a decision (Home Office); and National Insurance numbers allocated to adult overseas nationals, by world region and nationality — the count of arrivals who start work or claim benefits (DWP).

Source: GOV.UK official statistics; Home Office — Immigration system statistics; Department for Work and Pensions — Stat-XploreLast updated: Sep 24, 2026, 19:10Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	Q2-2026	Q1-2026	Q4-2025	Q3-2025	Q2-2025	Q1-2025	Q4-2024	Q3-2024	Q2-2024	Q1-2024	Q4-2023	Q3-2023	Q2-2023
Entry clearance visas (Home Office)6
Visa applications17
Worker (skilled and health & care)	32,035	31,026	32,778	44,654	49,527	46,690	48,062	57,356	73,191	106,619	133,483	151,884	134,892
Temporary Worker	30,077	24,250	14,752	16,801	33,100	22,213	14,773	17,764	30,985	24,761	12,879	16,443	31,589
Investor, business development and talent	1,998	1,559	1,713	2,136	1,901	1,667	1,669	2,041	1,792	1,859	2,075	2,578	2,432
Other work visas and exemptions	15,082	5,474	6,162	6,280	13,627	5,020	5,964	6,041	13,392	5,844	6,793	6,965	13,051
Sponsored study	45,976	33,269	53,202	283,773	65,164	47,225	61,984	275,572	57,786	40,925	85,736	372,750	88,445
Other study	519	593	1,194	1,551	1,372	3,843	5,569	3,000	884	1,352	1,768	3,297	1,476
Family: partner	11,715	11,172	11,549	11,414	12,186	10,994	10,738	9,073	15,408	21,045	14,044	13,574	13,652
Family: child	2,917	2,522	2,637	2,992	3,119	2,417	2,257	2,292	3,128	3,644	2,861	2,697	2,465
Family: other	217	153	256	332	303	319	341	357	362	439	366	322	313
Refugee family reunion	318	503	2,225	8,353	5,763	5,605	5,849	4,612	5,823	6,393	5,727	3,026	1,979
Visitor	905,272	576,538	564,109	698,929	939,546	601,099	561,267	655,280	902,239	571,791	530,965	618,014	804,148
Dependants joining or accompanying	1,048	503	642	1,142	1,262	665	940	1,184	1,384	836	884	1,392	1,352
Other settlement visas	1,522	2,036	659	836	948	818	795	906	1,125	1,025	1,036	1,241	1,677
Other temporary visas	11,645	7,434	8,075	10,821	12,246	8,615	9,450	11,054	12,224	10,082	9,307	12,866	13,604
EU Settlement Scheme permits	3,927	4,060	4,637	4,813	5,061	5,435	6,862	6,899	7,427	8,581	8,370	9,910	10,141
British National (Overseas) route	1,356	1,275	1,134	2,230	2,942	2,806	2,074	3,327	3,736	9,633	4,632	6,679	8,462
Ukraine visa schemes	5,082	4,827	5,695	5,654	3,956	5,066	6,059	5,955	6,965	7,267	12,149	14,623	18,374
Visas issued17
Worker (skilled and health & care)	27,312	28,817	25,913	38,063	42,571	40,764	38,200	50,425	63,726	101,013	121,571	143,610	116,759
Temporary Worker	29,361	23,303	12,299	14,979	32,112	19,735	12,593	15,911	29,027	22,878	12,185	15,534	31,798
Investor, business development and talent	1,719	1,612	1,521	2,132	1,847	1,670	1,591	2,032	1,733	1,999	1,935	2,498	2,570
Other work visas and exemptions	12,211	4,181	5,272	6,146	11,404	4,002	5,115	5,791	11,321	4,784	5,620	6,421	11,300
Sponsored study	33,696	35,625	38,812	275,322	58,430	52,008	52,640	268,226	48,613	45,252	77,589	354,847	79,533
Other study	246	528	879	866	584	439	1,225	1,916	490	570	940	2,011	466
Family: partner	10,024	8,088	11,104	9,686	10,067	9,526	9,980	12,629	14,810	18,550	11,357	13,337	13,677
Family: child	1,163	1,078	1,509	1,783	1,723	1,632	1,639	2,406	2,329	2,861	1,821	2,157	2,106
Family: other	51	42	81	93	93	97	118	144	201	236	122	130	86
Refugee family reunion	2,120	2,808	2,723	5,237	5,802	4,815	4,772	5,254	5,211	4,021	4,351	2,418	1,032
Visitor	734,910	452,729	429,257	568,262	790,115	451,948	420,449	555,722	728,825	454,544	392,260	532,428	630,632
Dependants joining or accompanying	866	543	643	1,073	1,022	576	744	1,291	1,023	777	790	1,400	1,192
Other settlement visas	1,515	1,686	548	698	827	657	686	861	944	925	944	1,231	1,460
Other temporary visas	9,489	6,351	6,958	9,803	10,523	7,384	7,566	10,329	10,696	9,390	9,963	11,356	10,618
EU Settlement Scheme permits	1,591	1,676	1,913	1,874	2,034	1,889	2,233	3,122	4,049	4,097	3,604	2,381	5,117
British National (Overseas) route	1,235	812	1,304	2,593	2,504	2,524	2,389	4,386	5,021	7,343	3,472	6,383	8,608
Ukraine visa schemes	3,874	3,456	4,156	4,109	3,018	3,612	4,014	3,604	5,058	5,150	8,973	8,255	9,345
Visa applications refused17
Worker (skilled and health & care)	2,646	3,695	4,287	6,407	6,378	7,035	7,533	7,690	9,153	13,120	14,812	8,276	6,436
Temporary Worker	1,076	871	1,396	1,830	1,660	1,929	1,624	2,100	1,559	1,286	1,037	804	713
Investor, business development and talent	47	48	50	44	32	40	24	59	59	53	40	56	154
Other work visas and exemptions	1,354	699	789	1,098	1,324	727	981	992	1,634	955	1,132	1,091	1,433
Sponsored study	2,930	5,499	6,339	4,840	1,885	3,490	3,618	5,241	1,762	5,674	9,269	7,480	2,326
Other study	129	255	367	555	3,700	3,354	1,904	587	321	727	946	1,210	906
Family: partner	697	965	730	689	745	719	809	1,009	899	826	768	740	682
Family: child	492	516	878	967	781	819	1,263	694	524	681	725	808	559
Family: other	80	208	194	310	184	329	276	425	237	316	243	296	238
Refugee family reunion	637	444	638	752	753	872	971	1,041	580	413	402	288	267
Visitor	139,718	116,315	140,347	161,773	150,260	117,114	129,779	149,202	128,269	112,539	120,050	142,692	130,764
Dependants joining or accompanying	19	35	136	117	134	174	171	192	119	123	111	143	117
Other settlement visas	135	120	118	96	100	90	77	88	104	85	121	148	108
Other temporary visas	1,288	979	1,163	1,397	1,262	1,157	944	1,098	1,548	1,803	999	1,148	890
EU Settlement Scheme permits	3,010	2,896	2,943	3,173	3,351	3,273	3,880	5,288	6,920	5,436	5,210	2,273	7,652
British National (Overseas) route	13	14	42	27	32	47	80	71	84	103	90	82	71
Ukraine visa schemes	1,197	1,236	1,223	1,434	1,315	1,759	1,801	1,748	1,821	2,266	5,501	6,434	8,440
Visa applications withdrawn17
Worker (skilled and health & care)	702	915	989	1,258	979	1,004	1,106	1,512	1,247	1,194	1,560	1,395	962
Temporary Worker	153	133	136	188	166	264	197	446	189	159	231	310	266
Investor, business development and talent	10	22	20	13	20	12	28	30	30	32	28	34	38
Other work visas and exemptions	91	85	65	86	90	75	106	122	128	105	108	106	110
Sponsored study	1,794	6,970	1,957	779	355	2,333	2,089	980	468	3,325	2,470	584	169
Other study	2	8	10	5	47	267	20	11	7	6	3	7	2
Family: partner	72	72	77	58	66	77	57	91	78	101	82	112	70
Family: child	29	17	24	24	36	38	41	46	31	46	46	65	40
Family: other	1	3	7	1	20	10	9	3	1	5	3	5	3
Refugee family reunion	81	38	67	52	27	45	34	48	65	66	81	63	17
Visitor	721	724	809	1,303	1,320	919	1,095	1,134	1,161	736	864	1,088	1,298
Dependants joining or accompanying	4	6	12	13	14	17	17	26	15	15	19	31	9
Other settlement visas	31	25	10	19	29	18	16	30	22	17	13	16	24
Other temporary visas	298	242	319	460	332	345	389	562	503	447	509	472	545
EU Settlement Scheme permits	62	64	123	97	65	103	89	83	80	74	123	66	71
British National (Overseas) route	51	29	44	164	73	56	164	197	126	167	105	170	134
Ukraine visa schemes	40	103	200	156	270	213	213	276	226	635	1,887	2,703	2,605
All visa applications	1,070,706	707,194	711,419	1,102,711	1,152,023	770,497	744,653	1,062,713	1,137,853	822,098	833,075	1,238,262	1,148,053
All visa decisions made	1,030,993	717,587	711,401	1,132,904	1,152,483	752,004	727,362	1,127,178	1,093,058	837,928	827,110	1,287,603	1,094,442
Asylum claims and initial decisions (Home Office)4
Asylum claims5
All claims (main applicants and dependants)	17,233	15,956	22,400	30,302	27,369	21,840	30,151	29,225	23,880	21,508	22,478	26,823	19,591
Main applicants	14,325	12,736	18,346	24,441	22,491	17,281	24,573	23,016	18,143	16,636	17,276	21,491	15,444
Dependants	2,908	3,220	4,054	5,861	4,878	4,559	5,578	6,209	5,737	4,872	5,202	5,332	4,147
Claimed at port of entry	987	977	1,605	1,796	1,607	1,885	3,005	3,058	2,459	2,685	3,617	3,175	3,116
Claimed in country	16,246	14,979	20,795	28,506	25,762	19,955	27,146	26,167	21,421	18,823	18,861	23,648	16,475
Initial decisions, all people6
Grants of protection	5,678	9,257	12,704	12,854	12,120	15,736	16,054	8,254	4,982	10,112	27,597	22,229	6,191
Grants of other leave	431	520	510	440	340	413	401	162	483	305	846	255	143
Refusals	12,970	18,256	20,626	21,626	19,518	18,853	15,691	5,665	10,687	13,845	19,265	5,738	3,119
Withdrawals	2,750	3,643	4,722	5,150	3,353	5,077	6,910	2,834	3,080	7,299	10,082	4,179	5,397
Administrative outcomes	347	359	802	839	3,807	1,240	920	1,540	1,696	1,023	1,296	608	1,177
All initial decisions	22,176	32,035	39,364	40,909	39,138	41,319	39,976	18,455	20,928	32,584	59,086	33,009	16,027
Initial decisions, main applicants6
Grants of protection	4,901	7,897	10,825	11,094	10,029	12,734	12,548	6,780	3,430	7,624	21,660	18,055	5,074
Grants of other leave	149	196	200	222	188	195	231	106	336	229	549	173	103
Refusals	10,080	14,345	16,236	16,902	15,269	14,229	12,020	4,481	7,626	10,770	14,947	4,662	2,555
Withdrawals	2,448	3,211	4,175	4,637	2,926	4,534	6,314	2,402	2,702	6,774	9,158	3,806	5,085
Administrative outcomes	169	175	511	443	824	856	725	1,201	1,449	704	912	403	1,065
All initial decisions	17,747	25,824	31,947	33,298	29,236	32,548	31,838	14,970	15,543	26,101	47,226	27,099	13,882
Claims awaiting an initial decision (end of quarter)	40,168	48,758	64,426	80,841	90,812	109,536	124,802	133,409	118,882	118,329	128,786	165,411	175,457
National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals (DWP)1
NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals3		121,660	156,175	160,324	123,347	166,376	194,471	145,746	135,614	201,643	333,031	269,752	196,099
NINo registrations, by world area4
European Union		12,432	14,434	15,030	12,770	13,723	17,123	15,110	13,572	16,105	19,466	20,783	21,459
Other Europe (non-EU)		6,485	8,232	7,898	7,007	7,894	10,106	9,677	9,900	11,257	13,657	14,491	14,270
Asia		68,240	92,223	89,939	70,887	101,523	120,545	81,205	78,170	120,122	197,657	148,293	96,341
Rest of the world		33,043	39,346	45,080	30,802	41,187	43,888	36,873	31,304	51,543	98,047	80,817	59,935
NINo registrations, by world region13
EU14 (pre-2004 members)		9,103	10,627	11,254	9,301	9,635	12,397	10,630	9,460	10,777	12,768	13,451	12,299
EU8 (joined 2004)		1,023	1,150	1,284	1,095	1,279	1,430	1,416	1,346	1,406	1,798	2,056	2,014
EU2 (Bulgaria and Romania)		2,091	2,334	2,223	2,108	2,538	2,920	2,725	2,484	3,644	4,470	4,895	6,724
Other EU (Cyprus, Malta, Croatia)		212	322	268	268	275	381	340	281	285	431	385	421
Middle East and Central Asia		9,729	11,405	13,739	12,165	13,996	16,459	15,761	13,025	15,092	25,033	21,704	10,973
East Asia		9,219	14,467	10,063	8,927	10,081	17,931	10,362	9,993	11,134	17,863	12,307	11,161
South Asia		44,903	60,184	60,294	44,808	71,806	78,329	49,702	49,084	86,554	144,432	105,666	67,217
South East Asia		4,391	6,168	5,843	4,988	5,641	7,825	5,383	6,070	7,340	10,331	8,614	6,988
Sub-Saharan Africa		19,509	23,692	27,632	16,058	25,276	24,863	19,600	16,383	35,660	76,953	58,857	44,199
North Africa		3,104	4,142	4,152	3,432	4,654	5,272	3,743	2,911	3,416	6,064	4,840	3,106
North America		4,828	6,026	6,231	4,805	4,716	6,154	5,287	4,443	4,609	5,664	5,903	4,344
Central and South America		2,508	2,782	3,068	2,630	3,192	3,858	3,569	3,186	3,919	5,107	5,668	3,938
Oceania		3,085	2,696	3,996	3,878	3,350	3,739	4,671	4,390	3,936	4,259	5,550	4,342
NINo registrations, by nationality12
India		26,963	35,721	32,288	24,204	37,600	46,832	26,902	23,751	47,506	85,146	66,029	42,248
Pakistan		7,496	12,405	13,386	11,061	19,544	17,896	13,750	15,477	23,920	33,284	18,868	12,987
Nigeria		10,370	11,538	15,005	6,574	12,946	10,682	8,077	5,967	16,168	43,606	27,141	20,059
China		5,942	10,509	6,146	5,170	6,429	12,653	5,683	5,642	7,143	12,557	7,027	6,143
Nepal		5,490	5,132	7,772	5,174	7,332	6,334	3,927	3,284	5,856	6,351	4,632	2,744
Bangladesh		3,288	4,760	4,583	2,627	4,648	4,490	3,026	4,052	5,923	12,952	11,101	6,163
United States		3,556	4,397	4,518	3,601	3,444	4,337	3,828	3,208	3,296	4,052	4,282	3,176
Ukraine		2,997	3,843	3,146	2,851	3,441	4,149	4,637	5,004	5,551	6,050	7,246	7,992
Iran		2,242	2,863	2,936	2,665	3,732	4,183	2,571	2,885	4,201	7,147	5,403	2,171
Ireland		2,823	3,081	3,435	2,550	2,733	3,384	2,823	2,386	2,749	3,206	3,012	2,631
Afghanistan		2,091	2,461	2,542	2,382	3,171	3,145	2,518	2,658	3,785	6,471	3,647	1,251
Australia		2,432	1,890	2,701	2,816	2,596	2,512	3,009	3,067	2,952	2,648	3,485	3,033

Latest reading

Worker (skilled and health & care) stood at 27,312 Visas in Q2 2026. That is −5.2% from Q1 2026 and −35.8% from a year earlier. The series on this page is quarterly and runs from Q4 2008 to Q2 2026. Source: GOV.UK official statistics; Home Office — Immigration system statistics; Department for Work and Pensions — Stat-Xplore.

Latest: 27,312 Visas; Q2 2026
vs previous period: −5.2%; Q1 2026
vs a year earlier: −35.8%

About this data

Frequently asked questions

What data is included in this UK immigration table?: This table compiles quarterly official UK immigration figures covering Home Office entry clearance visa applications and grants, asylum claims and initial decisions, and DWP National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals.
How far back do these UK immigration series go?: The series cover quarterly data from official Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions records starting from 2001.
Which visa categories and routes are reported?: Breakdowns include sponsored study, skilled and health & care worker routes, family visas, temporary workers, visitor visas, Ukraine schemes, and the British National (Overseas) route.
How do NINo registrations differ from visa grants in the UK?: Visa figures record permissions granted by the Home Office to enter or stay, whereas National Insurance number registrations record adult overseas nationals registering with the DWP to work or claim benefits in the UK.