Migration to Britain Rises

Migration to Britain increased by 33,000 last year (2009)

Government figures show that net migration to Britain increased by 33,000 last year, suggesting that this was associated with a decline in the number of Britons moving abroad. Also, the number of foreign students rose sharply by 35 percent to 362,015 in the year ending June 2010. Student visas increased from about 270,000 the previous year.

The rise in immigration into the UK is seen as adding pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to say how his annual immigration cap proposal will work and what level it will be implemented.

The British government is planning to limit visa issuance to foreign students to prevent individuals  from breaking the rules by working illegally in the UK, according to the Home Office.

It also wants to decrease net migration from 196,000 last year to tens of thousands per year. It has already limited work visas for non-European Union migrants at 24,100 between June this year until April 2011, 1,300 less than last year's figures.

Statistics show that four percent fewer people, about 567,000 from 590,000 migrants a year earlier, came to Britain last year. However, those who left the country dropped 13 percent to 371,000 compared to 427,000 in 2008.

Indian nationals were given the most number of British visas, 406,960 last year up from 399,270 a year earlier. Pakistanis who received visas fell from 104,035 to 83,915 for the same period.

These countries from the Indian subcontinent represented 34 percent of migrants allowed to come and remain permanently as British residents.

The number of  asylum seekers in Britain was down six percent on 2008 at 24,485.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Friday August 27 2010, 8:09 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0