VOI World/ Desk
Indian nationals continue to feature prominently across multiple UK immigration routes, leading foreign nationalities in work visas, study visa applications, visitor visas and British citizenship grants, according to the latest UK Home Office statistics.
In the year ending June 2026, Indians received 47,009 work visas, the highest among all nationalities, although overall work visa numbers declined following tighter immigration rules. Of these, 37,402 were Worker visas.
India was also among the leading sources of international students, with 89,768 study visa applications and 83,953 visas granted, second only to China. The UK issued 514,398 visitor visas to Indian nationals, accounting for about 24% of all visitor visas granted during the period.
Indians also received the highest number of British citizenship grants at 24,851, while 35,384 Indians were granted settlement, up 51% from the previous year, according to the figures reported from the Home Office data.
The numbers underline India’s continuing importance to the UK’s migration landscape, even as overall visa issuance has slowed and Britain moves towards stricter immigration and settlement rules. Official figures show that work visas fell 18% year-on-year, while sponsored study visas declined 11% in the year ending June 2026.
The data also highlights the complexity of migration patterns. Apart from legal routes, 471 Indians arrived in the UK via small boats from France, while Indians accounted for 4,964 asylum claims, with a small proportion granted at the initial decision stage, according to the newspaper report based on the latest statistics.
