Visa restrictions see applications fall by a third as number of students with dependents applying drops by almost 80 per cent
Top visa applications have fallen by more than 30 per cent after the Tories introduced major restrictions.
Home office Data shows that the total number of migrants and their family members applying for three major types of visas has fallen by almost a third year-on-year.
It included a 79 percent drop in the number of dependent students applying for visas after the route was restricted only to families of postgraduate researchers in January.
In the first five months of 2023, 46,700 dependent students applied to come here – compared to just 9,700 in the same period this year.
Home Secretary James Cleverly (pictured) said: ‘We have been clear that immigration has been too high – that’s why we’ve taken bold action to reduce the numbers and today’s statistics show the plan is working.’
Home Office data shows the total number of migrants and their family members applying for three major types of visas has fallen by almost a third year-on-year (stock photo)
The number of foreign healthcare workers applying to bring relatives to Britain also fell to 61,600 from 78,600 in the first five months of last year.
Earlier this week the Conservative Party‘S election The manifesto promised even more curbs, including the introduction of a migration cap that would reduce numbers every year.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘It has become clear to us that immigration has been too high – that’s why we’ve taken bold action to reduce numbers and today’s statistics show the plan is working.’
He added: ‘Keir Starmer has no plan to reduce immigration – he just dreams of a sweetheart deal with the EU that would see us take in more migrants, not fewer.
“He cannot be trusted to control our borders and he would take us back to square one.”
The number of foreign healthcare workers applying to bring relatives to Britain also fell to 61,600 from 78,600 in the first five months of last year (stock photo)
Across the three visa routes that have been reformed, there were a total of 207,900 applications in the first five months of this year – up from 304,700 in the same period last year.
In 2023, net migration – the difference between the number of migrants coming to live in Britain and the number emigrating – was 685,000, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
A top expert also said last month that reforms already introduced by the Conservatives have a “fighting chance” of reducing net migration to just 150,000 a year.
Chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee, Professor Brian Bell, said this could cause a ‘huge’ drop in the number of migrants coming to Britain, especially among students.
