Over half a million Indians visited UK in last one year; number of Indian students doubles

Aug 23, 2019

New Delhi: The number of Indian students studying in the UK has seen a remarkable 42% increase, and over half-a-million Indians visited the UK within a 12-month period.

The latest quarterly report on Migration Statistics published by the UK’s Office for National Statistics shows that more than 503,000 Indian nationals received visitor visas for the year ending June 2019. This was an 11% increase compared to the previous year.

According to the report, Indian and Chinese nationals together accounted for nearly half (49%) of all visitor visas granted.

In addition to the visitor visas, nearly 22,000 Indian nationals received a Tier 4 (study) visa for the year ending June 2019 – up from approximately 15,000 the previous year. The number of Indians studying in the UK has almost doubled in 3 years and is now at the highest levels since 2011.

Indian nationals continue to receive more skilled work visas than the rest of the world combined, accounting for 52% of all Tier 2 visas granted globally. More than 56,000 Indians received skilled work visas – a 5% increase compared to the previous year, which is also the largest increase for any country.

Sir Dominic Asquith, High Commissioner to India, said: “The continued rise in these figures is fantastic news for the UK-India relationship. It also shows that the UK continues to be a welcoming place for Indians to work, study and vacation. It looks like the number of Indian fans who travelled to the UK for the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales was even greater than we imagined and I hope to see even more visitors from India in the future. The more Indians who visit, the stronger the living bridge becomes between our two countries. I look forward to working with our partners in India to ensure this impressive record continues.”

–India News Stream