Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 03: Indians remained the biggest group of long-term migrants to Britain, accounting for a fifth of all migrants, observed A Y & J Solicitors, a UK-based visa and immigration law firm in its year – end review. The latest UK government figures on immigration show that the country is open for business for Indian workers; cited the law firm.

While the figures showed a drop in annual net migration to the year sending June 2024 and the number of immigrants to the UK dropped from 99,000 in the year to June  2023 to 728,000 in the following 12-month period, Indians were the largest group of non-EU migrants, leading both the work and study visa categories, according to data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), which classed long-term migrants as those who changed their country of residence for 12 months or more, noted A Y & J Solicitors.

The figures showed there were 116,000 Indians on work-related visas and 127,000 on study-related visas in the year ending June 2024. In total, there were twice as many migrants arriving to Britain from India during this period as the next highest nationality, which was Nigerian, of which there were 120,000. The next nationality was Pakistani (101,000), followed by Chinese (78,000) and Zimbabwean (36,000).

The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford stated: “Indian nationals were by far the largest nationality coming to the UK in the year ending June 2024, accounting for 20% of overall immigration.”

Considering these figures, A Y & J Solicitors further noted that there are still considerable opportunities for Indian workers in the UK, despite measures introduced earlier this year designed to reduce net migration.

Yash Dubal, director of A Y & J Solicitors said, “These figures show that the UK remains a welcome country for Indian workers and entrepreneurs. There are a full – range of visa routes open to those who fulfill the correct application criteria”.

Dubal added, “The UK government’s commitment to reduce net migration has so far been selective and has largely targeted the dependents of specific visa holders. The increased salary threshold on Skilled Worker visas will make it too expensive for some employers to continue employing overseas workers, but the measure will have benefits for Indian workers who have the right skills and experience that Britain needs, as they will be earning more if they do get sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa.”

Applications from Indian students dropped 20.4% in 2023-24 compared to the previous year, according to the ONS data, falling from 139,914 to 111,329. It is thought the main reason for this was the ban on most international students bringing dependents to the UK, which was introduced earlier in the year.

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