Indians received the biggest share of U.K. work visas: report

39% of such visas went to Indian nationals for the year ending September 2022, according to data released by the British government

Indians came on top for the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas and accounted for 36% of the total visas granted under the category.  | Photo Credit: AP

Indian nationals received the largest number — 39% — of the total ‘Worker’ visas granted by the United Kingdom for the year ending in September 2022, an announcement from the British government has informed. Of the total 1,45,258 U.K. ‘Worker’ visas, Indians received 56,042, a jump of 90% in comparison to pre-pandemic figure of 29,552 of 2019.

Apart from India, the Philippines, Nigeria, and the United States were among the other top ‘Worker’ visa-seeking nations. The sharp rise in the demand for U.K. ‘Worker’ visas is being explained by the post-pandemic recovery, which has settled in most of the major economies across the world.

Indians also featured in the top three nationalities that were granted ‘Skilled Worker’ visa from the United Kingdom. The other two nations that received similar visas were the United States and South Africa. Indians received 33% of the ‘Skilled Worker’ visa, while American nationals received 6% and the South African nationals received 4%.

Indians came on top for the ‘Skilled Worker - Health and Care’ visas and accounted for 36% of the total visas granted under the category. Nigerians and Zimbabwean nationals were among the top recipients of this category of visas from the U.K.

During the same period, U.K. granted 1,27,731 student visas to Indian nationals, marking an increase of 93,470 compared to 2019 when Indians received 34,261 student visas. The issue of pending visa applications has affected the flow of people from India to the U.K. in the recent past. The situation is expected to improve soon.