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Indian skilled workers, medics, students leading beneficiaries of UK visa
Indian nationals were also the highest receivers of the dependant visa, representing 35 per cent of the grants
Representative image / image - iStock
The United Kingdom has seen a 35 per cent increase in work visas issued to applicants in the year ending September 2023, as compared to September 2022, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed.
Collated by the UK Home Office, the data also shows that Indians were the top recipients of the work visas in more than one category. 18,107 Indian skilled workers were granted the UK work visa, next to Pakistan and the Philippines who featured on No. 2 and 3 on the list.
Indians are leading the ‘health and care worker’ category as well with 38,866 visas granted, followed by Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
“While ‘Skilled Worker’ visas have only seen a modest rise in the past year (+9%), ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ visa grants have more than doubled (+135%) to 143,990. Indian, Nigerian, and Zimbabwean nationals saw the largest increases on this visa compared with the previous year,” the Home Office noted.
Indian nationals were the highest receivers of the dependant visas, and represented 35 per cent of the total grants. According to the data, 21,577 dependants entered the UK on the ‘skilled worker’ visa of the main applicant, and 52,992 dependants of main applicants entered the country on the ‘health and care worker’ visa.
Furthermore, Indian students were the leading group to have been granted the graduate route visa. Introduced in July 2021, it allows students who have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree, or other eligible course to stay in the UK for a period to look for work. This visa can be applied within the UK itself and eligible candidates are saved a trip to their home country.
“A total of 104,501 Graduate route extensions were granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2023, 74 percent (+44,369) higher than in the previous year. Indian nationals represented the largest group of students granted leave to remain on the Graduate route, representing 43 percent of grants,” the government said.
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