For anyone discussing 'zero net migration' please remember that if you reduce immigration, emigration goes down too! Today's emigrants are previous years' immigrants 500k emigration now doesn't mean you can have 500k immigration in future with zero net migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/repo…

Why has net migration been so high recently, can the government reduce it, what's the 'right' level of migration, and how does UK compare to other countries? This very short piece explains the top things you need to know about net migration migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/comm…

What are the main parties proposing in their manifestos? New analysis from UK in a Changing Europe and Full Fact explains it all. Migration contributions from Ben Brindle and Peter W. Walsh on pp38 and 41. ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/genera…

NEW BLOG: Heather Rolfe outlines the key issues affecting the UK’s Hong Konger population, drawing on new research. “Our nationally representative survey found access to good quality jobs and cost of living are key issues.” ukandeu.ac.uk/general-electi…

Family visa extension fees have increased from £1,048 to £1,258. Our tool shows how the increase affects the amount a migrant pays in fees while in the UK.

The new government will also keep the Conservatives’ recent changes to work visa rules and tweaks to international student recruitment, but review the minimum income to sponsor a foreign spouse/partner for a family visa

The Home Office has released monthly visa data up to July. Some interesting trends, but I have more questions than answers. The quarterly visa data, released in a couple of weeks, should shed some light on what we see here.

Yesterday we discussed how applications for student visas fell ahead of the new academic year. New data shows international student numbers continued their growth last year. Around 459,000 enrolled in 2022/23, 22% more than the year before. (1/3)

It's a shame today's stats don't include any figures on visa grants for specific jobs. Not only because we can't see where the health and care fall was, but also why Skilled Worker grants (outside H&C) have remained stable since the salary threshold increase (from £26k to £39k)

New migration stats are out, showing a 27% fall in visas issued in the last days of the previous government (and that asylum processing stagnated). The fall in (main app) study visas issued is 85% attributable to a drop in visas for Nigerians and Indians. migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/press/fewer-vi…

📈 2022 and 2023 saw 1.2 million new non-EU migrants enter the UK labour market. But what's happening to their earnings? 🤔 Jonathan Portes, Madeleine Sumption & Ben Brindle summarise the findings of their new research ⬇️ ukandeu.ac.uk/earnings-traje…

HMRC data indicate that non-EU citizens who joined the workforce in recent years had higher entry earnings than earlier cohorts, but the median earnings of non-EU employees overall fell between 2021 and 2023. What's going on? Our new commentary explains...

In 2023, 313,000 work visas were granted to non-EU citizens (excl. dependants), more than double the 2019 level (137,000). Our updated work visas briefing looks at routes UK work migrants used and the jobs they do once they’ve arrived🧵 migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/brie…

Over 60% of 185,000 Skilled Worker visa grants (to both EU and non-EU workers) in YE March 2024 went to health/care. Care workers alone were 39% of grants. Outside of health, chefs were the largest recipient – but their numbers may fall in 2024 due to new salary rules.

2/ In our baseline scenario which involves A LOT of assumptions, net migration settles at over 300k in long term, roughly similar to pre-Brexit Largest driver of long-term net mig is work visas (including health & care)

Yesterday we published a commentary about Labour's promises on migration & how we can track them. Data will tell us if they’re meeting them but won’t reveal the full picture, such as where credit/blame is due. Details below (1/6) migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/comm…