India remains top nationality granted worker visas: British High Commission

According to the British High Commission to India, Indian nationals continue to be the top nationality to be granted 'worker' visas. These account for 39 per cent of the toral with 56,042 visas issued, said the Commission on Friday.
 

The Commission further said that for student visas, there were 127,731 grants to main applicant Indian nationals in the year ending September 2022, an increase of 93,470 (273 per cent) compared to 2019 (34,261).
 

In October, British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis had said that they were on track to get back to processing India-to-UK visa application within standard 15 of days, according to ANI. 
 

"We are on track to get back to processing India to Great Britain #visa applications within our standard of 15 days," Ellis tweeted.
 

Nearly 118,000 Indian students received a student visa in the year ending June 2022, according to the most recent UK Immigration Statistics, which were released on August 25. This is almost 89 per cent increase from the previous year.
 

According to ANI, Indian nationals received the greatest percentage (28 per cent) of visitor visas issued, indicating that the United Kingdom is still a favourite vacation spot for Indian tourists.
 

Now, India has overtaken China as the largest nationality being issued sponsored study visas in the UK.
 

In the 12 months ending June 2022, more than 258,000 Indian nationals were granted visit visas, a 630 per cent increase from the prior year (when travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic were still in place).
 

Additionally, Indians acquired nearly 103,000 work visas (which includes skilled and seasonal workers) in the year ending in June 2022, a 148 per cent rise from the year before.
 

India continues to be the country from which the majority of skilled worker visas are issued, receiving 46 per cent of all such visas worldwide.
 

(With inputs from agencies)