UK immigration statistics for 2006 released

Summary

The Immigration Research and Statistics Service (IRSS) collects and published statistics on immigration control, enforcement, citizenship and asylum as part of the National Statistics work programme.

In this Report ‘Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2006’ (Cm. 7197), the IRSS publishes the results of its immigration and asylum research programme.

The statistics cover:

Entry applications
UK ports passenger arrivals, admissions and refusals
Asylum applications, decisions and appeals
Detentions, removals and deportations
Extension of stay and settlement applications
Immigration appeals
Applications for British citizenship.

In brief, the 2006 statistics show that:

International arrivals outside the Common Travel Area increased by 3%
Work permit holders admitted to UK increased by 6%
Non-EEA students to the UK increased by 9%
Refusals of entry at port increased by 6%
Asylum applications decreased by 8%, including and excluding dependents
The highest number of applicants for asylum came from Afghanistan, Iran and China
26% of applications resulted in grants of asylum, humanitarian protection/discretionary leave or in allowed appeals.
There was a 2% increase in 'after entry' asylum decisions
The total number of persons removed from the UK increased by 10%
Grants of citizenship were 5% lower than in 2005 - in November 2005, the citizenship test 'Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship' was introduced, requiring applicants to demonstrate a knowledge of English and of life in the UK.

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Law-Making Explained

This is a Command Paper (Cm. 7197 2006-07): it is a Report from the Home Office.

Find out more about Command Papers.

How does it affect me?

If you are interested in asylum and immigration policy or in UK demographics, this affects you.

Immigration control regulates the entry of passengers into the UK,conditions of stay, and settlement and deportation.

Asylum applications for the first quarter of this year have continued to fall, with 5,680 asylum applications lodged in the first quarter of 2007. This represents a 10% fall in applications compared to the period April 2006 - April 2007.

These immigration statistics are produced by the IRSS to inform Parliament, policy makers and the public about the work of the Home Office and to enable scrutiny of Government policies.