About CMC

In 2025, there were 809,407 non-visitor, non-transit entry clearance visas awarded by the Home Office. Just 20.8% of these were awarded to individuals arriving as main work applicants. A further 22% were awarded to dependants and family members. Over half were awarded to students.  The top four nationalities for long-term migration to Britain in 2025 were India, Pakistan, China, and Nigeria. Between 2021 and 2025, net migration from these four countries was 1.67 million.

There were 664,667 settlement grants between 2021 and 2025 - just 20% of these were people previously in Britain on work visas. The majority of grants go to family members and dependants. The Home Office forecasts that up to 2.2 million individuals could be awarded Indefinite Leave to Remain between 2026 and 2030. The EU Settlement Scheme is a separate process, required under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, under which an individual can obtain settled or pre-settled status. When devising the scheme in 2019, the Home Office anticipated that it would grant status to between 3.5 million and 4.1 million people. As of February 2025, there were 5.7 million people who holding status under the scheme - representing an underestimate of 1.6 million people.

Between 2021 and 2025, 1,078,439 individuals - from 209 countries - were awarded British citizenship through the administrative processes of naturalisation and registration. There were 269,621 grants of British citizenship in 2024, the highest since records began in 2005. There were 235,782 grants in the YE December 2025 - the second highest on record.

The United Kingdom has an estimated illegal migrant population of well over one million. There are tens of thousands entering the country illegally each year, along with tens of thousands more overstaying visas or being convicted of serious crimes. None of these people have a right to be in Britain. Despite these growing numbers, the number of returns remains well below historic levels.