Visa Statistics

UK Border Agency's visa statistics are published annually and provide details of all visa applications, issues, and appeals worldwide.  They are listed on this page in pdf format, and open in a new window. 

Some facts and figures:

• in 2008-09, we received 2.43m applications, 3% fewer than in 2007-08
• applications decreased in all major categories, with the exception of Student visas (up 2%)
• more than 50% of all visa applications were for visits (excluding family visits)
• student visas accounted for 14% of demand
• the overall refusal rate was 19%, up 1% on 2007-08
• the Points Based System (PBS) was introduced during 2008-09, attracting over 50,000 applications
• the top nationality by application volume remains Indian, followed by Nigerian, Pakistani, Chinese, and Russian
• the top visa issuing post remains New Delhi, followed by Chennai, Moscow, Mumbai, and Istanbul.
  

Our published annual visa statistics:

Visa Statistics 2008/09

 Visa Statistics 2007/08
Please note: this is a revised version of the 2007/08 statistics. The original version contained a labelling error in the ‘Student’ and ‘Transit’categories in Table 1 (p. 17) and Table 3 (p. 19) (August 2009)

Visa Statistics 2006/07

 Visa Statistics 2005/06 


Other related publications:

Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom (opens in a new window)
This Home Office document includes quarterly visa statistics as part of the UK Government's quarterly control of migration statistics, which aims to give an overview of the work of the UK Border Agency in the key areas of border control, asylum, managed migration, and enforcement and compliance.