Accredited official statistics

Why do people come to the UK? For family reasons

Updated 13 June 2024

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2024’ content page.

This is not the latest release. View latest release.

Data relates to year ending March 2024 and all comparisons are with March 2023 (unless indicated otherwise). All data includes dependants, unless indicated otherwise.

Statistics on dependants travelling with or joining family members on work and study visas are not included in this section and can be found in the relevant “Why do people come to the UK to work”, and “Why do people come to the UK to study” topics.

1. Family-related visas

Family-related visas relate to persons wishing to live with family members who are British citizens or non-British settled migrants in the UK as part of their family. It also includes people wishing to join a relative with refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK.

There were 79,384 family-related visas granted in the year ending March 2024, an increase of 22% from year ending March 2023.

In the 5 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of family visa grants averaged around 43,000 per year (from 2015 to 2019).

The Home Secretary announced the ‘plan to cut net migration’, which includes changes to the minimum income normally required to sponsor someone for a spouse/partner visa. This may have led to some people to apply for family-related visas prior to the commencement of this change, which came into effect in Spring 2024, see Net migration measures - further detail.

The increase in grants of family-related visas in the last year may also partially reflect the clearance of a queue of family-related visa applications which resulted from prioritising the processing of applications on the Ukraine visa schemes when the schemes first launched.

There has been a notable increase of 185% (+8,032) in Family reunion visa grants in the year ending March 2024, compared to the previous year. Trends in family reunion visas may reflect changes in the number of people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in previous years, many of whom may now be eligible to bring family members.

Figure 1: Family-related visa grants and family visa applications, year ending March 2015 to year ending March 2024

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes: Vis_D01 and Vis_D02

Figure 1 shows that the family-related visas applications and grants were relatively stable up to 2018, before increasing slightly prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, then falling in 2020 when the pandemic restricted travel. Family visa applications have increased since the end of 2021, with applications in year ending March 2024 showing an increase of +35% compared to year ending March 2023 and +60% higher than in year ending December 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Family-related visa grants remained low compared to applications but have increased sharply since mid-2022 and are now almost double pre-pandemic levels.

Three-quarters of family-related visas issued in year ending March 2024 were to partners, similar to previous years, with the remainder being for children or other dependants.

Pakistani nationals accounted for almost one-fifth (18%, or 13,990) of the total Family-related visas granted, 3 times the number of Indian nationals (4,651), the next largest nationality on this route. Syrian nationals saw a +205% increase in family visa grants, to 3,669 grants in year ending March 2024 compared to 1,203 in the previous year.

Those arriving on family routes are more likely to acquire indefinite leave to remain (ILR) than those arriving on work and study visas. Analysis from the Migrant Journey: 2023 report shows that of those whose first leave to enter the UK was on the family route since 2007, 62% had ILR after 5 years, increasing to 83% after 10 years. This is much higher than those starting on work and study routes, where 21% and 7% respectively had ILR after 10 years.

2. EU Settlement Scheme family permits

EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) Family permits were launched alongside the EU Settlement Scheme. The permits enable family members of EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens who were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020, to join them. Once here the family member can then apply to the EUSS to continue living in the UK.

There were 15,180 EUSS family permits granted in year ending March 2024, 48% fewer than in year ending March 2023.

The number of family permits granted peaked at 54,973 in the year ending December 2021. They have subsequently fallen to 15,180 in year ending March 2024 following the 30 June 2021 deadline for those resident in the UK before the end of the EU exit transition period at 11pm on 31 December 2020, with the exception of some groups who can still apply on the family route. Further information can be found in the Family section of the user guide.

3. Extensions for family reasons

Extensions of stay for family-related reasons relate to people wishing to extend their stay in the UK for family-reasons. It covers extensions where an individual is applying on the basis of their relationship to a person settled in the UK or a British citizen. An individual is required to apply for an extension before their existing permission to enter or stay expires and may make more than one application in any given year.

There were 113,933 extensions of stay granted for family reasons in year ending March 2024, a decrease of 15% compared with the previous year but similar to levels at the start of the pandemic.

Analysis linking the current category of leave to the previous category of leave shows that 77% of family-related extensions granted in the year ending March 2024 were to people who held a family-related visa before their current family extension. A further 4% previously held leave as a student, and 6% as a worker.

4. About these statistics

The statistics in this section provide an indication of the number of people who had an intention to enter the UK for family reasons.

Before the end of the transition period for the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020, EU nationals were able to come to the UK under freedom of movement and did not typically require separate permission (such as a visa). The majority of UK immigration control before 2021 related to non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. From 2021, EEA nationals became subject to immigration controls and are now more likely to obtain permission to travel to the UK. For many this will be under the EU Settlement Scheme (see How many people are granted settlement via the EU settlement scheme), while others will require a visa.

Entry clearance visas allow an individual to enter and stay in the UK within the period for which the visa is valid. From 2021, EEA nationals require a visa to enter the UK for family reasons, unless they are eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme or a free EU Settlement Scheme family permit.

Year-on-year comparisons of the number of decisions can be affected by quarterly fluctuations in the data. These fluctuations can be examined in the quarterly data in the published tables.

For figures on family-related grants of settlement as well as residence documentation issued to EEA nationals and their family members, see ‘How many people are granted settlement or citizenship?’. Further data on the Family reunion visa category can be found in ‘Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK’.

More information about the statistics can be found in the user guide.

4.1 Extension of temporary stay in the UK

Extensions of temporary stay in the UK relate to individuals inside the UK extending or changing the status of their right to stay in the UK. An individual is required to apply for an extension or change in status before their existing permission to enter or stay in the UK expires.

The statistics do not show the number of people applying to extend their temporary stay in the UK, nor do they show how long an individual stayed in the UK following their extension.

Further information on the statistics in this section can be found in the extension section of the user guide.

4.2 Other sources

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish long-term international migration estimates. These are statistics under development that estimate the number of people immigrating to and emigrating from the UK for 12 months or more.

5. Data tables

Data on family immigration can be found in the following tables:

• Entry clearance visa summary tables
• Detailed Entry clearance visa datasets
• Extensions summary tables
• Detailed Extensions datasets

We welcome your feedback

If you have any comments or suggestions for the development of this report, please provide feedback by emailing [email protected]. Please include the words ‘PUBLICATION FEEDBACK’ in the subject of your email.

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems or have any feedback relating to accessibility, please email us.

See section 6 of the ‘About this release’ section for more details.