RECENT IMMIGRATION INTO BRITAIN
Table 1.2
Main routes of entry, 2007 Labour migration 1 Worker Registration Scheme (A8) Work permits Highly Skilled Migrant Programme* Working holiday-makers Seasonal agricultural workers Domestic workers UK ancestry Ministers of religion Au pairs Post graduate doctors and dentists Family migration Spouses and fiancé/es Children Settlement on arrival Dependants (work permits, students) Students
Numbers 217,740 86,300 21,934 37,700 16,250 10,600 7,220 860 765 75 42,200 7.150 7,940 54,400 346,000
Sources: Home Office, 2008a, Home Office et al, 2008, Salt, 2007. Note: * These figures refer to 2006 (Salt, 2007). A large number of migrants already in the country switched into this category: 14,900 principal applicants and 14,900 dependants in 2006–7 (Freedom of Information, 8799). Of these, 3,670 were postgraduate doctors, 2,430 working holiday makers, 1,820 students and 3,680 work permit holders. The first two categories are no longer permitted to switch under the points-based system.
1.2 Nationalities of the ‘new migrants’ Recent studies of migrants have measured nationality primarily by country of birth rather than formal citizenship. Many statistics covering ethnic minorities are too imprecise and incorporate a number of disparate nationalities. Immigration statistics produced by UKBA do not contain data on British ethnic categories but use nationality (formal citizenship) as a surrogate for race, in response to the Race Equality Impact Assessment. Although migrants from the Indian sub-continent remain the largest single group, entering both as skilled migrants and family members, the nationalities have become increasingly diverse, with growing numbers from Africa, the Middle East and Asia other than the Indian subcontinent (see Table 1.3). Among Europeans, the biggest influx has come from Eastern Europe, especially Poland. Over 80 per cent of Eastern European migrants have entered in the period 2002 to 2007. Numbers from highincome countries, such as Australia (32.4 per cent), New Zealand (34.2 per cent) and
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Labour routes generally decreased from 2006 with several categories falling sharply. Postgraduate doctors and dentists had been 330 and au pairs 1,840 in 2006.
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