More than 14% spike has been seen in the British citizenship application by European Union nationals living in the UK following the EU referendum in June. The uncertain outcome of the vote resulted in the rise in the figure. The 14% rise in applications for British passports from EU nationals to 15,501 included a 26% rise in applications from Italians and a 9% rise from Polish nationals in Britain.
On the other hand, the net annual migration to Britain had already started to dip before the referendum as disclosed by the latest set of immigration figures. The referendum campaign was dominated by the publication of net migration figures showing annual net migration in 2015 rising to a near-record level of 333,000 and appearing out of control. However, the recent figures as announced by the Office for National Statistics revealed that annual net migration to Britain actually fell by 9,000 to 327,000 in the 12 months to March 2016.
A sharp fall in the number of overseas students coming to Britain in the year to March also saw a drop as the detailed figures showed. Their numbers are down by 28,000 to 164,000 and the lowest level since 2007. The Home Office figures show the largest falls were in numbers coming to study in further education colleges and English language schools but there was also a drop in those going to universities as well. The number of EU citizens migrating to the UK in the first quarter of 2016 was 180,000, for non-EU citizens it was 190,000.
For the migrants work is the most common reason for the arrival. The immigration minister, Robert Goodwill shared his insight stating that the reducing the number of migrants coming to the UK would be a priority for the negotiations to leave the EU.
Significantly, high levels of EU migration were a major theme in the referendum debate, and predicted that changing it after Brexit will be an impossible task. The impact of the referendum outcome on the economy as well as the UK’s impression as an attractive destination for migrants remains uncertain.
