Indians top UK settlement and citizenship grants as ILR rules tighten

London,UPDATED: Aug 27, 2026 19:38 IST

Indian nationals were the largest group granted settlement and British citizenship in the UK in the latest Home Office figures, which also showed a rise in permanent settlement grants over the past year. The data said Indians continued to account for the highest number of visitor visas and graduate route extensions, although student and graduate-related categories recorded declines.

The figures were released ahead of planned changes to settlement rules in Britain. Settlement rights, currently available after five years on valid visa routes, are set to be doubled from later this year under proposals by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. The changes placed before Parliament include a 15-year wait for Indefinite Leave to Remain for low-paid workers and up to 20 years for migrants who access taxpayer-funded benefits.

The latest set of immigration data, released under the previous regime, showed a 24 per cent rise in grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain, or ILR, which opens the route to British citizenship. The Home Office said, "In the YE [year ending] June 2026, Indian nationals remained the largest nationality group granted settlement, with grants (35,384) increasing by 51 per cent compared with the previous year." It added, "This mainly reflected the growing number of Indian nationals who entered the UK on work routes in recent years and have since completed the qualifying period of continuous residence required for settlement."

Indians at 24,851 and Pakistanis at 18,489 were also the two largest nationality groups granted British citizenship in the 2025 to 2026 period. A Home Office summary said, "Indian and Pakistani nationals continued to account for the highest numbers of British citizenship grants, mainly through naturalisation, and consistent with longstanding settlement trends."

In other migration categories, Indian nationals accounted for the highest number of visitor visas granted at 514,398, although this was 9 per cent lower than the previous year. Indians were also granted the highest number of Graduate route extensions to stay and work in the UK at 64,495, but this category too declined over the year. The data said the fall in extensions was largely linked to an 81 per cent drop in visa grants to dependent family members after rules were tightened across student visa routes.

The same trend was reflected in Indian student visas, which fell 16 per cent over the year to 82,523 in the year ending June 2026. Indians were pushed to second place behind Chinese nationals, who were granted 86,368 student visas during the year. The Home Office added, "Chinese (10,716), Indian (5,218), and Nigerian (3,820) nationals were the most common nationalities extending their stay on the student route in the latest year."

The figures come before further details are announced on the tighter rules, which are expected to affect an estimated 1.6 million migrants in the UK who are due to qualify for ILR between 2026 and 2030. Mahmood said: "A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly. "This government is restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system." She is expected to set out the details in the coming months, with "transitional arrangements" indicated for "borderline cases" involving foreigners who have been in the UK for nearly five years. Overall, the latest Home Office data showed Indians remained the biggest group across key UK migration routes even as stricter settlement rules are set to come into force later this year.

With PTI Inputs

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