Modern immigration to the United Kingdom

This article is about immigration to the United Kingdom since the independence of Ireland in 1922. For immigration before Irish Independence, see Historical immigration to Great Britain. For information and statistics on the resident foreign-born population of the UK, see Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom.
"Welsh immigration" redirects here; not to be confused with Welsh emigration.

Since 1945, immigration to the United Kingdom, controlled by British immigration law and to an extent by British nationality law, has been significant, in particular from the former territories of the British Empire and the member states of the EU and EFTA. Since the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, migration from countries outside the European Economic Area has dominated immigration to the UK.

The British Nationality Act 1948 granted residency rights to all colonial subjects, approximately 800 million, enabling mass post-war immigration. The Commonwealth Immigrants Acts (1962, 1968) and Immigration Act 1971 rescinded these rights by introducing work vouchers and ancestral requirements that favoured those with parent or grandparent to have been born in the UK. The British Nationality Act 1981 abolished the 1948 citizenship status.

Since the United Kingdom acceded to the European Communities in the 1970s and the creation of the European Union in the early 1990s, people have migrated from member states of the European Union, exercising one of the European Union's Four Freedoms. Migration to and from Central and Eastern Europe increased since 2004, following the accession of eight Central and Eastern European states to the European Union. Following the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020, at 11 pm GMT, this freedom of movement ceased. Citizens of EEA+CH member states no longer had an automatic right to move to or reside permanently in the UK without a visa.

A smaller number have come as illegal immigrants, many of which have claimed asylum.

According to the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses the foreign-born population was 10.7 million or 16% of the total United Kingdom, a 34% increase over the 2011 census, although the census gives no indication of their immigration status or intended length of stay.

The UK currently uses a points-based immigration system. The UK Government can also grant settlement to foreign nationals, which confers on them indefinite leave to remain in the UK, without granting them British citizenship. Grants of settlement are made on the basis of various factors, including employment, family formation and reunification, and asylum (including to deal with backlogs of asylum cases).

Long-term net migration is estimated to have reached a record high of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, with immigration at 1,469,000 and emigration at 525,000.

According to the Office for National Statistics' provisional estimate, released November 2025, long-term net migration in the year ending June 2025 was +204,000 (consisting of non-EEA+CH nationals at +383,000, British nationals at -109,000, and EEA+CH nationals at -70,000). Total immigration was 898,000: non-EEA+CH nationals accounted for 75% of total immigration (670,000), British nationals comprised 16% (143,000), and EEA+CH nationals constituted 9% (85,000). The top three nationalities from non-EU+ countries immigrating on work-related visas were Indian, Pakistani, and Nigerian. Meanwhile, total emigration was 693,000: non-EEA+CH nationals accounted for 41% of total emigration (286,000), British nationals composed 36% (252,000), and EEA+CH nationals accounted for 22% (155,000).

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