The wait for a UK visa has got longer as a huge demand for the same has led to higher processing time.
During the pandemic from September 2021 to September 2020, the UK has issued more than double the student visas than it did in the same period the previous year.
“Compared with the previous year, there was an increase of 45,677 (+102%) grants to Indian nationals, reaching 90,669. This was also 197% higher than the year ending September 2019. Indian nationals remain the nationality with the second-highest number of Sponsored study visa grants. Chinese and Indian nationals together comprise more than half (53%) of all Sponsored study grants,” data released by the British Home Office showed.
According to the Home Office, pandemic travel restrictions saw passenger arrival in the UK decline 69% in the year ending September 2021 over the same period in the previous year.
Similarly, visas granted was 19% less in this period.
“There were an estimated 21 million passenger arrivals in the year ending September 2021 (including returning UK residents), a 69% (46.3 million) decrease compared with the previous year. This was due to the travel restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. There were 1,115,155 visas granted in the year ending September 2021, 19% fewer than the previous year and 64% fewer than the year before as a result of the global pandemic. Of the visas granted in this last 12 months, 39% were for study, 23% were to visit, 18% were to work, 4% were for family, and 15% for other reasons,” statistics published by the UK home office said.
