58 percent increase in the UK passport for foreigners

United Kingdom, February 27: As per the latest figures, there has been an increase of 58 percent in the number of UK passports issued to the foreigners in the year 2009 as compared to the figures for the year 2008.

UK immigration figures say that a total of 203,865 UK visa applicants were granted UK citizenship in the year 2009. 

Apart from those granted UK citizenship, almost tens of thousands of immigrants got the right to live in the UK. 

The official data from UK immigration department stated an increase in the grants of settlement related to jobs in the UK to 81,000 in the year 2009. The figures for the settlement grants for UK jobs were 37,000 in 2007 and 60,000 in 2008. This is despite the economic slowdown hitting the country just like several other nations of the world in the last year and a half. 

The number of UK student visas issued also witnessed a significant hike in the year 2009. The figures from the UK immigration department show that UK student visas granted during the last four months of 2009 were 61,715 which depicted a rise of 92 percent compared with the figures for the same period in the previous year (2008). 

No wonder, this unabated increase in the issue of UK student visas have put the effectiveness of the UK’s new points-based system introduced for student visas. 

The trend for the UK immigration was different for immigrants from different nations. To cite an example, the number of immigrants in the UK from Lithuania and Latvia almost doubled while the number of Polish nationals seeking immigration to work in the UK went down by 25 percent. 

This mixed trend witnessed in the UK immigration figures has invited severe criticism from far and wide. 

The critics argue that the UK immigration is virtually out of control and needs immediate remedial measures from the UK immigration department to curb issuance of UK work visas even when the nation (UK) has been going through tough times, economically.