The telegraph
The number of people who exceed the visa term almost doubles in five years
The number of foreigners who exceed their visa expiration has almost doubled to more than 90,000 a year amid fears that negligent immigration controls are allowing people to remain in the UK illegally. It comes in addition to more than 500,000 national visitors without a visa who were not registered as having left on time in a two-year period analyzed by the Chief Border Inspector. A new analysis by the think tank Migration Watch reveals that 4.8 percent of the 1.9 million people who came to the UK on work or study visas did not leave in time – the equivalent of 91,900 people and more than 49,400, or 3.7 percent in 2016 -17. However, these figures do not cover the largest share of visitors from outside the EU – so-called “citizens without visas”, who are citizens of 55 countries who do not need a visitor visa to come to the UK for a period of six months. . They include millions of visits a year from the United States, Mexico, Brazil and, in the wake of Brexit, also include visitors from the EU. The most recent investigation conducted by the Chief Independent Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) found that the number of national visitors without a visa not registered as leaving on time between 2015 and 2017 was 500,000 – just over 250,000 per year. The government refused to release recent data, despite repeated parliamentary questions earlier this year. Alp Mehmet, president of Migration Watch UK, said: “Overstaying is very likely to get worse, while the government appears to have ignored much of the data that could clear up the picture. No more promises to take back border control.” surveys point to a big problem, and it’s time for the government to tell us how they are going to tackle it. “The government introduced a new point-based post-Brexit immigration system last month, designed to end the UK’s dependence on Europe’s” cheap labor “. By limiting visas to low-skilled workers, it becomes easier for the most skilled workers to get them.