Visa slowdown: Indians face sharper curbs even in UK, New Zealand

It’s not just the US shutting out Indian migrants. Fresh data show that visa approvals for Indians in the UK and New Zealand have also dropped over the past two years, with declines across both work and family categories.

In the UK, the number of visas granted to Indians overall fell to 4.79 lakh in the six months to June 30 from 5.20 lakh during the same period in 2023. The steepest fall was in work visas, which halved to 35,390 from 88,737 two years earlier. Family linked visas also slipped, with partner visas dropping to 1,486 from over 2,000. Even student approvals—long a mainstay of Indian migration—showed volatility, falling to 34,650 this year after peaking at 53,122 in 2023.

The downturn stands out in comparison to India’s South Asian peers. While UK work visa approvals for Indians plunged by nearly 60 percent, Pakistan’s fell less sharply to 11,903 from 15,544. Bangladesh too recorded a more modest decline, securing 2,917 approvals against 9,001 in 2023. On the family route, Pakistan continues to dominate, with 5,244 approvals this year compared with just 1,762 for Indians.

New Zealand tells a similar story. Indians received only 3,948 work visas in the seven months to July 31, less than half the 9,660 cleared in 2024. Visitor and student flows have also slowed, though education remains relatively resilient, with 6,950 student visas granted this year. By contrast, Pakistan and Bangladesh recorded lower but steadier inflows, underscoring how Indians are bearing the sharper edge of policy recalibration.

Australia remains a partial exception. Temporary worker visas issued to Indians in the six months to June 30 increased to 7,000, up from 4,250 the previous year, indicating that Canberra still relies on Indian workers to fill labour gaps.

The squeeze comes against a backdrop of political churn and rising anti-immigration sentiment in the West. Family reunification and work categories have borne the brunt, while Indian mobility patterns—once dominated by skilled migration—are now increasingly strained.
An earlier Moneycontrol analysis had shown that Bangladesh edged ahead of India on family-preference visas and Pakistan pulled well ahead on spousal routes.