A significant increase in the speed at which asylum claims are processed has slashed the backlog of initial asylum applications but is feeding into a ballooning backlog of appeals against negative decisions in the courts, Migration Observatory analysis of data released today by the Home Office has shown.
Home Office data show that total number of people claiming asylum (including dependants) in 2025 (101,000) remained at similar – almost record – levels to 2024 (105,000), but that faster processing has led to a sharp fall in the number of people awaiting an initial decision. This initial decision backlog almost halved, from just under 125,000 to around 64,000 from 2024 to 2025.
However, the reduction has not had a large impact on the total number of people receiving asylum support, which has increased slightly since Labour came into office in mid-2024. This is because applications have shifted from one backlog into another: Ministry of Justice data indicate that the total number of people awaiting for an appeal against an asylum decision doubled to just below 70,000 in the year ending September 2025.
The growing appeals backlog results from a larger number of initial decisions as well as a higher share being refused. In 2025, there were around 80,000 initial refusals, up from 46,000 in 2024. This took the initial asylum grant rate down to 42%, down from 47% in 2024 and 76% in 2022.
People awaiting an appeal are not liable for removal, and receive housing from the Home Office if they are destitute. This is often in “contingency accommodation” which in recent years has largely been hotels. As of 31 December 2025, the government was accommodating around 31,000 asylum seekers in hotels – around 5,000 fewer than at the end of September 2025, but still 1,000 more than when they took office. The number of people living in non-hotel asylum accommodation increased slowly, by only 2.5% in 2025.
Dr Peter Walsh, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “Refused applications will inevitably lead to tens of thousands more appeals, adding significant pressure to the already very stretched tribunals system.
“Hotel accommodation is unpopular all round: it is expensive for the UK taxpayer and not suitable for long-term living. However, the government has struggled to expand capacity in other types of accommodations, such as disused military sites or dispersed houses of multiple occupancy. It is also struggling to reduce the number of people in the asylum system, because asylum applications remain unusually high and because of the appeals backlog. ”
Overall asylum grant rates fell from 47% in 2024 to 42% in 2025, with significant drops for some nationalities with Syrians (drop from 98% in 2024 to 9% in 2025), Afghans (51% to 34%), Somalis (49% to 35%) and Pakistanis (53% to 35%) seeing the largest declines. This follows an increase in the standard of proof following 2022 legislation that now affects most asylum decisions. There have also been changes in Home Office guidance on some countries, such as Syria and Afghanistan.
The continued high number of asylum claims in the UK diverges from patterns in the EU, which saw an estimated decline of 20% in asylum applications over the past year.
Today’s Home Office data also confirm that in 2025 there were 41,000 small boat arrivals – slightly below the 2022 record of around 46,000, with (Eritreans (7,600) the largest single group of people arriving in the UK in this manner, followed by Afghans (4,800), Iranians (4,500), and Sudanese (4,400). Most asylum seekers do not arrive on small boats, which accounted for only 41% of total asylum applicants in 2025. The number of asylum seekers who had initially entered the UK as students or student dependants fell slightly from 16,000 in 2024 to 12,600 in 2025, potentially due to falling numbers of visas granted that year.
The number of unauthorised migrants deported or otherwise departing from the UK increased by 9%, from 34,800 in 2024 to 37,900 in 2025 – the highest level since 2017 and below levels seen in the early 2010s. Returns remained concentrated among a relatively small number of nationalities, with more than half of all returns coming from the top 3 countries – India (25%), Brazil (15%), and Albania (11%). Many of the countries with the highest number of refused asylum seekers, such as Afghanistan or Bangladesh, continue to see comparatively low numbers of returns.
Dr Mihnea Cuibus, researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “The number of returns has been on an upwards trajectory since 2021. This follows increases in immigration enforcement budgets and higher levels of immigration, particularly from countries like India that have generally been easier to return people to. However, there are many countries to which the UK struggles to return people without the legal right to be here, often for practical reasons such as difficulty proving people’s identity and obtaining travel documents”.
Meanwhile, the number of legal visas issued fell slightly in 2025, following particularly sharp declines the previous year. Non-visit visa grants fell 15% in 2025, reaching 809,000.
The number of visas issued for refugee family reunification fell from 5,300 in September 2025 to 2,800 in December 2025 — a 48% decline — following the suspension of rules that had previously exempted refugees from the £29,000 minimum income requirement to sponsor a partner and children. The applications granted will include ones submitted before the rule change.
Skilled work visas (including health & care visas) fell from 225,000 in 2024 to 122,000 in 2025 – a drop of 46% – driven particularly by fewer visa grants to low and middle skilled roles such as chefs, butchers, and care workers. The number of student visas issued increased by 3% in 2025, after a 31% decline in 2024 that followed the ban on most students bringing partners or children.
The UK has also seen a spike in applications for citizenship, with 292,000 applications
made in 2025, the highest level since the data series began in 2004. In the final quarter of 2025, when the government announced major changes to settlement policy, the number of citizenship applications reached 91,000, an increase of 44% on the previous quarter and the highest for any quarter on record.
Dr Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “The overall picture is that the number of people receiving visas has fallen slightly, but asylum applications remain unusually high by historical standards. The data illustrate a general challenge the government faces, which is that the types of migration that are easiest for the government to control and reduce are the ones that are most economically beneficial – most obviously higher-paid skilled workers in the private sector. Work visa restrictions in 2024 and 2025 fed through relatively predictably into lower visa grants, but government attempts to reduce asylum applications have had less effect. This is despite a stated government objective of reducing asylum applications, particular via the small boats route.”
