Immigration from Ukraine between 1991 and 2021 – statistical data on the arrival and settlement in the United Kingdom of citizens of Ukraine, from the establishment of Ukraine as an independent state to the end of 2021.
Published statistics on the admission of citizens of Ukraine to the UK are available only for 1998 to 2018. For years before 1998 data is available only for the countries of the former Soviet Union as a whole, or of the former Soviet Union excluding Russia. From 2019 data is not available as a result of the withdrawal of the requirement for landing cards to be completed on arrival in the UK.
The largest numbers of Ukrainian citizens arriving in the UK were those with visitors’ visas (allowing entry to the UK for up to six months). Their annual number grew from about 14,900 in 1998 to 76,800 in 2018. Around 70% of the visitors were classified as ordinary visitors (mainly family visitors and tourists), the remainder entering the country on various types of business.
The next largest category of Ukrainians entering the UK (excluding individuals returning after a temporary absence abroad and those in transit through the UK) was that of persons with student visas. The number arriving each year fluctuated considerably: between 1998 and 2005 it declined from 3,460 to 1,460, then rose to 5,040 in 2013 and fell again to 2,865 in 2017. About 70% of the students arrived for short-term study, mainly to take English language courses.
The number of Ukrainians arriving in the UK each year on work visas increased from 1,680 in 1998 to 7,140 in 2004, then declined to 4,970 in 2007. About 75% of these workers had visas issued under the UK’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) for periods of up to six months, while others were admitted for periods of up to 5 years. At the end of 2007 the SAWS was closed to nationals of all countries except Bulgaria and Romania, and the scheme was closed completely at the end of 2013. This led to a major reduction in the number of Ukrainians arriving on work visas: between 2008 and 2018 this number did not exceed 1,000 in any year. The overall decline from 2004 can be also partly attributed to the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union (EU), which increased the number of EU nationals with a right to work in the UK, thereby reducing opportunities for workers from non-EU countries, such as Ukraine. In 2019 a new SAWS was introduced, under which the largest numbers of visas in the years to 2021 were issued to nationals of Ukraine: approximately 2,300 in 2019, 6,300 in 2020 and 19,800 in 2021.
The annual number of Ukrainians entering the UK on the basis of a family visa increased from 113 in 1998 to 510 in 2006, then declined to 75 in 2018. This category comprised persons arriving to join family members, in most cases spouses or fiancé(e)s, who were British citizens or permanently settled in the UK.
After a qualifying period of continuous lawful residence in the UK, which varies according to type of visa, a person may apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the country. Between 1998 and 2021, ILR in the UK was granted to almost 16,500 Ukrainian citizens. The largest categories comprised 7,100 wives of British citizens or permanent residents, 3,000 children (under 18 years of age) of parents with ILR, and 2,500 individuals with the required work-related residence.
Non-UK citizens who have ILR and have lived in the UK for at least five years or are married to British citizens may (subject to additional conditions) apply for naturalisation as British citizens. Children under the age of 18 may, subject to various rules, become British citizens by registration. Between 1991 and 2020 approximately 17,370 Ukrainian nationals acquired British citizenship, including 8,450 adults naturalised on the basis of residence, 5,510 naturalised on the basis of marriage, and 3,230 children who became British citizens by registration. A further 960 Ukrainians became British citizens in 2021, but the breakdown of this number is not available.
Information on numbers of Ukrainians in the UK after 1991 is also contained the results of population censuses which were carried out in 2001, 2011 and 2021/2 (2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2022 in Scotland). In the 2001 census, 11,913 respondents gave Ukraine as the current name of their country of birth, and the corresponding figure in 2011 was 21,783. The breakdown of the latter was as follows: England – 20,320, Scotland – 838, Wales – 380, Northern Ireland – 245. A further 483 respondents in 2001, and 2,189 in 2011, stated that they were born in the USSR, and it can be assumed that some of them were born in Ukraine. In 2021, the numbers of respondents who gave Ukraine as their country of birth were 37,000 in England, 530 in Wales and 415 in Northern Ireland (total, excluding Scotland – 37,945). The corresponding figure for the 2022 census in Scotland is not available. Most of the respondents in these censuses who gave Ukraine as their country of birth are likely to have come to the UK after 1991, although some may have arrived earlier, particularly during or immediately after the Second World War.
The above census figures almost certainly understate the actual numbers of Ukrainians in the UK, since many of those among the UK’s undocumented immigrant population may have failed to complete census returns. Such undocumented immigrants consisted mainly of individuals who remained in the UK for various lengths of time after the expiry of their visas, or who may have entered the country without appropriate documents. Unofficially it has been estimated that in the mid 2000s over 100,000 individuals who had Ukrainian citizenship or considered themselves to be Ukrainian were living in the UK.
Data sources
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics
https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk
https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/census
International Organization for Migration, Ukraine: Mapping Exercise (London, 2007)