Home Office immigration statistics
Asylum
Claims, decisions, grants, the queue awaiting a decision, support and accommodation, small boat arrivals and returns, each from the Home Office's own tables.
Stage by stage
Each stage is the latest official figure for that stage. The stages do not follow one set of people or cases; a decision this year is on a claim from an earlier year.
- Arrival by small boat33,374 people Year ending June 2026 · down 22.9%People detected crossing the Channel; most claim asylum, but this is not a claim.
- Application85,891 people Year ending June 2026 · down 20.9%Claims lodged (main applicants and dependants) in the year.
- Waiting40,168 people Year ending June 2026 · down 55.8%People awaiting an initial decision at the end of the period; a stock, not a flow.
- Initial decision115,872 people Year ending June 2026 · up 2.4%Decisions made in the year, on claims lodged in earlier periods.
- Grant42,394 people Year ending June 2026 · down 20.7%Grants of protection or other leave at initial decision.
- Grant rate38.1% Year ending June 2026 · down 10.1 pointsGrants as a share of initial decisions, not of claims.
- AppealNot loadedAppeal outcomes are published by the Ministry of Justice and are not yet loaded.
- Return12,568 returns Year ending June 2026 · up 13.9%Returns of people who had claimed asylum at some point; not a cohort of refused claimants.
Support and accommodation
Detention and returns
Longer history
People often confuse this with
Asylum application ≠ Grant of asylumAn application is a claim lodged; a grant is a decision to give protection or other leave. Decisions are made on claims lodged months or years earlier, so applications and grants in the same year describe different people.
Small boat arrival ≠ Asylum decisionSmall boat arrivals are people detected crossing the Channel. Almost all claim asylum, but an arrival is not a claim, a claim is not a decision, and a decision is not a grant. The Home Office publishes each stage separately.