The Home Office has published provisional figures showing 80,286 returns from the UK between 1 July 2024 and 31 July 2026, with illegal working, Northern Ireland and marriage referral data alongside.
Between 1 July 2024 and 31 July 2026, the Home Office recorded 80,286 returns, covering both enforced and voluntary returns. Of these, 19,622 were enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK. A total of 11,733 were foreign national offenders (FNOs), including 5,995 early removal scheme (ERS) returns. There were 24,471 asylum related returns and 6,103 returns of people who arrived via small boat. The source records 167 charter flights over the period.
In the two years from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026, 78,137 returns were recorded. That is 52% more than the 51,542 recorded in the two years before.
In the 12 months from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026, there were 39,690 returns, up 5% on 37,713 a year earlier. Enforced returns were 9,679 (9,238 a year earlier). FNO returns were 5,928, up 11%. ERS returns were 3,141, up 20%. Asylum related returns were 12,412, up 10%. Small boat arrival returns were 3,427, up 39%. There were 94 charter flights in this period.
The release says the data is provisional and taken from live operational systems. It says data for recent periods will initially undercount returns, because some people do not tell the Home Office they have left, and that comparisons of more recent periods with earlier ones should be made with caution.
Illegal working enforcement, 1 January to 30 June 2026: 7,270 visits (up 31% on the same period of 2025) and 4,756 arrests (up 20%). Civil penalties were issued in 561 cases in 2026 Q1 and 677 in 2026 Q2. Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2026, 2,357 people arrested on illegal working visits had been returned so far, against 1,570 in the two years before. The release says these returns cannot be directly attributed to the arrest.
In Northern Ireland, between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2026, there were 3,037 enforcement visits and 2,482 arrests. A total of 994 people were subsequently returned, 515 of them with a destination of Ireland.
The marriage referral scheme figures record 2,125 couples who failed, without reasonable excuse, to comply with scheme requirements in 2024 and 2025, and a further 381 couples identified as non-genuine relationships and referred for enforcement action.
What this means for applicants
This is a statistical release. The source notes that the Government has passed new laws extending right to work checks and employer sanctions for non-compliance to companies that use flexible worker models. It encourages employers to carry out compliant Right to Work checks, with guidance in the Home Office employer's guide, and says suspected immigration crime can be reported at gov.uk/report-immigration-crime.
Sources
- Returns from the UK and enforcement activity, Home Office