This statistical release from the Home Office provides an overview of people who come to the UK irregularly. It includes those arriving on a small boat across the English Channel (a ‘small boat arrival’), along with some other groups arriving without prior lawful permission.

Some people may also enter the UK on regular routes and their status subsequently become irregular (for example, if they overstay their visa). Others may enter through an irregular method and remain undetected or will be detected some time after their arrival. Other people may enter irregularly but obtain ‘regular’ status (for example, following an application for asylum).

The statistics presented here relate to the number of people detected on, or shortly after, arrival to the UK on various irregular routes. They do not include all those who enter the UK through irregular routes, nor the number of irregular migrants currently present in the UK. It is not possible to know the exact number of people currently resident in the UK without permission, nor the total number of people who enter the UK irregularly.

Some people seek to enter the UK without valid permission but are prevented from reaching the UK border (for example, at the juxtaposed controls in France and Belgium, or further afield, if prevented from travelling). Prevented attempts are not counted in this release. Any counts of attempted entries may relate to multiple attempts by the same individual, and therefore will not relate to numbers of persons.