Written question asked by Andrew Snowden (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 2 July 2026. It was answered by Alex Norris (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 on behalf of the Home Office.
Undocumented Migrants
- Question
-
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what methodology was used to estimate the figure of 412,000 illegal migrants in the United Kingdom.
- Answer
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The figure was derived from a review of Home Office case working systems and includes individuals who are believed to be in the UK and do not have valid leave recorded. The figure also includes foreign nationals who hold valid leave but are being considered for deportation following a criminal conviction, and reflects individuals known to the Home Office.
To be clear, this figure is not a definitive list of every illegal migrant in the UK. Rather, it is the number of cases contained within an internal Home Office workflow database, which the Department uses to support the prioritisation of case management and enforcement activity.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 14511
- Session
- 2026-27
- Subjects
- Undocumented migrants
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-07-14 16:36:12 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/14511
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- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/14511
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- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/14511