Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 general visas have been (a) made available and (b) issued since the introduction of a cap on those visas in 2010.

An annual limit on the number of Tier 2 (General) authorisations has been in force since 6 April 2011 and applies to Certificates of Sponsorship issued to non-EEA nationals seeking admission to the UK for the purpose of employment.

This annual limit has stood at 20,700 in each year since 6 April 2011 and is released on a monthly basis. The number of Certificates of Sponsorship made
available each month to Tier 2 sponsors under this limit has, since May 2014, been published at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-sponsorship-restricted-certificate-allocations/allocations-of-restricted-certificates-of-sponsorship.

The number of visas issued to holders of a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship since 2010 is as follows in the Table below.