SIA licence application numbers and licence holder nationalities
Published 1 November 2023
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1. Request
Please could you provide a count of the number of applications you received for a SIA licence in each of the following periods: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 to date.
Please could you also provide a breakdown of how many of the applicants were classed as UK citizens and list all the other nationalities along with a count of how many applicants were of that nationality.
Please also provide a count of how many of the applicants had spent 6 continuous months or more outside the UK in the previous 6 months before their application.
2. Response
I can confirm that the SIA does hold this information.
2.1 Number of applications received
This information is exempt from disclosure under section 21(1) Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you by other means. Namely, it is readily available on the SIA website and you can view it here: SIA licence applications. Please open the spreadsheet and select the ‘Applications by Sector’ tab to view these figures broken down by the requested years.
2.2 Breakdown of licence holders by nationality
This information is exempt from disclosure under section 21(1) Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you by other means. Namely, it is readily available on the SIA website and you can view it here: SIA licence holders. Please select the desired month in the desired year, open the spreadsheet then select the ‘Nationality’ tab to view these figures.
2.3 Applicants living outside the UK for 6 months or more
Please see the below table. The total applicants reflect the total number who have spent more than 6 months living outside of the UK, within 6 months from the date they applied for an SIA licence.
| Year | Total Applicants |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,998 |
| 2020 | 1,802 |
| 2021 | 5,752 |
| 2022 | 13,109 |
| 2023 | 17,072 |
[Reference: FOI 0454]