Why are we expecting more migrants?

Rule changes in October last year to restrict resident visa arrivals had led us to believe that, this year, we’d see the beginning of a decline in net migration.  But arrivals on residency visas made up only 13% of inward migration in 2016, and people are still coming to our shores to work and to study.   Having delved into the relative effect of each of these visa categories on arrival numbers , we have revised our net migration forecasts substantially upwards from last time.