- UK announces crackdown amid rise in asylum claims from people entering country on work and study visas in what government calls abuse of the system.
- The Home Office says asylum applications from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan increased by more than 470% in four years.
- But migration experts say people from the affected countries are not the largest source of asylum claims from visa holders, warning of the “collateral damage” of similar restrictions on other countries.
Under the policy, study visas will no longer be issued to applicants from the four countries. Work visas for Afghan nationals will also be halted.
The changes will be introduced through amendments to immigration rules on March 5 and will take effect on March 26.
In a statement, the government said the decision followed an increase in asylum claims from people who had first entered the UK legally on visas.
According to government figures, about 133,760 people have claimed asylum after arriving through legal routes since 2021. Ministers say this trend has contributed to rising costs for the asylum system, which the government estimated at more than £4 billion per year.
The Home Office also said asylum applications from students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan had increased by more than 470% between 2021 and 2025.
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the policy was intended to address what the government described as abuse of the visa system.
“Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused,” said Mahmood.
Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused
Shabana Mahmood, UK Home Secretary
“That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity. I will restore order and control to our borders.”
The government said asylum claims from people who entered through legal routes have “more than trebled since 2021”, accounting for about 39% of roughly 100,000 asylum applications last year.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 following the announcement, Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford was asked whether there has been a “sea change” under the current Home Secretary.
“I think that is right. I think we are seeing a much more aggressive use of visa policy. It’s something that was in the previous government’s policy, and they put it on the books, the ability to do these kinds of measures, but didn’t really use them,” said Sumption.
She said the number of people arriving on visas and later claiming asylum is now broadly similar to the number of people arriving on small boats and then applying for asylum.
However, she added that the four countries targeted by the new restrictions are not the largest sources of asylum claims from visa holders. She said Pakistan accounts for the largest share of people who enter the UK on visas and later claim asylum, at about a quarter of the total – roughly 9,000 people.
Sumption suggested that imposing similar restrictions on Pakistan could have wider consequences: “The collateral damage of having a visa ban on Pakistan would be much greater, because there are so many more tens of thousands of people who come in on visas and don’t claim asylum.”
