The United Kingdom has issued a stern warning to international students, asking them to leave the country once their visas expire or risk deportation.
According to the BBC, the Home Office has launched a first-of-its-kind campaign, directly contacting tens of thousands of students via text messages and emails to caution against overstaying.
This action follows what officials described as an “alarming rise” in the number of student visa holders attempting to remain in the UK by filing asylum claims.
“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you,” the warning messages read.
Home Office data shows that around 16,000 asylum applications last year approximately 15 per cent of the total were made by people who initially entered the UK on student visas.
The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper criticised the trend, saying, “We obviously will do our bit to support genuine refugees, but if nothing has changed in their country, people should not be claiming asylum at the end of a student course.”
She noted that the rising number of student asylum claims is placing additional pressure on already overstretched asylum accommodation and hotel services.
Presently, 10,000 students whose visas are close to expiry have been contacted directly. A further 130,000 students and their families are expected to receive similar warnings in the coming months, coinciding with the autumn academic intake.
The crackdown forms part of broader immigration reforms under the Labour government. Earlier in May, the Home Office reduced the post-study work visa period for international graduates from two years to 18 months, while also introducing tougher requirements for universities sponsoring foreign students.
Amongst the 108,000 asylum applications filed in 2024, around 40,000 came from legal entrants on study, work, or visitor visas—outnumbering the 35,000 applications from Channel boat arrivals. Student visa holders made up the single largest group among legal entrants seeking asylum, almost six times higher than in 2020.
Cooper maintained that while student-related asylum claims account for just over 10 per cent of total applications, “to fix the system, we must tackle every single bit of it.”
