UK plans crackdown on misuse of study, work visas for asylum claims

London: The UK government on Tuesday said that it is building intelligence around foreign nationals who abuse study and work visa grants to go on to claim asylum in the country, a category led by Pakistanis.

The UK Home Office has not revealed details around the expected crackdown, first reported in ‘The Times’, with more on the plans expected to be laid out in its proposed ‘Immigration White Paper’ later this month.

However, official government statistics reveal that the largest increase in asylum claims came from Pakistani nationals, rising 79 per cent in the last year to 10,542.

“To tackle abuse by foreign nationals who arrive on work and study visas and go on to claim asylum, we are building intelligence on the profile of these individuals to identify them earlier and faster,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

“We keep the visa system under constant review and where we detect trends, which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action. Under our Plan for Change, our upcoming ‘Immigration White Paper’ will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system,” the spokesperson said.

According to Home Office data for 2024, Indian nationals come in sixth among the top 10 nationalities claiming asylum in the UK, making up just 1 per cent of “grants”.

This contrasts with a 53 per cent grant rate for Pakistanis and Afghans and 64 per cent for Iranians. Bangladesh (19 per cent), Syria (98 per cent), Vietnam (25 per cent), Eritrea (87 per cent), Sudan (99 per cent), and Iraq (32 per cent) complete the top 10 tally.

Under UK legislation, asylum seekers, including those who entered the UK on a visa, who would otherwise be destitute, can obtain support under sections 98 and 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.  The “destitution threshold” is considered to be the minimum an individual needs to enable them to obtain adequate accommodation and meet other essential needs.

Anyone applying for support is required to provide information about their personal circumstances, which includes declaring all income, assets, and other forms of support available to them, including information or evidence provided in a visa application.

According to sources, officials are continuing to implement measures to ensure that international students, the institutions they are coming to study at, and the immigration system are protected from “those who wish to exploit it”.

Last year, around 40,000 asylum claims were lodged by people who had entered on a UK visa – 16,000 of those being foreign students, 11,500 on a work visa and 9,500 on a visitor visa.

It came as net migration, or the number coming into the UK minus those leaving, was logged as 728,000 in the year until June 2024 – a figure that the government has pledged to bring down given the soaring costs to the taxpayer.  Some measures introduced by the previous Rishi Sunak-led Conservative Party government are showing signs of some impact, with a reduction in student visas and dependents accompanying those students.

The Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led Labour government is under added pressure over the issue following a shock win by the anti-immigration Reform in a byelection last week, giving the far-right party a fifth member of Parliament.

It has caused much alarm among the main political parties at Nigel Farage-led Reform’s growing impact in recent elections, largely on the back of attacks over rising migration costs to British taxpayers.