The United Kingdom will suspend new study visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan and will halt work visas for Afghans, as part of a crackdown on what it says is a sharp rise in asylum claims linked to student visa holders.
According to Al Jazeera, the UK Home Office announced on Tuesday that an “emergency brake” will be applied to visa applications from the four countries for the first time.
The move follows what officials described as a dramatic surge in asylum claims lodged by individuals who initially entered Britain on student visas.
The Home Office said asylum applications from students of the four nationalities increased by more than 470 percent between 2021 and 2025.
“Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused,” Secretary of State for the Home Department Shabana Mahmood said.
“That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity,” she added.
Migration has become a central political issue in the UK, with the hard-right Reform UK gaining ground in opinion polls on the back of its anti-immigration platform.
The UK’s Press Association reported that the visa restrictions will be formally introduced through a change to immigration rules on Thursday. Mahmood is also expected to outline a stricter asylum framework in a speech the same day.
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