UK to end study visas from four countries due to misuse

The UK government will stop issuing study visas for students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan from this month. This comes amid a rise in widespread visa abuse in the country. It will also stop issuing skilled work visas to Afghans.

The UK Home Office said in a statement on Tuesday that “an ‘emergency brake’ on visas has been imposed for the first time on nationals from four countries”, following a surge in asylum claims by students on study visas.

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said that the number of asylum applications from international students originating from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan have increased by more than 470% 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..

According to the home office, asylum applications by students from these countries rocketed by over 470% in four years, meanwhile the number of Afghans on work visas claiming asylum is now outstripping the number of visas issued.  

Moreover, the statement said, “In an unprecedented step, the Home Office will end sponsored study visas from all 4 countries and skilled worker visas for Afghan nationals.”

Justifying the action, the department noted that “tough action is required as asylum claims from legal routes have more than trebled since 2021, making up 39% of the 100,000 people who applied last year. In total, 133,760 people have claimed asylum after arriving legally in the past 5 years.”

“Many are then accommodated at taxpayer expense, with an above average proportion of people from these 4 countries claiming destitution. Asylum support is currently costing more than £4 billion a year – with nearly 16,000 nationals from the 4 countries currently supported at public expense, including over 6,000 in hotels,” it clarified.

According to the statement, between 2021 and September 2025, 95% of Afghan study visa holders sought asylum, while applications by Myanmar students soared sixteen-fold over the same period.  

“Claims by students from Cameroon and Sudan spiked by more than 330%, posing an unsustainable threat to the UK’s asylum system,” said the department.

It noted that the UK has reduced student asylum claims by 20% over 2025, but “further action is needed as those arriving on study visas still make up 13% of all claims in the system”.

The government confirmed that the proposed “visa brake” will be introduced through a change in Immigration Rules on March 5, 2026, and will come into force from March 26, 2026.

The UK government has warned that it could suspend visa services for countries that refuse to take back their citizens staying illegally in Britain. In November 2025, the Home Secretary had threatened to shut down all UK visas for Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo if their governments did not cooperate in accepting illegal migrants and foreign national offenders.

Four months later, the UK government secured cooperation from all three countries. Authorities confirmed that deportation flights have now begun, with illegal migrants and foreign offenders returned to their home nations.

Britain provided refuge to thousands through humanitarian schemes. Since 2021, more than 37,000 Afghans have been resettled under two dedicated programmes, while around 1,90,000 visas were granted through humanitarian routes in 2025.