TENS of thousands of international students in the United Kingdom, including many Nigerians, have been issued fresh warnings to leave the country once their visas expire or risk deportation.
According to a BBC report on Tuesday, the UK Home Office has launched a proactive enforcement campaign, sending direct text messages and emails to students reminding them of their immigration obligations.
The unprecedented move comes amid what authorities described as an “alarming” rise in the number of student visa holders attempting to remain in Britain by filing asylum claims.
The messages, which have already reached about 10,000 students with visas nearing expiration, read: “If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”
Officials said a further 130,000 students and dependents are expected to receive similar warnings in the coming months, coinciding with the busy autumn academic intake.
Data from the Home Office shows that in 2023, about 15 per cent of asylum applications roughly 16,000 cases came from individuals who initially entered the UK on student visas.
Officials noted that this represents a sharp rise compared to 2020 figures, although there has been a 10 per cent decline in the most recent year.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper explained that some students were “claiming asylum even when nothing had changed in their home countries,” putting further strain on Britain’s overstretched asylum accommodation system.
“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,” Cooper told the BBC.
The policy shift is expected to affect thousands of Nigerian students, who represent one of the largest groups of international enrollees in UK universities.
Many Nigerian families have made significant financial sacrifices to send their children abroad, banking on post-study work opportunities.
However, under the Labour government’s tougher rules, the post-study work visa period is being cut from two years to 18 months, reducing the window for foreign graduates to secure jobs before returning home.
The development has sparked concern among Nigerian students and diaspora groups, who fear that legitimate graduates seeking work experience in the UK may be caught up in the crackdown.
Of the 108,000 asylum claims made in 2023, around 40,000 came from people who entered legally through study, work, or visitor visas. By contrast, 35,000 applications came from small boat crossings.
The Home Office insists that tackling student visa abuse is essential to restoring credibility to the asylum system.
“Student visa asylum claims may only be 10 per cent of the total, but to fix the system, we must tackle every single part of it,” Cooper said.
The government further warned that asylum claims deemed without merit would be “swiftly and robustly refused,” and students not meeting destitution criteria would not be entitled to accommodation or financial support.