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Pakistani nationals have topped the list of asylum seekers in Britain who originally entered the country on student visas, according to fresh immigration data.
Over the past year, nearly 14,800 asylum requests were submitted by individuals who first arrived on study visas.
Among them, 5,700 were Pakistanis, the highest figure, followed by applicants from India, Bangladesh and Nigeria.
The figures come amid a wider crackdown by the UK Home Office on visa overstayers and a temporary freeze on new refugee family reunification applications.
For the first time, around 130,000 students and their families will be contacted directly by email and text, with officials citing an “alarming rise” in asylum applications from those whose study visas have lapsed.
The Home Office message makes the warning clear: “If you submit an asylum claim without merit, it will be swiftly refused. If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave; otherwise, we will remove you.”
The British government also temporarily suspended new applications for refugee family reunification. The Home Secretary clarified that, for the time being, asylum seekers will not be able to file fresh requests for bringing their families to the UK.
