The UK government has begun directly warning foreign students that they will face deportation if they remain in the country after their visas expire.
According to the Home Office, the move comes amid a rise in students entering on study visas and later applying for asylum—often without significant changes in conditions back home.
For the first time, the department is sending text and email alerts to students as their visas near expiration
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC that some individuals are exploiting the system by lodging asylum claims at the end of their studies, leading to years-long cases that strain housing and accommodation resources.
“We will continue to support genuine refugees,” Cooper said, “but if nothing has changed in their country, people should not be claiming asylum after completing a student course.”
In the year to June, about 13% of asylum claims—around 14,800—came from former students, nearly six times more than in 2020. Although applications have since fallen by 10%, ministers want further reductions.
Ten thousand students with visas nearing expiry have already been contacted, with tens of thousands more set to receive similar warnings this autumn.
The message reads: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused… If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”
The government has also tightened visa rules, including stricter sponsorship conditions for universities and reducing the post-study work period from two years to 18 months.
As Parliament resumed on Monday, Cooper also announced a temporary halt to new refugee family reunion applications and confirmed that the UK-France migrant return deal will start later this month
