Visa applications from nationality are most likely to cause overdue asylum and asylum in the UK, which could be subject to new government crackdown restrictions.
Under the home office plan first reported in the New York Times, people in countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka may find it difficult to come to work and study in the UK.
Ministers believe that this is a special issue for those who work or study visas on the ground and then file a claim for asylum – if granted, this will allow them to remain in the country permanently.
“Our upcoming immigration white paper will create a comprehensive plan to restore order in our broken immigration system,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
It is not clear which nationalities are most likely to cover their visas, as the Ministry of Home Affairs has not released statistics on visa personnel withdrawing from checks since 2020, due to the review of the accuracy of these numbers.
Many exits in the UK may not be recorded, meaning those without departure records are not necessarily still in the country.
Jonathan Portes, a senior fellow at the UK Academic Council, a changing academic think tank in Europe, said the impact of visa restrictions on the number of asylum applications is “possibly small”.
He told BBC 4's Province Today program: “I think the impact here is not the overall figure in general, but is aimed at reducing shelters considered abuse.”
“When you have someone who comes here on the surface as a student, and then quickly switch to the shelter route…it’s an abuse of the system – the government is working to reduce that.”
The latest home office data shows that over 108,000 people claimed shelters in the UK last year – the highest level since 1979.
A total of 10,542 Pakistani nationals claimed sanctuary – the most nationalities. About 2,862 Sri Lankan nationals and 2,841 Nigerian nationals took asylum away during the same period.
The latest data from 2023/24 also shows that there are 732,285 international students in the UK, most of whom are from India (107,480) and China (98,400).
The number of work and research visas in the UK has declined in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Since serving as Prime Minister last year, Sir Keir Starmer has promised to reduce illegal and legal immigration – but has previously refused to offer net immigration targets, saying “arbitrary caps” have no impact in the past.
Labor’s plans to reduce immigration include criminal offences that endanger the lives of others at sea, targeting the lives of small ships crossings, and jeopardizing the needs of overseas workers by developing training programs for departments that rely on immigrant workers.
Sir Kyle criticized the previous Conservative government, saying it failed to provide a lower net migration number “by design rather than by chance.”
Net migration – the number of people to the UK minus the number left behind – as of June 2023, that number hit a record 906,000 of 906,000 before falling to 728,000 in the year ended June 2024.
The new rules proposed by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are to lower bids for immigration levels, which seems to have led to the fall.
The former Conservative government increased the minimum wage for skilled overseas workers who wanted to enter the UK from £26,200 to £38,700 and banned the bringing of paramedics to the UK.
Labor is already under pressure to change the immigration system – but that pressure may increase after Britain's success in local elections last week.
Reform won 677 of the approximately 1,600 seats that last participated in Thursday's 2021 main congressional competition.
Reform said in its election manifesto that it would freeze non-essential immigrants. Those with certain skills – in health care, for example – can still come to the UK.
Sir Kyle responded to last week's results, saying he shared the “sharpness of anger” felt by voters who leaned towards major parties, believing that it would prompt him to continue to “go further and faster” to meet changes in Labor's commitment to immigration and public services.
“Some people working or studying visas may find their lives because the political situation in their home country has changed,” said Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Commission, adding that it is correct to “be safe from harm and have a fair hearing in the asylum system”.
Plans to resolve expired are already underway before local elections.
All details of the government plan will be released in a new immigration white paper later in May.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said: “To address the abuse of foreign nationals who arrive at work and study visas and continue to demand asylum, we are building intelligence about these people to identify them earlier and faster.
“We will continue to review the visa system and where trends are found will undermine our immigration rules and we will act without hesitation.
“Under our plan of change, our upcoming immigration white paper will create a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system.”
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