UK Government Warns International Students Against Overstaying Visas

In a significant move to control immigration, the Home Office has launched an unprecedented campaign, directly contacting tens of thousands of international students to warn them against overstaying their visas. The aggressive push comes in response to what the government has termed an "alarming" spike in asylum claims from individuals who initially entered the country on student visas.

The new campaign, which sees the government for the first time proactively contacting students by text and email, is the latest in a series of actions aimed at tightening the UK's immigration system. The Home Office has already warned over 10,000 students whose visas are due to expire, and plans to contact tens of thousands more in the coming months.

The messages are stark and unambiguous. The full message states: "If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don't, we will remove you." It also explicitly warns that "asylum claims that lack merit" will be "swiftly and robustly refused."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, speaking to the BBC, justified the campaign by stating that some international students are claiming asylum "even when things haven't changed in their home country." According to Home Office data, around 13% of all asylum applications in the year to June—approximately 14,800—came from people on a study visa. While this number has dropped slightly from the previous year, it is still nearly six times higher than in 2020. The most common countries of origin for these applications were Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.

While public attention this summer focused on migrants arriving by small boats, the Home Office noted that similar numbers of people enter legally via visas before applying for asylum. Of 111,084 asylum applications in the year to June, 43,600 were from small boat arrivals, and 41,100 from people who arrived legally, including 14,800 on student visas.

The campaign is a part of the government's wider political agenda. Earlier this year, in May, the government's "Restoring Control Over the Immigration System" white paper proposed several measures, including shortening the Graduate visa period for most students from two years to 18 months. This change is expected to take effect for students starting programs from January 2026. The government also announced stricter compliance requirements for universities, with new penalties for institutions that fail to meet higher visa refusal and course completion rate thresholds.