The British government is considering new restrictions on visa applications from students in countries with high asylum claims, including Nigeria, as part of efforts to reduce annual net migration. This move follows recent backlash against Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, which faced criticism over issues such as illegal immigration during local elections in England.
The government is set to release a white paper next week, outlining its strategy to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 in the year leading to June 2023. Legal migration has long been a contentious issue in British politics, contributing to the 2016 Brexit referendum.
According to government data, of the 108,000 individuals who sought asylum in the UK last year, 16,000 had entered the country on student visas.
While the UK government has not disclosed the specific nationalities of these individuals, it has acknowledged that Nigerians, along with people from Pakistan and Sri Lanka, are among the most likely to claim asylum after arriving on student, work, or visitor visas.
This development could have significant implications for Nigerian students seeking higher education in the UK, as restrictions on student visas are considered a key part of the government’s broader migration control plan.
