London: Tens of thousands of foreign students in the UK are being contacted directly by the government and warned they face removal if they overstay their visas.
The Home Office has launched a new campaign after recording what it described as an ‘alarming’ increase in international students entering on legal study visas and later claiming asylum once their visas expire.
For the first time, officials are reaching out to students through direct text messages and emails. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told that some students are making asylum claims even when things haven’t changed in their home country.
According to Home Office data, around 15 percent of asylum applications in the UK last year, approximately 16,000 cases, were linked to individuals who had initially entered the country on study visas.
The figures, released in March, do not specify how many of these applications came from students who had overstayed their visas. The government has been intensifying its focus on curbing the use of study as a route to asylum. In May, the Home Office announced plans to tighten regulations aimed at preventing migrants from misusing university study pathways to remain in the country.
Stricter requirements will be imposed on universities, including higher visa refusal rates and course completion thresholds. Institutions failing to meet these benchmarks risk losing their ability to sponsor international students in the future.
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