UK Warns Foreign Students: Leave Before Visa Expires or Face Removal

The UK government has begun directly warning tens of thousands of international students to leave the country once their visas expire or risk deportation, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

In what officials described as a first-of-its-kind campaign, the Home Office is sending emails and text messages to students, citing a sharp rise in visa holders attempting to remain in the UK by claiming asylum.

“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you,” the messages read.

Government data shows that around 15 per cent of asylum applications last year—approximately 16,000—were lodged by people who initially entered the UK on student visas. While it is unclear how many were filed after visas had expired, officials say the trend is concerning.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said some students were “claiming asylum even when things have not changed in their home country,” warning that the practice was adding pressure to already strained asylum housing services.

So far, 10,000 students with visas nearing expiry have received direct warnings, with up to 130,000 more expected to be contacted in the coming months, coinciding with the new academic intake.

The Labour government has also tightened immigration rules affecting universities, including stricter thresholds on visa refusal and course completion rates.

Although much political debate has focused on migrants arriving by small boats, Home Office figures show that of the 108,000 asylum applications lodged in the UK last year, nearly 40,000 came from people who originally entered legally on visas—students making up the largest share.