Crackdown on Visa Route to Asylum Claims
The UK Home Office is set to introduce new measures to restrict work and study visa applications from nationalities with high rates of asylum claims, in an effort to prevent the abuse of the system. According to The Times, the government plans to reject visa applications from individuals who fit the profile of someone who will go on to claim asylum and are from countries with high rates of asylum claims in the UK. [1]
The new measures, which are expected to be announced as part of the government’s Immigration White Paper, will target nationals from countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka, who are most likely to overstay and claim asylum. Officials will use bank statements submitted by visa applicants to reject claims that they are destitute and require taxpayer-funded accommodation, such as hotels.
The Home Office has identified a sharp increase in migrants on work and study visas who go on to claim asylum and are housed in Home Office-provided accommodation. In 2023, 40,000 asylum claims were lodged by people who had held a UK visa, accounting for 37% of the total. Moreover, nearly 10,000 asylum claimants who had originally arrived in the UK legally on work or study visas were living in taxpayer-funded accommodation at some point last year.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is planning to introduce measures to bar migrants who came to the UK on a work or study visa from claiming taxpayer-funded accommodation. Asylum seekers can claim accommodation and other financial support if they are destitute or likely to become destitute. However, work and study visa holders must prove they have sufficient funds to sustain themselves while in the UK.
The Home Office will also build intelligence to enable caseworkers to spot patterns in the profile of people who are most likely to abuse work and study visas as a loophole to claim asylum. They will work with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to build a model that would reject a visa claim from a migrant who fits the profile of someone likely to go on to claim asylum.
Other reforms expected to be introduced include restrictions that will force foreign graduates to leave the UK unless they get a graduate-level job, which will be based on skill levels rather than salary. Being granted asylum gives individuals the opportunity to stay in the UK permanently, whereas work and study visas are only temporary. Rejected asylum seekers can prolong their stay — sometimes indefinitely — by making repeated appeals to frustrate their deportation.
The proposed changes have sparked concerns from legal sources, who argue that the move would be discriminatory and likely to be challenged in the courts. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is a desperate response to the thrashing Labour got in last week’s elections, but like everything Starmer offers, it is just performative and won’t make a difference. The system already refuses visas for people who fit the profile of asylum claimants, and asylum seekers already have to prove they are destitute to get accommodation.”
In response, a Home Office spokesman said: “To tackle abuse by foreign nationals who arrive on work and study visas and go on to claim asylum, we are building intelligence on the profile of these individuals to identify them earlier and faster. We keep the visa system under constant review and where we detect trends, which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “In an increasingly volatile world some people on work or study visas may find their lives at risk because the political situation in their home country has changed. It is right that they are protected from harm and given a fair hearing in the asylum system as well as being provided with basic support if they need it. To restrict access to seeking asylum based on a person’s nationality would not only be unfair but also discriminatory.”
The new measures are part of the government’s efforts to reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 last year. The proposed changes are expected to prompt a backlash from countries included in the new measures, who may feel it discriminates against them.
References:
[1] The Times: Crackdown on visa route to asylum claims – https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/crackdown-on-visa-route-to-asylum-claims-k6m7gv3rm
