The British government has imposed an "emergency brake" on visas for students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, in response to what it said was a surge of requests for asylum from people arriving in the United Kingdom to study.
In a change to immigration rules announced on Tuesday, the UK will also cease granting work visas to Afghan nationals.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the ban – the first of its kind – was designed to close a back-door route to claiming asylum.
"Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused," she said in a statement.
"That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity."
The changes are the centre-left government's latest effort to harden its immigration and asylum rules as its rivals on the right use the issue to rally support.
UK toughens asylum rules to discourage migration
Student visa statistics
The new policy will apply from 26 March.
According to the Home Office, the number of people claiming asylum after arriving in the UK with a valid visa or other permit has more than trebled in the past five years. Around 39,000 such claims were filed last year, bringing the total to 133,760 since 2021.
People from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan make up "an above average proportion" of asylum seekers accommodated at public expense, the ministry said, reporting that claims by students from the four countries had spiked.
Official figures from 2025 show that the top five nationalities with the largest number of people claiming asylum were Pakistan, Eritrea, Iran, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The government has reported an increase in the number of applications from Pakistan and Bangladesh in particular, with over 80 percent of claimants from these countries requesting asylum after arriving in the UK on a work, study or other permit. In contrast, 83 percent of Afghan claimants arrived without documents.
A total of 12,578 people claimed asylum last year after coming to the UK on student visas, the government's statistics show. A higher number – 13,557 – applied while on a work visa.
Over half of African states subjected to travel bans or visa bonds by US
Asylum overhaul
The UK's previous right-wing government also cracked down on student visas, raising financial requirements and barring undergraduates from bringing dependent family members with them to the UK.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government has continued the drive to bring down immigration and asylum numbers, especially as polls show rising support for hard-right populist party Reform UK.
Under changes introduced this week, the government made protection for refugees temporary and subject to review every 30 months, after Home Secretary Mahmood argued the UK's system was too generous compared to other countries in Europe.
In November, the UK threatened to block all visas for Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless their governments agreed to take back migrants denied permission to stay.
The Home Office has since signed agreements with all three countries to allow Britain to deport people to their territory.
