Nigerians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans face UK student visa crackdown

The Guardian revealed that the government planned to reduce the numbers of UK student visa holders who make asylum claims. Photograph: Andrew Fox/Alamy

Nigerians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans applying to work or study in the UK face Home Office restrictions over suspicions that they are most likely to overstay and claim asylum, Whitehall officials have claimed.

The government is working with the National Crime Agency to build models to profile applicants from these countries who are likely to go on to claim asylum.