“Unprecedented” visa restrictions have been placed on four countries after asylum applications soared.
The Home Office confirmed on Wednesday that an “emergency brake” had been placed on UK student visas for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan.
The Government will end all sponsored study visas for migrants from all four of these countries, as well as skilled worker visas for Afghan nationals.
It comes after UK asylum applications by students from the nations rocketed by over 470% between 2021 and 2025, the Home Office said.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused.
“That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity.
"I will restore order and control to our borders.”
Between September 2021 and September 2025, the proportion of Afghans claiming asylum in the UK to study visas issued was 95%.
Applications by students from Myanmar soared sixteen-fold over the same period, the Government said.
Asylum claims by students from Cameroon and Sudan spiked by more than 330% over the period, which the Home Office said posed “an unsustainable threat to the UK’s asylum system”.
The Home Secretary has previously threatened a similar halt to all UK visas for Angola, Namibia and the Democratic of Congo in November, unless their governments agreed to take back illegal migrants.
This led to co-operation agreements with all three countries, and illegal migrants being returned via deportation flights.
This week Ms Mahmood announced that permanent refugee status for people who come to the UK after fleeing brutal regimes is set to be scrapped as part of a major overhaul of Britain’s immigration system.
Instead, refugee status will now be reviewed every 30 months and people whose countries are later deemed safe will be expected to return.
Refugees will need to renew their permission to stay or apply for a visa route like any other legal migrant,including paying associated fees, in a policy shift is modelled on Denmark's system.
Under current rules, those granted the status have it for five years and can apply for indefinite leave to remain and get on a route to British citizenship.
But the approach has faced criticism from Labour backbench MPs, particularly after the Green Party swept to victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election last week.
Ms Mahmood is expected to lay out measures to toughen up the UK asylum system in a speech on Thursday.
