THE UK government plans to restrict visa applications from nationalities deemed more likely to overstay or claim asylum, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria.
The restrictions will apply to work and study visa applicants and are expected to be outlined in a policy paper next week. The paper will set out the Labour government's approach to reducing net migration, which reached 728,000 last year, according to a report in The Times and confirmed to AFP by a government official on Tuesday.
"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," said a spokesperson for the Home Office.
"We keep the visa system under constant review and will where we detect trends, which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action," the spokesperson added.
Labour is under pressure following losses in last week's local elections, where voter concerns included high levels of legal migration and the continued arrival of undocumented migrants by small boats.
The anti-immigration Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, gained support in the elections. Some Labour MPs have since urged the government to take a firmer stance on immigration.
Official data released last month showed a 38% drop in visa applications across worker, study, and family routes — from 1.24 million to 772,000 in the year to March 2025.
The decline followed changes introduced by the previous Conservative government, including a ban on overseas care workers and students bringing family dependants and a rise in the salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700.
Flag hoisting ceremony