The UK Home Office has launched a new campaign warning international students that overstaying their visas could lead to deportation. For the first time, the department is directly contacting students through text and email, with around 10,000 individuals already receiving messages and tens of thousands more expected to be reached in the coming months. The notice states: “If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”
The crackdown follows what officials described as an “alarming” rise in asylum applications from students whose visas had expired. Between July 2024 and June 2025, 41,100 asylum claims were filed by people who had originally entered the UK on legal visas, with students accounting for the largest share. In 2024 alone, 16,000 students applied for asylum — nearly six times the number recorded in 2020. While the figure has since dropped by about 10 percent, the government says it wants to see a sharper decline.
The Home Office also highlighted a drop in asylum claims among skilled worker visa holders. Earlier this year, the government reduced the post-study work period for international graduates from two years to 18 months. Officials argue that the new enforcement measures will protect the integrity of the visa system and deter what they describe as “meritless” asylum claims.