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Asylum: Applications

Asked by Ben Obese-JectyConservativeHome OfficeTabled Answered 20 October 2025UIN 79681

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's accredited official statistics entitled How many people claim asylum in the UK?, published on 21 August 2025, what assessment she made of the potential implications for her policies of the 8,900 asylum applications from people with a visitor visa.

Answered by Mike Tapp

In the year ending June 2025, UK Visas and Immigration issued 2.2 million Visitor visas. Applicants must satisfy the decision-maker that they are a genuine visitor who will leave the UK at the end of their Visit, and if not the decision-maker will refuse the visa application.

The UK keeps its visa system under regular review, and the government has been clear that we will do whatever it takes to tackle the issue of visa abuse.

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