Visas: Overseas Students
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled Visa brake imposed on 4 countries after widespread visa abuse, published on 4 March 2026, what estimate she has made of the number of student visas that will not be issued as a result of the visa brake.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The visa brake will be kept under regular review and is not intended to be permanent; it will only be lifted when the Government considers it appropriate to do so.
Since 2021, there have been over 5,300 asylum claims from nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan, who originally arrived on student visas. It is estimated that the brake will prevent 4,300 study visas from being issued to the affected cohorts over an 18-month period.
We do not rule out wider action to address visa linked asylum claims. The UK keeps its visa system under continuous review, with any future changes informed by evidence and a range of relevant factors.
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