Visa applications from nationalities considered most likely to overstay and claim asylum in Britain could be restricted under new Government plans.
Work and study visas for people from countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka are among those that could reportedly be curbed by the Home Office.
Under the proposed crackdown, applications from people who fit the profile of someone who may claim asylum and who are from countries with high rates of asylum claims will be rejected.
Officials will also use bank statements submitted alongside any original visa requests to refuse claims for taxpayer-funded accommodation, such as hotels, the Times reported.
It comes as the Government looks to go further and faster in reducing net migration amid Reform UK’s sizable wins at the local elections last Thursday.
It is planning to publish its Immigration White Paper next week, which will lay out the details of Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to reduce migration.
Labour promised in its manifesto that it would bring down the numbers of people coming into the country from abroad. The party said that the overall level of net migration “must be properly controlled and managed”.
“Failure to do so reduces the incentives for businesses to train locally,” it added.
UK work visa applications have significantly fallen, particularly for those coming for jobs in the NHS and social care, since tough new restrictions on eligibility were introduced in early 2024 under the previous Government.
However, asylum applications have rocketed.
Home Office figures show a total of 108,138 people applied for asylum in Britain in 2024, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
A Home Office spokesman said: “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.
“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.
“Under our plan for change, our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system.”
Meanwhile figures released last month indicated that the number of migrants applying for key visa routes into the UK had dropped by more than a third in a year.
Applications across the worker, study, and family visa categories covered a total of 772,200 people in the year to March 2025, down 37% on the nearly 1.24 million in the previous 12 months, according to the Home Office data.
The decline is likely to reflect changes in legal migration rules introduced early in 2024 by the previous Conservative government, including a ban on overseas care workers and students bringing family dependants, and a steep rise in the salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700.
