UK set to restrict visas for nationalities most likely to claim asylum

Britain's Labour government plans to restrict visa applications from nationalities considered most likely to overstay and claim asylum, as it faces pressure from hard-right populists.

Applications for work and study visas from Pakistanis, Nigerians and Sri Lankans are among those set to be curbed, The Times newspaper reported and an official confirmed on condition of anonymity.

The plans are expected to be laid out in a policy paper next week that will detail the government's next steps to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 last year.

"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 interior ministry, known as the Home Office.

"We keep the visa system under constant review and where we detect trends, which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action," they added.

Bruising losses

Labour endured bruising losses in local elections last week, in part due to anger over high levels of regular migration and a failure to stop undocumented migrants arriving in Britain on small boats.

The anti-immigrant Reform UK party, led by Eurosceptic populist Nigel Farage, made huge gains, which sparked calls by some Labour MPs for the party to be tougher on issues like immigration.

Figures released last month showed that applications across the worker, study, and family visa categories fell by over a third from 1.24 million to 772,000 in the year to March 2025.

The fall came after the previous Conservative government banned overseas care workers and students from bringing family dependents and increased the salary threshold for skilled workers from overseas to $51,000.