Tens of thousands of foreign students are being approached directly by the government and they said that if they eliminate their visa, they will be removed from the UK.
The Home Office began in response to the new government campaign in response to what it has called a “dangerous” spike in the number of international students legally coming on student visas, then when they end up claiming asylum.
As part of the campaign, the Home Office has approached international students directly by text and email for the first time.
Under the schemes, a message will be sent to around 130,000 students and their families in total, stating: “If you have no legal right to live in the UK, you should leave.
“If you don’t, we will remove you.”
Ten thousand international students whose visas are caused by the expiry of their visas, have already been directly contacted by text and email – they can be deported by warning them.
More than thousands of messages will be received in the coming months, BBC understands, when the applications often grow with autumn.
Will read the entire message: “If you claim an refuge that there is a lack of merit, it will be rapidly and strongly denied.
“Any request for asylum support will be evaluated against the destruction criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not get support.
“If you have no legal right to live in the UK, you should leave.
“If you don’t, we will remove you.”
While political attention in this summer has been on people who have reached small boats, reach legally with a similar number visa, then apply for asylum when they exit visas.
Many of these claims are valid, but ministers are worried that many international students are seeking asylum to live in the country as they have gone out for their leave.
In the year since June 2025, 43,600 people seeking asylum arrived on a small boat – 39%of all refuge claims, according to Home office data,
Another 41,100 asylum claims came from those who legally entered the visa, the department said, the largest group student among the visa holders.
Last year, 16,000 asylum claims came from people who reached the visa, about six times in 2020, said this.
Since then, home office data shows that there has been a decline of 10%, but the ministers in the department want the figures to fall forward.
According to the department, the number of people is being given asylum on skilled worker visas.
Earlier this year, the home office announced a deduction in more time from two years to 18 months – the time of stay in the UK after its studies.
