Nigerian students in the United Kingdom are making frantic efforts to secure legal stay as London intensifies its clampdown on visa overstayers.
The British government last week confirmed that no fewer than 10,000 international students had been contacted to leave the country after the expiration of their visas, following what it described as a surge in asylum claims by temporary migrants.
Official figures show that asylum requests from holders of study, work and tourist visas more than tripled in the last year, accounting for 37 per cent (41,400) of overall claims in the year ending June 2025. Students alone constituted 40 per cent of the claimants.
In a direct message sent to student visa holders, the UK Home Office warned: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused.
“Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support. If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”
The policy shift has unsettled many Nigerians, with some already transitioning to skilled worker permits to avoid deportation.
“Nigerian students are panicking because UK laws keep changing. I know some people on current student visas that received the text and email,” a PhD student in Scotland told our correspondent.
Another postgraduate student at the University of Salford lamented: “It is absolutely devastating, because time and money have been spent. With the new laws, fresh student visa holders cannot switch to the skilled worker visa on the shortage occupation list after July 22, 2025, while the post-study work visa has been cut to 18 months.”
Education analysts fear the new restrictions could reduce Nigeria’s position as the UK’s third-largest source of international students, with 34,500 enrolments in 2023/24.
The Co-founder of Globalink Pathway College, Mr Tolani Jaiyeola, said the crackdown reflected London’s resolve to cut net migration.
“The warning is a clear signal that the UK is serious about the temporary nature of student visas and is clamping down on any perceived overstaying or abuse of the system,” he noted.
But some experts faulted the morality of the approach. A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, Prof. Anthony Kola-Olusanya, described it as exploitative.
“That is almost becoming like 419 — take the money, give them a degree, and tell them to leave,” he said.
Others however insisted compliance was non-negotiable.
“Every visa has a purpose and the visa itself is a contract between the immigrant and the state. To exceed one’s stay… is an exercise in illegality,” said University of Ibadan’s Prof. Francis Egbokhare.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) also urged students to respect the rules.
Its spokesman, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, warned: “The moment your visa expires, it becomes criminalised because it is illegal to stay there.”
