United Kingdom may restrict visa applications from nationalities whose citizens are most likely to overstay approved stays.First reported by Times, the Home Office listed them as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka.The report noted their nationals overstay their visas and later seek asylum.

Successful asylum requests allow the applicants to permanently remain in the country.As a consequence, the Home Office said they may face tougher restrictions when applying to work or study in UK.

“Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a plan to restore order to our broken immigration,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

“We keep the system under review and where we detect trends, which may undermine our rules, we will take action.“Under our plan for change, our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a plan to restore order to our broken immigration system.”

Nigerians have been significantly affected by the UK’s immigration reform plans over the past two years, especially in student visas, work permits, and visa approvals.Following tighter rules on dependents and post-study work opportunities introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, international student applications to the UK have dropped drastically.Many Nigerians have turned to the US — but even that option is now unsustainable

President Donald Trump has also increased tighter restrictions, warning even students with valid visas could be deported if the U.S. believes they do not serve its best interest.A 2024 report showed how Nigerian visa rejection to the UK rose from one in 31 applications in late 2022 to one in eight by late 2023.This resulted in a 63 per cent cut in visas issued to Nigerians compared to the previous year.

Financial burden of non-refundable fees with higher rejection have intensified pressure on Nigerian applicants.Last year, TheCable reported how the British government earned over N40 billion processing visas for Nigerian nationals between June 2023 to the same month in 2024.African economists and development experts have urged nationals of developing nations not to seek greener pastures abroad but to stay back and contribute to the development of their countries.

The Nation.