Home Office to Text Foreign Students Warning Them to Leave if Visas Expire

LONDON Sept 3: The Home Office will begin sending text messages to international students whose visas are close to expiring, warning them that they must leave the UK if they no longer have permission to remain.

The new campaign, launched this week by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, responds to a rise in the number of former international students who apply for asylum once their visas run out. According to the Home Office, this practice can result in lengthy stays in taxpayer-funded accommodation while claims are processed.

As part of the campaign, the Home Office will for the first time proactively contact about 130,000 students and their families, warning them they will be forced to leave the UK if they have no legal right to remain.

The full message will read: “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 Home Office says the campaign is designed to reduce the number of non-meritorious asylum claims and ensure students comply with immigration rules.

The move comes as part of a wider government effort to reduce asylum pressures, following protests outside migrant hotels earlier in the summer. Other measures announced include a suspension of rules allowing refugees to bring immediate family members to the UK, and a pledge to speed up the closure of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.

Critics, however, argue the texting campaign unfairly targets international students. Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, described the policy as “an attack on international students,” saying they are vital to the UK’s higher education sector and economy.

Recent figures show that in the year to June 2025, 41,100 asylum claims were made by people who originally entered the UK on visas—including 16,000 by former students. This compares with 43,600 asylum seekers who entered via small boats.

While ministers say the new measures are intended to regain control of the system, opposition parties and campaigners have criticised the government for failing to deliver promised returns of Channel migrants to France under a pilot agreement.