A wave of work visa rush has emerged in the United Kingdom among Nigerian students and other international students as the government has intensified its move to deport illegal immigrants.
This comes after the administration of Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared that any international student in the UK with expired visas should return to their home country.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the UK Home Office has already sent thousands of direct text and email warnings to international students, including a significant number from Nigeria, whose visas are set to lapse soon.
A copy of the message sent to student visa holders and sighted by Pan-Atlantic Kompass reads: “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.”
This comes after the administration of Starmer had lamented the surge in asylum claims from visa holders, announcing that over 41,400 applications have been recorded in the year ending June 2025—37% of total claims, led by international students.
This means that Nigerian students, who are the third-largest group of overseas enrollees in UK universities with over 34,500 participants in the 2023/24 session, are now in a work visa rush to avoid the heightened scrutiny.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass also gathered that some Nigerian students are now racing against time to transition their student visas to skilled worker visas or the shortened post-study work route.
The removal threat has created widespread panic among Nigerian students in the UK, who have invested heavily in their education.
A PhD student in Scotland, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that some students have been panicking since they received the message from the Home Office.
The PhD student said: “Nigerian students are panicking because UK laws keep changing. I know some people on current student visas who received the text and email.
“Before, if you finished your Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, you could stay in the UK on a post-study work visa for two years; now it has been shortened to 18 months; this is part of the UK’s plan to tighten migration.
“As a student, if you are unable to get a certificate of sponsorship from an employer that will enable you to apply for a skilled worker visa or switch to another category of visa, and your visa expires, you automatically become an illegal immigrant in the UK, which is a criminal offence.”
Another master’s student at the University of Salford, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the new migration policy was unsettling.
The student said: “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.
“Those here are uncertain about next steps, and others are now exploring alternatives to the UK, as seen in the drop in international student numbers.”
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has also reacted to the work visa rush in the UK, cautioning Nigerians to avoid overstaying their visas.
“The moment your visa expires, it becomes criminalised because it is illegal to stay there,” The NiDCOM spokesperson, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, stated.
He urged Nigerians to always be of good behaviour and serve as worthy ambassadors of the country.
Speaking on the development, a Co-founder of Globalink Pathway College, Lagos, Mr Tolani Jaiyeola, maintained that the removal threat is a reinforcement of existing immigration rules in the UK.
Jaiyeola explained “This move is consistent with the current UK government’s overarching goal to significantly reduce net migration.
“The graduate visa route, while attractive, has been under scrutiny over concerns it is being misused by some as a backdoor to low-skilled work rather than a launchpad for high-potential careers. 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.”
However, a professor of Environmental Sustainability and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University, Prof. Anthony Kola-Olusanya, criticised the United Kingdom’s approach, describing it as exploitative and damaging to the British reputation.
Kola-Olusanya said while every sovereign nation has the right to set its immigration rules, the UK’s approach raises moral questions.
He said: “You see, the idea that foreign students should return to their country after their studies is not strange, nor is it new. But the morality of the issue, which raises a very big question, is this: are you seeing these students as a commodity that you can exploit and dispense after you’ve taken money from them, with a promissory note that if they graduate from your system, they can get a job in your system and possibly residency? If you cannot do so now, why would you still ask your universities to keep advertising for foreign students from Nigeria and other African countries? That is almost becoming like 419 — take the money, give them a degree, and tell them to leave.”
