The United Kingdom has warned Nigerians and other international students that it will deport those who overstay their visas in the country.

In an unprecedented step, the Home Office has begun sending direct warnings via text and email.

Approximately 10,000 students with expiring visas have already received the notifications, and tens of thousands more are expected to be contacted in the coming months.

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“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you,” one of the Home Office messages read.

It also warned that asylum claims “lacking merit” would be swiftly rejected.

The initiative responds to a surge in asylum claims by students who entered the UK legally and overstayed.

Between July 2024 and June 2025, around 41,100 such claims were filed, with students constituting the largest group.

Daily Trust reports that In 2024 alone, 16,000 international students applied for asylum, nearly six times the figure recorded in 2020.

Despite a roughly 10% drop since, officials are aiming for further reductions.

The Home Office also reported a decline in asylum claims from skilled worker visa holders, and earlier this year, shortened the post-study stay period for graduates from two years to 18 months.

Nigerian students presently ranked third among international entrants to UK higher education institutions after India and China, with approximately 34,500 new entrants.

Overall, there were 732,285 overseas students in UK higher education around last year, of which 656,795 were from outside the EU .

The UK granted 35,331 study visas to Nigerian main applicants for that period .

Additionally, Nigeria ranked among the fastest-growing groups for graduate route (post-study) visa grants, registering a significant 121.8% increase compared to the previous year .

For visa extensions onto a study route, 4,041 Nigerian nationals were granted extensions up to June 2025, making them one of the top three nationalities in that category .