The Home Office will end sponsored study visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, and Skilled Worker visas for Afghan nationals, under an Immigration Rules change due to come into force on 26 March 2026.
The Government announced on 4 March 2026 an "emergency brake" on visas, which it describes as the first time one has been imposed. It applies to nationals of four countries. The Home Office will end sponsored study visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, and skilled worker visas for Afghan nationals.
Timing. The source says the visa brake will be introduced through an Immigration Rules change on 5 March 2026 and will come into force on 26 March 2026. The announcement gives no rule or paragraph references.
Figures the Government cites for the decision:
- By the year ending September 2025, asylum applications by students from the four countries had risen to over 470% of their 2021 level.
- Between 2021 and the year ending September 2025, the proportion of Afghan asylum claims to study visas issued was 95%. Applications by students from Myanmar rose sixteen-fold over the same period.
- Claims in the year ending September 2025 by students from Cameroon and Sudan rose to more than 330% of the number in 2021.
- The number of Afghans on work visas claiming asylum is now outstripping the number of visas issued.
- Asylum claims from legal routes have more than trebled since 2021, making up 39% of the 100,000 people who applied last year. In total, 133,760 people have claimed asylum after arriving legally in the past 5 years.
- Nearly 16,000 nationals of the four countries are supported at public expense, including over 6,000 in hotels. Asylum support currently costs more than £4 billion a year.
- The Government says student asylum claims were reduced by 20% over the course of 2025, but people who arrived on study visas still make up 13% of all claims in the system.
Wider context. The source says the Government confirmed days earlier that protection for refugees will be halved to 30 months from 2 March. It also says that, after a November warning of visa action against Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, cooperation has been secured with all three countries. The Government has pledged to open new capped safe and legal routes once order has been restored to the asylum system. The Home Secretary was to introduce new legislation in the week of the announcement.
What this means for applicants
The source gives no transitional arrangements, so it does not say how applications made before 26 March 2026 will be treated. From that date, the Home Office will end sponsored study visas for nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, and skilled worker visas for Afghan nationals. Universities and employers sponsoring such applicants should check the Immigration Rules change when it is published.
Sources
- Visa brake imposed on 4 countries after widespread visa abuse, GOV.UK, 4 March 2026