The United Kingdom is reportedly planning to impose additional visa limits on Nigerian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan citizens as part of an aggressive drive to modernise its immigration system and combat visa misuse.
The Times said that the UK Home Office has determined that nationals of these nations are among the most likely to overstay their visas and then apply for asylum, which, if granted, gives them the right to permanent residency.
Officials responded by saying that the impacted nations might soon have to meet more stringent conditions in order to apply for work or study visas.
“Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system,” a Home Office spokesperson said.
The Home Office said it is building intelligence systems to identify individuals likely to exploit the visa system early in the process.
“We keep the visa system under constant review, and where we detect trends which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action,” the statement added.
The full details of the proposed visa changes will be released later in May as part of the UK’s long-awaited Immigration White Paper.
