Recent statistics reveal that individuals from Pakistan are increasingly utilizing holiday, work, and student visas as a gateway to lodge a record number of asylum claims in the United Kingdom.
According to government data, nearly 10,000 Pakistani nationals arrived in the UK last year with temporary visitor, work, or student visas, subsequently transitioning to claim asylum in hopes of obtaining permanent residency.
In the year leading up to June, Pakistan topped the asylum application charts with 11,324 claims submitted by its citizens. This has positioned the country at the forefront of asylum seekers, accounting for one in ten of the UK’s total 111,000 applications, outpacing 174 other nations.
Remarkably, this figure represents the highest number of asylum requests from Pakistan since records began. The surge is particularly striking, with applications having quintupled since 2022, soaring from 2,154 to over 11,000, surpassing numbers from countries like Afghanistan, Iran, and Eritrea.
In the past year alone, 40,379 migrants have sought asylum in the UK after arriving with legitimate visas or being granted other forms of leave to enter the country.
In the last year, 40,379 migrants claimed asylum after arriving on British shores using legitimate visas or by being granted other forms of leave to come into the UK.
According to data obtained by the Conservatives through freedom of information requests, over 16,000 and around 11,400 individuals arrived on student and skilled worker visas, respectively.
People from Pakistan are using holiday, work and student visa ‘loopholes’ to lodge a record number of UK asylum claims, new figures show (file image)
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Britain’s broken border and visa system is being openly abused’
Meanwhile, more than 9,400 entered the country on visitor visas, meaning around 37 per cent of asylum applications submitted in 2024 came from individuals who had arrived in the UK via legal routes.
And the only nationality to land in the top three for work, visitor, student, and other visa routes into the UK before switching to asylum was Pakistan.
People from Pakistan represented nearly a quarter of switches from visa to asylum claims in 2024.
The nationality topped the list for those who switched from a student visa to asylum, with a total of 5,888 claims.
The total was more than both India and Bangladesh combined, which came in second and third place with 2,295 and 2,374 claims, respectively.
Among those who switched from visitor visas to seeking asylum, Pakistan placed second with 902 claims. First was China, which had 1,094 nationals make switches.
Meanwhile, Pakistan also came in second place with individuals who switched their work visas to asylum, with 2,578 claims. Bangladesh topped the list with 3,268.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: ‘Britain’s broken border and visa system is being openly abused. Tens of thousands are walking straight through the front door, exploiting legal visas and staying for good. It’s a complete failure.’
The Tory MP said ‘decisive action’ was required now, before stressing asylum could not be used as a ‘back door route’ for those not wanting to leave after their student visa came to an end.
It comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (pictured on November 18) insisted she is bringing in ‘sweeping’ reforms with Channel boat arrivals
Jamie Jenkins, former head of health and employment statistics at the ONS, said: ‘With 162,000 visas granted to Pakistani nationals in the past year, the numbers reveal a clear loophole: the UK’s generous visa system is feeding directly into record asylum claims.’
He added that the new data suggests that Britain’s immigration system was not only ‘failing at the borders’ but also falling short within them as well.
‘Yes, small boats matter. But ‘legal entry, then asylum claim’ shows how the system is being gamed from inside,’ he told The Telegraph.
Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, said it was hard to pin down why there had been such a hike in people from Pakistan claiming asylum.
He said there were reports of economic and environmental decline as well as a lack of security in some regions of the South Asian country.
It comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood insisted she is bringing in ‘sweeping’ reforms with Channel boat arrivals facing a 20-year wait for permanent settlement in the UK – quadrupling the current period.
There will also be reviews every 30 months of whether refugees’ home countries have become safer – potentially allowing them to be sent back.
It comes after Labour was accused of covering up the full extent of a ‘backdoor to Britain’ which allows foreign students to claim asylum here.
In June, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said there was ‘rampant’ abuse by those granted a temporary student visa who then go on to claim they are a refugee in a bid to stay in the UK permanently.
The Conservative frontbencher asked the Home Office to reveal new figures on the numbers making such claims, after the Mail revealed last year that nearly 5,000 foreign students claimed asylum in the year to March 2023.
The Daily Mail has approached the Home Office for comment.
