University of Portsmouth calls for action to prevent foreign students abusing the system to claim asylum

It follows concerns that higher education is being abused as an immigration route. Figures published by the Daily Mail this week showed that more than a third of foreign students who went on to claim asylum in Britain were sponsored by just six educational institutions - including Portsmouth.

The figures covering the 12 months up to March 2023 showed the second-highest number of student visa-holders who claimed asylum in the year were sponsored by the University of Portsmouth with 395 claims. According the the figures, this included 252 Bangladeshis, 54 from Afghans, 38 from Cameroonians and 28 from Pakistanis.

Now the University of Portsmouth has called for a change in the visa system which would prevent students being able to switch to an asylum claim..

A spokesperson said: “International students who come to study at the University are required to apply through UK Visas and Immigration UKVI, who then validate the application and give approval for them to study in the UK. 

“Under current regulations, any student who joins us would have been vetted by UKVI before coming to university, and will have met the Government’s stringent requirements that allow students to study in the UK. This particular issue is a result of the Government’s own asylum policy, which allows visa switching in a way that is outside the direct control of the Universities concerned and is not a failing of the higher education sector. The visa system and rules should not permit individuals who are approved to study with a study visa to legally switch to claim asylum in this way.

“We have taken positive steps and have worked proactively with UKVI to look at and understand the data and implemented strategies and enhanced processes to address this issue. We take our sponsorship duties seriously and have taken steps to ensure that this will not be abused. However, as we have said, the issue is with the current asylum system and policies which needs to be addressed.  

“We provide a high-quality educational experience for students from around the world and work within the rules and regulations of the Government to ensure that they can join our diverse and welcoming community of 5,000 international students from 150 countries.

“International students represent a considerable net benefit to the UK economy, estimated by the Higher Education Policy Institute to be approximately £37.4 billion per cohort. They are estimated to contribute, net of any costs, some £155.5 million to the city of Portsmouth (approximately £750 per member of the resident population), and a further £469.3 million to the Solent region. This is from an international student population of 4,310 international students who are currently living within the Solent area, 1,500 of them within Portsmouth.”

In December Home Secretary James Cleverly announced a review of the 'graduate visa' which allows students who have completed their courses to work in Britain for up to two years and its results are awaited.