The UK Home Office has issued a stark new warning, threatening to halt the issuance of visas to foreign nationals from countries that refuse to cooperate on the removal of undocumented migrants. This bold move, announced on Tuesday 18 November 2025, places nations including Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo under immediate pressure to comply or face potential visa sanctions.
Legal Migration: A Detailed Breakdown
According to the most recent Home Office data, covering the year to June 2025, a total of 834,977 visas were granted to foreign nationals for employment, study, family, and humanitarian reasons. This figure represents a significant 32% decrease from the 1,231,899 visas issued in the previous year.
Indian nationals were the most common recipients, accounting for nearly one in five visas with 165,970 issued, or 19.9% of the total. They were followed by citizens from China (114,128 visas, 13.7%), Pakistan (69,580, 8.3%), Nigeria (45,966, 5.5%), and the United States (30,898, 3.7%).
In contrast, the countries facing the new visa sanctions accounted for a minuscule proportion of the total. Only 299 visas were granted to nationals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (0.04%), 273 to Angolans (0.03%), and 140 to Namibians (0.02%).
Illegal Migration and Asylum Trends
The data reveals a stark divergence between nationalities arriving legally and those detected entering via irregular routes. In the year to June, 48,478 people of known nationality arrived illegally, with the vast majority (42,446) crossing the English Channel.
Over half of these irregular arrivals came from just five countries: Afghanistan (6,589, 13.6%), Eritrea (6,267, 12.9%), Iran (5,367, 11.1%), Sudan (4,318, 8.9%), and Syria (4,216, 8.7%). Combined, these nations accounted for 55% of irregular migration but only 3% of legal visas issued.
Meanwhile, asylum applications reached a record high, with 111,084 people applying in the year to June 2025—the highest number since records began in 2001. Pakistan was the most common nationality among applicants (11,234, 10.1%), followed by Afghanistan (8,281, 7.5%) and Iran (7,746, 7.0%). A backlog of 90,812 people were awaiting an initial decision by the end of June.
Foreign Nationals in the Prison System
Latest Ministry of Justice figures show that 10,737 foreign nationals were held in prisons in England and Wales at the end of September 2025. This represents 12.3% of the total prison population, a slight increase from 12.0% a year earlier.
Albanian nationals were the most prevalent foreign group in the prison system (1,086 prisoners, 1.2%), followed by Polish (776, 0.9%), Irish (677, 0.8%), and Romanian (675, 0.8%) citizens. The data shows 56 prisoners from the DRC, 39 from Angola, and 9 from Namibia.
The Home Office's new policy signals a hardening stance, using legal visa channels as leverage in its broader strategy to manage both legal and illegal migration to the UK.
