YANGON: Student visas will no longer be accepted from March 26, the UK Embassy in Yangon has announced.
The UK government has announced a temporary visa suspension to protect the stability of the UK immigration system, and will no longer accept student visa applications from Myanmar nationals from March 26, 2026, the embassy said.
The UK has announced that it will suspend the issuance of student visas to students from four countries, including Myanmar, the Guardian reported.
The suspensions included citizens from Sudan, Afghanistan, Cameroon and Myanmar, which the UK says are taking advantage of the UK’s generosity to seek asylum, and are the first such suspensions.
In addition to the suspension of student visas from the four countries, the report said that work visas for Afghan nationals have also been suspended.
The number of people from these countries is increasing and they are using legal migration routes as a backdoor to seek asylum in the UK, the UK Home Secretary said.
“The UK will always accept people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Tuesday (Mar 3).
According to Home Office figures, 39 per cent of the 100,000 asylum seekers in 2025 came to the UK through legal migration routes such as student visas.
Applications for asylum from students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan rose significantly between September 2021 and September 2025. - Eleven Media/ANN
