UK Hardens Immigration Policies, Suspends Family Reunification

The Home Office will also target international students, warning them to not make disingenuous asylum applications in a bid to stay in the UK beyond their visa.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper makes a statement on borders and asylum to lawmakers in the House of Commons, in London on Sept. 1, 2025. House of Commons/PA Wire

The UK on Sept. 1 announced the temporary suspension of refugee family reunification applications, citing pressure on local authorities and criminal smuggling gangs using the system as a pull factor for illegal immigration.

Secretary of State for the Home Department Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK Parliament, that the temporary measure will address immediate pressures while the Labour government works on a new framework for those granted refugee status to bring their families to the UK, according to an official transcript of the ministerial statement.

Cooper told lawmakers that before the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees typically applied to bring family to the UK after one to two years, giving them time to find work and housing. Now applications come within a month of protection being granted, often before refugees leave asylum accommodation, she said. This has led to higher demand for homelessness support, with some councils reporting more than a quarter of cases linked to refugee family reunion.

“That is not sustainable,” Cooper said. “Currently, there are also no conditions on family reunion for refugee sponsors, unlike those in place if the sponsor is a British citizen or long-term UK resident. That is not fair.”

Cooper said the number of immigrants illegally entering the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats and then applying for family reunification has “increased sharply” in recent years, “with signs that smuggler gangs are now able to use the promise of family reunion to promote dangerous journeys to the UK.”

“This week we are bringing forward new immigration rules to temporarily suspend new applications under the existing dedicated refugee family reunion route,” she said. “Until the new framework is introduced, refugees will be covered by the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else.”

For first-time spouse or partner visas, sponsors must generally show a combined income of 29,000 pounds ($39,000) and, in some circumstances, applicants may need to demonstrate knowledge of the English language.

Another reform outlined by the minister was an overhaul of the asylum system, including a new independent body to deal with immigration and asylum appeals, as well as increased detention and returns capacity to speed up enforced removals.

Cooper also highlighted the recent reciprocal “one-in, one-out“ pilot scheme with France, which will mean that anyone entering the UK by crossing the English Channel can be returned. An equal number of asylum seekers in France will be allowed to come to the UK through a new route, as long as they have not attempted an illegal crossing before.

The move comes as the Labour government continues to grapple with illegal immigration, an asylum backlog, and an asylum system it says needs reform.

Home Office data from March 30 show that 108,000 people claimed asylum in 2024, with a little less than one-third (35,000) having entered illegally by arriving via a small boat crossing.

Conservative Party lawmaker Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, said “tweaking the family reunion rules” and agreements with France are not enough and that anyone who enters the UK illegally should be immediately removed.

Cooper said the Conservative Party had been in government for 14 years before the July 2024 election but had not managed to fix the immigration and asylum system. She said the previous administration left the Labour Party with a “soaring” asylum backlog.

Overseas Students

Cooper said on Sept. 2 that the Home Office will be sending messages to students warning them to not make disingenuous applications for asylum in a bid to overstay their study visa duration.

She said the plans are one step in a series of different steps the government is taking to tackle misuse of the UK asylum system.

“What we’ve seen is up to 15,000 students each year end up claiming asylum as they come to the end of their visa—even when things haven’t changed in their home country—then going into the asylum system, sometimes staying there for years,” she told the BBC.

“That also causes problems with asylum accommodation and hotels. That’s what we need to fix.”

The minister noted that the government will do its part to support genuine refugees, highlighting one of the schemes unveiled in the Commons on Sept. 1, which will help students from the Gaza Strip take scholarships in the UK.

According to Home Office data, 16,000 people who applied for asylum in 2024 had arrived in the UK on study visas, representing 40 percent of all claimants who held a visa or other form of leave when they applied for refugee status.