Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, was steps she is taking to reduce the number of people overstaying legitimately-granted visas.

All visa applications are assessed on their individual merits in accordance with Immigration Rules. Visa routes have different conditions, and these are published in route guidance on Gov.uk and stated on the visa or e-visa (digital status). The Home Office scrutinise applications linked to common abuse indicators using risk profiling.

Upon the expiry of an individual’s permission to stay in the UK, if a valid application for further permission to stay is not made and the individual does not leave the country of their own volition, they become an overstayer and are liable to be removed from the UK.

We have already begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced, with almost 19,000 returns recorded between 5 July 2024 and 31 January 2025.