Your questions answered: The visa brake for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan announced March 2026

The visa brake applies to nationals and citizens of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan who are applying for Student route permission from outside the UK.  

Contact your institution immediately to check they have no plans to cancel your CAS and to seek the support you need.  

If they do not plan to cancel your CAS then make sure you submit your Student route application before 26 March 2026. Read the information on the UKCISA website about any requirements you need to meet, so you can make sure you produce the correct evidence in your application.

If you make a Student route application from outside the UK on or after 26 March 2026 then the application will automatically be refused, if you are a national or citizen of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar or Sudan. We would strongly recommend not to submit such an application from this date onwards because the refusal will be recorded on your immigration record for the UK and must be declared in any future immigration application for the UK.

No. The explanatory memorandum to the Statement of Changes states, “the brake is not intended to be permanent and will be regularly reviewed, with the aim that it can be released as soon as it is considered appropriate to do so”. The impact assessment for the visa brake suggests that the visa brake will be in place for an initial 18 months.

For example, this may be the case if you have paused your studies for health or personal reasons and have left the UK, or you are undertaking overseas fieldwork for a PhD.  

The visa brake will come into effect on 26 March 2026. Therefore, if you are: 

• Outside the UK; and 
• A national or citizen of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar or Sudan; and 
• Needing to apply for Student permission for the UK. 

Then you must submit your immigration application before 26 March 2026, otherwise it will be automatically refused. The visa brake applies to all Student route applications made outside the UK from these nationals or citizens, even if they are already part-way through their course of study.

If you are making an immigration application under the Student route from inside the UK, you are unaffected by the visa brake. It only applies to people whose Student route applications are made outside the UK. If you have questions about your eligibility to apply for further permission inside the UK, please reach out to your institution’s international student support team or our Student Advice line. 

I am in the UK as a student but my family is overseas. They are eligible to be my dependant in the UK and intend to apply to join me during my studies. How does this impact them? 

Nationals or citizens of affected countries who are applying as Student route dependants from overseas are unaffected by the visa brake. The brake applies to the Student themselves only. 

UKCISA regularly represents international students and those that work with them in our advocacy work to the UK Government. Following this announcement, we have analysed the changes to the law that will come into effect to ensure students and staff understand what the visa brake means. Given that these changes are included in a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, it is clear that these changes are definite, if temporary. However, we will continue to measure the impact this has on students via our advice lines and via our members, and continue to represent this in our meetings with Government.