Nigerian graduates most likely to remain in UK —Report

Nigerian students are the most likely international graduates to remain in the United Kingdom after completing their studies, despite increasingly restrictive immigration policies and proposed changes to settlement rules.

A new briefing on international student migration showed that about 78 percent of Nigerians who entered the UK on student visas in 2020 still held valid visas at the end of 2025, the highest retention rate among the major nationalities examined.

Indian graduates ranked next, with 58 percent still holding valid visas five years later, while students from countries such as China and the United States were significantly less likely to remain in the UK.

The report attributed the growing number of international graduates staying in Britain to many switching from student visas to Graduate Visas or other immigration routes that allow them to live and work in the country after completing their studies.

Overall, 41 percent of migrants issued an initial UK student visa in 2020 still had permission to remain in the country by the end of 2025. Of those, 26 percent had transitioned to work visas, six percent remained on student visas, while 59 percent no longer held valid visas, indicating they had most likely left the UK.

The findings also showed a steady rise in post-study retention. Only 25 percent of students who arrived in 2019 still held valid visas five years later, compared with 41 percent of the 2020 cohort.

However, the report noted that staying longer in the UK does not automatically lead to permanent residency. Time spent on student and Graduate Visas does not count toward the standard five-year residency requirement for indefinite leave to remain.

Instead, those years are counted under the long-residence route, which requires 10 years of continuous lawful residence before migrants become eligible to apply for settlement.

The pathway could become even more demanding following the UK government’s announcement in November 2025 of plans to tighten settlement rules by increasing the standard residency requirement from five to 10 years. As of June 2026, however, the government had yet to clarify when or how the proposed changes would take effect.

Despite the proposed reforms, the report suggests Nigerian graduates continue to be among the international students most likely to establish long-term lives in the UK by moving into other visa categories rather than returning home immediately after graduation.