Petition · Department for Education

Reverse the visa brake on student visa applications from Afghan nationals

Open for signatures 130 signatures

What the petition asks

Reverse the visa brake on Afghan student visa applications. In 2025, only 277 Afghan students received UK visas, 0.07% of all student visas. This is not an unsustainable crisis. We ask the Government to restore fair, safe educational pathways for students fleeing Taliban rule.
Afghan women can't attend university under the Taliban. Now they get student visas for the UK either. This double exclusion affects real people with real futures. In 2021, the Taliban banned girls from school and then from university. We think the visa brake eliminates one of the few remaining safe routes & that the UK has the moral obligation to maintain pathways for students fleeing authoritarian regimes. Education is a right, not a privilege. Reversing the visa brake upholds that principle.

Timeline

13 Apr 2026 Petition opened for signatures

Key facts

Signatures 130
Status Open for signatures
Department Department for Education
Opened 13 Apr 2026

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 26 Jul 2026.