Nigerian students are among the international graduates most likely to remain in the United Kingdom after completing their studies, despite stricter immigration rules and plans to make permanent settlement more difficult.
This is according to a new briefing on international student migration, which found that about 78 per cent of Nigerians who arrived in the UK on student visas in 2020 were still living in the country on valid visas by the end of 2025. The figure is the highest among the major nationalities examined in the report.
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Indian students ranked next, with 58 per cent still holding valid visas five years after arriving in the UK. In contrast, students from countries such as China and the United States were far less likely to remain in Britain after completing their education.
The report shows that international students are increasingly choosing to stay in the UK after graduation by switching to other visa categories, particularly the Graduate Visa or work visas, which allow them to continue living and working in the country.
Across all nationalities, **41 per cent** of migrants who first entered the UK on student visas in 2020 still had legal permission to remain by the end of 2025. Of those, 26 per cent had moved onto work visas, while 6 per cent remained on study visas. The remaining 59 per cent no longer held valid visas, suggesting they had most likely left the UK.
The findings also highlight a growing trend in graduate retention. For comparison, only 25 per cent of international students who arrived in 2019 still had valid visas five years later, indicating that more graduates are now choosing to stay in Britain after completing their studies.
However, staying in the UK after graduation does not automatically put migrants on the path to permanent residency.
The report explained that time spent on a Student Visa or Graduate Visa does not count towards the standard five-year residency requirement for obtaining indefinite leave to remain. Instead, those years count only under the long-residence route, which requires 10 years of continuous and lawful residence before a person becomes eligible to apply for settlement.
The pathway to permanent residency could become even more demanding. In November 2025, the UK government announced plans to tighten immigration rules by proposing to increase the standard residency requirement for settlement from five years to 10 years. As of June 2026, details of how and when the policy would take effect had yet to be confirmed.
Despite the proposed changes, the latest findings suggest Nigerian graduates continue to build long-term lives in the UK by successfully transitioning from student visas to work and other legal immigration routes instead of returning home immediately after completing their education.
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