‘I had no idea how life would be’: Inside the lives of those who overstay their visas and go underground
“I just wanted to save my life,” says Dhanabal, who came to Britain from India to study. But it was only the visa that came with the university place that interested him, and his plan was always to stay on after it expired.
The 26-year-old relies on cash-in-hand jobs to survive, waiting in Sheffield for a call from a mystery man he calls “the boss” to give him construction or cleaning work for “pocket money” and food.
“I had no idea when I came to the UK how my life would be – I just wanted to leave India,” says softly spoken Dhanabal, who is wearing a grey tracksuit, with a neat haircut and beard. “I didn’t think about what it would be like here.”
Dhanabal – we’re not using his family name – says his politics got him into trouble with the Indian police and he paid an agency £7,000 to arrange a university place in Britain.
Dhanabal’s story is a rare insight into the life of a visa overstayer
Sky News has seen a copy of his passport, which shows he arrived in 2021 on a student visa that was due to expire a few months ago.
He did a month of a master’s course in business management at a university in the north of England, he says, but found it “too hard”. The college where Dhanabal was given a place told us they couldn’t comment on individual cases because of student confidentiality.
His story is a rare insight into the world of those who overstay their visas and go underground.
But with net migration to the UK at record levels – 606,000 people came to Britain from abroad during the 12 months to December 2022 – Sky News can reveal the government has no public data on the scale of those who overstay their visa and fail to return to their country of origin.
The system has “collapsed”, says Vasuki Murahathas, who has worked as an immigration solicitor for 24 years. She estimates the number of calls from overstayers asking for advice has gone up 50% in the last year. There’s no way of independently verifying this.
Her desperate clients want to know how to switch to working visas – which she says the government has just made more difficult – or find other ways to legally stay in the UK.
People “disappear and hide”, she says, because they can’t find sponsors for jobs, often falling into poverty and low paid cash-in-hand work when they can’t find a way to sort out their immigration situation.
“Some are really suffering,” she says. “The government is allowing people to come as students – they want more people to come as skilled workers but people are misusing the system to enter the UK.
“Some people are coming knowing they can overstay and no one can do anything.”
Immigration solicitor Vasuki Murahathas
Dhanabal is not the only person who is struggling to survive after coming to the UK on a student visa which has now either been curtailed or expired.
Suresh, 35, shows us into a back garden in London where he is mowing the lawn and tidying the pathway. He tugs on the green jumper he is wearing, as he explains how he has been given clothes, not money, in exchange for his day’s work.
“Sometimes people offer me food, sometimes I get £10 or £20,” he says matter-of-factly. “Sometimes I do gardening or cleaning jobs. I don’t get work every day. It’s a hard life. One day I will be okay.”
Suresh has lived like this for seven years after arriving from India on a student visa. He didn’t start the course at the university in Wales where he was awarded a place.
“I don’t want to go to college,” he admits.
Suresh is paid in clothes for clearing a garden
Some 1.1 million prospective students and their family members who came on study visas from January 2021 to March 2023.
But the Home Office told Sky News it can’t provide data on exactly how many people have overstayed visas over the last three years.
The most recent statistics available are for the year ending March 2020 – which showed there were 1.9 million visas that expired during that time. There was no record of departure for 83,600 people whose work, study or family visa expired in that period.
Of that number, there were 54,689 people who arrived on tourist visas and 7,236 people who came on student visas unaccounted for.
Universities in the UK rely on the millions of pounds foreign students bring with them in tuition fees. According to data from the HESA – the statutory data collection agency for UK higher education institutions – there were 679,970 international students studying in the UK in 2021/22.
‘Overstaying is against the law’
But potential abuse of student visas as a way to get to the UK means universities are under pressure to weed out applicants who aren’t genuine.
The body which represents universities in the UK says targets set by the government for course completion and enrolment by international students are currently being met.
Some 85% of international students must complete their course, and 90% must at least enrol otherwise a university is at risk of being banned from recruiting from abroad.
Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International, says the sector is “very well” equipped to address the issue and is “trying to ensure that those people that are applying to come to the UK” are “genuine students and that they’re here to study”.
A Home Office spokesperson says: “Those who have no right to remain in the UK and do not return home voluntarily should be in no doubt of our determination to remove them. Overstaying is against the law, unnecessarily costs the taxpayer money, and is unfair on law-abiding migrants who come to the UK through the legal channels.”
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three children and a woman died in a house fire in Brent, northwest London.
Metropolitan Police officers are investigating after being called to assist firefighters in Stonebridge, near Wembley, shortly after 1.20am.
A 43-year-old woman and three children, a 15-year-old girl, an eight-year-old boy and a four-year-old boy, died at the scene, the force said. Their next of kin have been informed.
Police are waiting for an update on the conditions of two others who were taken to hospital.
A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene in connection with the incident and remains in custody.
Pics: PA
Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters responded to the blaze, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.
Two terrace houses, each with three floors, were severely damaged in the fire, which was under control by around 3.25am, the fire service added.
Firefighters rescued the woman and one of the children from the second floor of the house, but they were declared dead by air ambulance crews.
The two other children were found inside the property and were also declared dead at the scene, LFB said.
Emergency services at the scene. Pics: PA
LFB assistant commissioner Keeley Foster said: “Upon arrival, firefighters were met with a well-developed fire, involving two adjoining properties. Crews immediately set to work carrying out firefighting operations in order to bring the incident under control.
“Sadly, a woman and three children have died as a result of this fire.
“Crews wearing breathing apparatus were able to rescue the woman and one of the children from the second floor, but they were later declared deceased at the scene.
“A further two children were discovered to have died in the fire, as crews carried out a search of the properties involved.”
She added: “This is an extremely tragic incident, and the thoughts of everyone across the brigade are with those impacted by this incident.”
Pic: PA
London Ambulance Service said an air ambulance, incident response officers, advanced paramedic and hazardous area response team were deployed to the scene.
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Superintendent Steve Allen, from the Met’s local policing team in northwest London, said: “This is an extremely tragic incident and our thoughts are with everyone involved.
“Officers arrested a man at the scene and we continue to work alongside investigators from the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire.
“Emergency services will remain in Tillett Close throughout the day as these enquiries take place.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a post on X: “This is devastating news and my thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community of the four people who sadly have lost their lives.
“I remain in close contact with the London Fire Brigade and Metropolitan Police as they work to establish the cause of the fire and offer support to all those impacted.”
Dawn Butler, the local Labour MP for Brent East, posted: “Devastated to see the fatal fire at homes in Tillett Close last night.
“My prayers are with the family and friends affected by this is a very sad tragedy.
“@LFB_Brent worked hard to get it under control, thank you.”
The teacher of one of the Southport stabbing victims has told Sky News they “don’t want her to be forgotten”, 10 months after the knife attack in which she was murdered.
Seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe was killed along with Bebe King, six, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar in an attack by Axel Rudakubana at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July.
Jennifer Sephton, headteacher of Farnborough Road Infant School, will be skydiving to raise funds for the Elsie’s Story charitable trust, which has been set up in memory of the former pupil.
(L-R) Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were killed in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed class
“She’d been with us for four years, throughout her education,” Ms Sephton told Sky News, “and we just want everybody to know Elsie’s spirit.”
Describing Elsie as “such a determined young lady,” Ms Sephton said Elsie had “a real zest for life, and a sparkle in her eye all the time.”
She added that Elsie’s Story, which has been set up by Elsie’s family, is about “continuing that legacy.”
Jennifer Sephton
In the aftermath of the July 2024 attack, the gates outside Elsie’s school were lined with flowers, balloons, and cards bearing her name.
Since then, memorial benches and a tree have been planted in the school grounds, providing pupils and staff with a place to “remember and reflect”, Ms Sefton says.
“[Elsie’s death] had such an impact on all our community,” the teacher said, “it’s had an impact on her friends, their siblings, our school as a community and our staff.”
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Adrian Antell
‘We want her name to live on’
Ms Sephton will be joined in the skydive by Adrian Antell, headteacher at the adjoining junior school where Elsie had been due to start.
“Elsie was due to come to us last September,” he told Sky News, “but what we’ve learned about her is that she had a wonderful impact in the infant school, and we don’t want her to be forgotten.
“We want her name to have to live on and to be thought of in a positive way.”
Mr Antell said they continue to support Elsie’s classmates, who joined the new school without her.
“There’s no instruction manual for this,” he explained, “every day is different, and every day is one step at a time.
“So all we can do as a school is to think about individual children and support them in the best way we can.”
Scientists from Kew Gardens are using a new study to track which trees bees prefer to try to stem the decline in our vital pollinators.
Bee populations are falling all over the world due to a mixture of habitat loss, climate change, and the use of pesticides, with a devastating impact on our biodiversity and food production.
But it’s feared that not enough comprehensive, global research is being done to understand the issue or find solutions.
The study is building up heat maps of the most popular trees
Non-invasive monitors track the buzz created by bees’ wing beats
UK becoming a no-fly zone
Researchers based at Wakehurst in Sussex, known as Kew’s “Wild Botanic Garden”, have begun placing advanced bio-acoustics sensors in some of their trees to track which ones bees favour.
They hope it’ll help urban planners know which trees to plant in built-up areas, as a way of combating the worrying decline in bee numbers.
Pollination research lead Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee said: “Nearly 90% of our flowering plants depend on the contribution of pollinators, but in the UK the population of flying insects in the last 20 years has decreased by around 60%.
“It’s really hard to be able to put a figure on the decline of our pollinators, but we do know that globally the number is declining.
“And with that comes crop yield instability and the loss of an essential ecosystem service.”
Their new, non-invasive monitors listen for the buzz created by bees’ wing beats, building up heat maps of the most popular spots.
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Bio-acoustics sensors are placed in trees to track which ones the bees are more drawn to
‘We’re facing twin crises’
Dr Griffiths-Lee said: “If you think about the tree’s footprint, it’s very small, but they’re huge 3D structures covered in pollen and nectar, which are essential resources of pollinators.
“So we really wanted to think about which are the best trees for bees for us to plant, and that can inform landscape planners, urban architects.”
Eight different species of tree were chosen for the study, including horse chestnut and lime trees, with a mixture of native and non-native species.
The scientists have also been gathering DNA from pollen, which also helps them to map which plants and flowers the insects prefer.
Wakehurst’s director, Susan Raikes, calls the 535-acre estate a “living laboratory”, and said the project’s all about searching for nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher, really. We know that we’re facing these twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change,” she added.
“We need to be able to understand, as the climate changes, which plants from warmer climes will be good here in the UK for pollinators in the future.
“If all of our native plants are struggling, then we need to find new sources of pollen – for us all to survive.”
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