Shahira Sadat & Ors, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The claimants are seven prospective students affected by a change to the Immigration Rules which made nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan ineligible for a student visa — the "Student Visa Brake" — introduced by the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 1691), laid before Parliament on 5 March 2026 and in force from 26 March 2026, inserting ST 3.3 into Appendix Student. Nationals of Afghanistan were simultaneously made ineligible for skilled worker visas, though that was not challenged. The Secretary of State estimated the measure would prevent about 4,300 student visas over 18 months and reduce visa-linked asylum claims by about 1,300. The Farah claimants are three displaced Sudanese medical graduates living in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, holding offers from the University of Oxford and University College London. The Sadat claimants are four women — nationals of Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon — holding offers from universities including Sussex, Bradford, Manchester, Bristol, Oxford and King's College London, several with scholarships in issue. Their offers were withdrawn, deferred or put on hold. Neither claim challenged any individual decision; the facts were relied on as illustrative. Both claims were heard together on a rolled-up basis, permission and merits being considered at once.