How many visas are issued to citizens of Angola, Namibia and the DRC?published at 09:26

09:26

By Phil Leake, data journalist

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce the UK may stop granting visas to people from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if their governments do not accept returns of people with no legal right to remain in the country.

The three African nations are the first to be threatened with visa bans since the government raised the possibility in September.

In the year to June 2025, the government enforced the return of just one person from Angola, two from Namibia and one from the DRC.

This is roughly in line with the average across recent years, with a total of 27 people from these countries having been removed since July 2019.

Meanwhile, a total of 5,926 visas were issued to citizens of the three nations in the latest year, down slightly on the previous 12 months but still the second-highest figure in the past decade.

The top country in terms of visas granted was India, with around 730,000.