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Visa bans: exclusion of foreign nationals for the "public good"

The government has wide discretion to ban foreign nationals from entering the UK if it is “conducive to the public good”. This is on top of rules barring entry for specific kinds of misconduct, such as criminal convictions.

A visa ban can be ordered by the Home Secretary personally

Someone whose presence would not be conducive to the public good can be excluded from the UK by personal decision of the Home Secretary. The circumstances in which this power can be used are not limited by legislation but guidance states that it will normally involve serious issues such as national security, war crimes, corruption or extremism.

Since 2005, “unacceptable behaviours” can also lead to exclusion by the Home Secretary. These behaviours include expressing views which provoke, justify or glorify terrorist violence or foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.

The power can be used to refuse or cancel visas and electronic travel authorisation. Those excluded can write to the Home Office to ask for the ban to be lifted. In most cases there is no formal right of appeal but someone affected could apply for a different court process called judicial review.

Officials can also refuse entry over someone’s conduct, character or associations

Immigration officials are required to refuse entry if the person’s presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good “because of their conduct, character, associations or other reasons”. Potential reasons for refusal on this basis are similar to those for exclusion by the Home Secretary personally, but there are several additional grounds, such as anticipated incitement of public disorder.

As with exclusion by the Home Secretary, refusal under this rule can be challenged by applying for judicial review, although the courts have held that the Home Office has broad discretion in this area.

Those banned include Islamist extremists, foreign politicians and famous musicians

Successive governments have used visa bans against extremists and ‘hate preachers’, often with a focus on Islamists said to support terrorism or sectarian violence. The Starmer government’s social cohesion strategy said that it would expand a Home Office taskforce “to block hate preachers and extremists of all kinds from entering the UK”.

High-profile examples include Dr Zakir Naik, excluded by Theresa May in 2010 under the unacceptable behaviours policy, and Hezbollah spokesman Dr Ibrahim Moussawi, refused a visa in 2009 over concerns that his presence would increase tension between British Jews and Muslims. The current Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has reportedly also banned people over allegedly extremist comments about Israel and the conflict in Gaza.

Ministers have stressed that visa bans are used against extremists of various persuasions. Recent examples have included eleven “far-right agitators” due to attend a Unite the Kingdom rally and the left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker. In April 2026, the rapper Ye, or Kanye West, was banned from entering to headline a music festival. The government generally declines to comment officially on the exact reason or trigger for individual bans.

Other known cases of visa bans include former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Iranian dissident Maryam Rajavi, rapper Snoop Dogg, Dutch politician Geert Wilders and religious leader Sun Myung Moon (although some were later overturned).

Almost 400 people have been excluded by the Home Secretary personally since 2010

Successive Home Secretaries ordered the exclusion of 392 people from the UK between May 2010 and December 2024, according to annual reports on the use of anti-terrorism powers.

No data is available for refusals by immigration officials.

Related issues

This briefing does not cover powers to stop British people returning to the UK by taking away their citizenship or manage their return through a temporary exclusion order. It also does not cover travel bans arising from international sanctions applied by the Foreign Office or United Nations.