What you need to know if you have a physical document to prove your UK immigration status: Student visa holders.
Since 3 April 2024, the Home Office have been contacting student visa holders in the UK to invite them to create an eVisa account. This will be by invitation only. The notification received advises as follows:
On Wednesday 3rd April we'll be directly contacting approximately 30,000 student visa holders by email, to ask them to sign up and create their UKVI account and get access to their eVisa. The ability to create an account is currently by invitation only.
We will be inviting groups of in country customers to sign up and create their UKVI account and get access to their eVisa. As this change affects millions of customers, this phased approach will allow a smoother transition across the early rollout period, followed by a call to action in the Summer to enable all customers with extant permission to make the switch to eVisas. GOV.UK/evisa will provide the latest information to all customers.
We will continue to update this page with further information and announcements as we receive them.
Update as of 22 July 2024
The Home Office have now advised that the eVisa roll out will not be fully in place for students by the 31 December 2024 as they had hoped. Due to the delay, they will be introducing a "tactical solution" in order to support Student Sponsors. They aim to have a strategic solution by June 2025.
Notwithstanding the delay and failings in the scheme, UKVI will no longer be issuing students with physical BRPs after the 31 October 2024.
UKVI have confirmed that instead they will be writing to the Key Contacts at universities with more than 100 students to enter a data sharing agreement with UKVI. The Home Office will then share data with the institutions on the sponsored students to enable institutions to cross check they have captured all the data on the sponsored students. Data shared will include:
- Name
- Visa start and end date
- Permission type
- CAS number
- Date of birth
- Passport
Data will be shared in October 2024, November 2024 and January 2025
Sponsoring institutions will need to prepare to use a share-code to assess a student's right to study with the view and prove service from the UKVI. This information will not confirm a student's right to work. As such, and given the impossible position this leaves sponsors, UKVI will confirm that for the next 12 months sponsors do not need to check a student's work conditions. However, should a student raise an error, the sponsor must inform the Home Office.
Lack of data will not lead to Sponsors being penalised for record keeping if it is due to the eVisa roll-out. Key Contacts at institutions will have this confirmed in due course and should keep a record of this on their files.
Please see here for more general information and updates on eVisas.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.