After years of planning, the Home Office is now at its final stages of moving to a fully digitalised UK visa system, which will remove the need for physical immigration documents. Instead, visa holders will have an online immigration status (eVisa).
The Home Office plans to move everyone to eVisas by the end of 2024. The eVisa will be linked to the visa holder's passport. To access your eVisa, you will need to create an online account. Once you have your eVisa, you can share your immigration status with employers, schools, universities, landlords and banks using the "view and prove" service.
By the end of 2024, airlines will be able to check your immigration status directly with UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI). Therefore, it is important that steps are taken now to access your eVisa. If you don't, you may experience delays to your travels to the UK because from January 2025, airlines (carriers) will check your online immigration status before allowing you board and travel to the UK.
You should act immediately if you hold the following immigration documents.
- Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)
If you hold a BRP you should create an online account and access your eVisa. You are advised to do this before 31 December 2024. If you don't, you may experience problems when you are travelling to the UK and need to evidence your permission of stay in the UK.
Please refer to our eVisa fact sheet on accessing your UK eVisa.
- Wet ink stamp or a visa vignette sticker
If your passport contains a wet ink stamp or a visa vignette sticker showing you hold indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter, you will need to make a free "no time limit" (NTL) application before you can access your eVisa.
As part of the NTL application, you will need to show you still hold indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter.
- Biometric Residence Card (BRC)
The BRC is issued under the EU Settlement Scheme for non-EEA national family members. If you have a BRC and have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you should already have an eVisa. Please access your online account to check your status.
The Home Office has advised BRP and BRC holders to continue carrying their BRP/BRC cards when travelling internationally.
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.
