Home Office begins eVisa rollout

The Home Office has started to roll out eVisas, with their aim being to have replaced physical visas or biometric residence permits (BRPs) by 2025.

The Home Office has started to email select individuals who hold BRPs in regard to creating a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access their eVisas. The UKVI account can also be used to share immigration status with checking parties. The eVisa itself is a digital form of proof of their immigration status.

• The eVisas will store the unique biometric information of the holder as the BRP did, to aid in preventing identity fraud
• Current eVisa holders should continue to update their UKVI account with any changes to personal information, examples being new passports or contact details
• Individuals should still carry their in-date physical immigration documents when they travel internationally until they expire
• Individuals with indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement), who currently use a different document type to prove their visa status, such as a vignette sticker, should make a ‘no time limit’ application to obtain a BRP
• On obtaining their BRP, they will be able to create a UKVI account to gain access to their eVisa.

The Home Office will begin contacting BRP holders who do not have a UKVI account and new visa applicants, as of April 2024, to instruct them to create a UKVI account by the end of the year. This comes as the Home Office continue to digitalise visa statuses, with all BRP cards expiring by the end of 2024.

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