General

Implementation of eVisa timetable revised due to flawed system

By Amer Zaman

on January 19, 2025

Read Time: 8 Minutes

Many of our clients – and readers of the Cranbrook Legal blog – will be aware of the UK Government’s ongoing development of a digital immigration system. One major element of this has been the emergence of the eVisa, which is an online record of an individual’s immigration status.

The eVisa system isn’t a brand new one; eVisas have been issued online to various individuals since 2018, including through the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

However, the Home Office has been picking up the pace lately in its efforts to completely transition to eVisas from physical documents to prove immigration status. In accordance with this, the Government ceased to issue physical residence permits from 31st October 2024, in addition to marking nearly all existing ones with a 31st December 2024 expiry date.

That end-of-December “cliff-edge”, however, has proved contentious, as have various other aspects of the eVisa system and its implementation. This has prompted the Government to effectively extend the validity of old-style physical permits into 2025 as a transitional measure.

‘Digital Windrush’ fears have led to an extended eVisa ‘deadline’  

Until now, the Government had intended that physical immigration documents would be entirely replaced by the eVisa system from 1st January 2025.

However, with the winter being such a peak travel period – a time when many non-UK nationals with a right to live and work in the UK are likely to be travelling in and out of the country – concerns have been voiced about the timing of the rollout, and the risks of disruption.

Digital rights campaigners at Open Rights Group have gone as far as saying that the eVisa scheme could bring about a fresh Windrush-style scandal, whereby people who are legally entitled to be in the UK are unable to prove it – with potentially life-changing consequences.

Now, it appears that the Home Office has at least partly heeded such warnings. In a written statement published on 4th December 2024, migration and citizenship minister Seema Malhotra confirmed that expired biometric residence permits (BRPs) and EUSS biometric residence cards (BRCs) would still be valid for travel until at least 31st March 2025.

In comments to The Guardian, Ms Malhotra was critical of the previous Conservative Government’s choice of New Year’s Day for the full eVisa transition. She stated: “I still find it staggering that the Tories chose 1 January to roll out the biggest change to immigration documents for a generation on an international public holiday – risking a cliff-edge, when hardly anyone is working.”

Is the BRP being replaced with the eVisa?

Yes, eVisas are replacing biometric residence permits (BRPs) in the UK. The Home Office has not issued any new BRPs since 31st October 2024, and most existing BRPs will expire on 31st December 2024.

However, expired BRPs can still be used for travel to the UK until at least 31st March 2025. The Home Office has said it has put in place this temporary arrangement “to provide additional reassurance to travellers during the early phase of this transition”, and that it will keep the measure “under review”.

In the meantime, the Government has continued to urge BRP holders to set up access to their eVisa. To do this, they will need to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account if they do not have one already.

BRPs are not the only physical immigration documents that the eVisa is replacing. The other documents being replaced include:

  • Biometric residence cards (BRCs)
  • Passport endorsements, such as indefinite leave to enter wet ink stamps
  • Passport vignette stickers, such as entry clearance or visa vignettes

It is important to emphasise that an eVisa is merely an online record of a given individual’s existing immigration status and the conditions of their permission to enter or stay in the UK. So, any given foreign national will still need valid underlying immigration status – such as a non-expired visa – in order to have the right to enter and stay in the country.

What has changed about the eVisa implementation… and what hasn’t changed?

The Home Office has continued to defend the introduction of eVisas. It has stated that the new online records of immigration status will “enhance visa holder and new applicants’ experience, deliver excellent value, and increase the immigration system’s security and efficiency.”

It is also still the case that:

  • The Government is no longer issuing new BRPs
  • Most BRPs and EUSS BRCs will expire on 31st December 2024
  • The Government is continuing to encourage anyone who uses a BRP to access their eVisa by visiting www.gov.uk/evisa.

The “headline” change, however, is the Government’s effective extension of the validity of old permits for transitional purposes. The Home Office has said that:

  • Within the UK, people will still be entitled after the end of December to use the online right to work and rent services to prove their rights, despite their BRP having expired, at least for a limited period
  • For travel to the UK, a permit dated 31st December 2024 or later will still be valid until at least 31st March 2025. Airlines will be told to accept such permits as an alternative to automative notification of the given individual having an eVisa and therefore being allowed to board.

It is crucial to emphasise that, whatever the exact situation for a given non-UK national, their underlying immigration permission to be in the UK will still need to be valid. So, they will not be able to rely on an old residence permit for returning to the UK if their visa has expired.

What criticisms have been made of the eVisa scheme?

In September 2024, the UK-based digital rights campaigning organisation, Open Rights Group (ORG), published the report E-Visas: Hostile and Broken.

The non-profit has identified a variety of issues with the eVisa initiative’s design, rollout, and implementation, including:

  • The online-only nature of the scheme

The design of the eVisa means an Internet connection is required to access it. The foreign national is not given any option of an offline digital visa that they can store on their device in advance of a meeting or application for a service.

  • A lack of support for vulnerable individuals

ORG noted that there didn’t seem to be much support in place for people with specific vulnerabilities, such as individuals experiencing homelessness, older people, and those living in care.

  • Technical issues

Case studies gathered by the3million, a grassroots organisation of EU citizens in the UK, have helped draw attention to various technical problems with eVisas.

Such issues have apparently included – but have not been limited to – people seeing incorrect details on their accounts, people being unable to access their status due to the system having crashed, and a lack of technical competency among the individuals responsible for checking someone’s immigration status via the eVisa system.

  • The Home Office’s exclusion of liability

ORG also pointed out that in the Home Office’s terms and conditions for the eVisa system, the department did not take any liability for any problems, disruptions, or direct or indirect losses for people using a UKVI account.

This, the organisation stated, “implies that the Home Office is already aware of the many technical issues with the eVisa scheme and is pre-emptively protecting itself against legitimate legal claims.”

  • Concerns about human rights and data protection

ORG said that with the transition from physical immigration documents to eVisas being such a “large-scale undertaking”, it would expect both human rights and equality impact assessments to have been carried out, in addition to a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Although the organisation stated that it would assume a DPIA did exist, it was not clear whether either of the other aforementioned assessments had been conducted. This was despite a number of risks, such as users of the eVisa system inevitably including people with poor digital literacy skills, who may find it difficult to access or use the system.

Do I need to apply for an eVisa if I have indefinite leave to remain?

If you have “indefinite leave to remain” (ILR) status in the UK – also sometimes referred to as having “settled” in the UK – it may be advisable for you to apply for an eVisa. However, it may not be strictly mandatory according to present UK Government guidance.

Nonetheless, the UK Government does urge this course of action for many people who have ILR status, and who currently use a physical document to prove their status.

In a media factsheet published on 4th December, the Home Office stated that anyone with ILR status “who uses an ink stamp or vignette in a passport to prove their rights can continue to use their documents as they do today, including for travel”. No date was given for this situation changing, so it appears to apply for the foreseeable future.

The department did, however, encourage settled people in the UK to make a free No Time Limit (NTL) application via www.gov.uk/evisa, in order to access an eVisa. The Government said that such individuals are able to submit an NTL application “at any time”.

Once a given individual’s NTL application is decided, they will receive an eVisa. ILR status holders can continue to prove their rights using their existing physical documents – where they are allowed to do so – while their NTL application is being considered and after it is decided. This includes when they need to prove their right to work if their document has not yet expired, as well as their right to rent or for travel to the UK.

If you are unsure about your rights or obligations, please feel free to contact us

Whether you are a foreign national who is already present in the UK and you are facing any issues in relation to the eVisa scheme, or you have any other concerns about engaging with the UK’s immigration system, please feel free to enquire to our team. Fill in and submit our free consultation form today, and you can soon benefit from tailored advice, guidance, and assistance, courtesy of Cranbrook Legal’s award-winning specialists in UK immigration law.

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