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on November 11, 2024
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Foreign nationals living in the UK have long been accustomed to biometric residence permits (BRPs). These secure identity cards serve as vital confirmation of the holder’s identity, as well as their entitlement to study and access public services and benefits in the UK.
If you are a citizen of another country who has come to the UK, you may have been issued with a BRP by the Home Office after applying to come to the UK for more than six months, or after extending your visa to longer than six months. People who apply to settle in the UK, who transfer their visa to a new passport, or who apply for certain Home Office travel documents, are also among those who have received a BRP in the past.
However, the era of the BRP is now coming to an end, with the UK Government in the process of switching UK residence permits from physical to digital. From 31st October 2024, new physical residence permits will no longer be issued, and nearly all existing BRPs have an expiry date of 31st December 2024.
In place of the BRP, the UK Government will introduce a digital record of a person’s immigration status, known as an “eVisa”. But if you are a prospective migrant to the UK or a foreign national already in the country, what are the major things you need to know about this vital transition, and what actions should you be taking right now?
An “eVisa” is an online record of a particular individual’s immigration status in the UK, together with the conditions of their permission to enter or stay in the UK.
The eVisa is not a brand-new system for 2024; millions of people have already received an eVisa online since 2018. For example, European Union (EU) citizens who used the EU Settlement Scheme to secure their residence rights in the UK after Brexit were issued with an eVisa, rather than a physical permit. Other individuals, such as those on the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route, have also received eVisas as they have relocated to the UK or extended their immigration permission.
However, there are certain groups of people already resident in the UK who will need to register for a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account in order to access their eVisa.
Among these individuals are those who have “indefinite leave to remain” status entitling them to permanent residence rights in the UK, who did not anticipate needing to interact again with the UK immigration system. If you have immigration permission in the UK until 2025 or 2026 – and therefore do not need to extend it until then – you may also need to actively sign up for an eVisa.
Unless your immigration leave in the UK expires on or before 31st December 2024, you will need to create a UKVI account in order to access your eVisa. From 2025 onwards, your BRP will have expired, and you will need to use your eVisa as proof of your immigration status.
If, then, you are a current BRP holder and will have immigration permission in the UK extending into 2025, it is essential that you act now, instead of waiting any longer. You can learn about the process at www.gov.uk/evisa. The Home Office advises foreign nationals in the UK to retain their BRP even after they have registered for a UKVI account, as they may still require it for future applications to stay in the UK. Until your BRP expires, you should continue to use this physical card as you have done previously, including taking it with you when travelling beyond the UK’s borders.
The introduction of eVisas is fundamental to the Government’s plan to phase out physical immigration documents by 2025.
The Home Office has previously stated that its implementation of an entirely digital border and immigration system “will deliver enhanced security and cost savings for the UK public and greater convenience for customers and status checkers.”
The department has also cited the below advantages of eVisas:
Sadly, such controversies in recent years as the Windrush scandal have shown the inconvenience and hardship that can be caused to migrants who are unable to prove their immigration permission in the UK, even when they are entitled to be in the country.
Migrants are frequently expected to prove that they have immigration permission when they seek housing, employment, welfare benefits, and non-emergency hospital treatment in the UK. Carriers – such as airlines – will also not take someone to the UK unless they are shown proof of immigration permission (or exemption) in the country.
If, then, you are a foreign national in the UK who presently has a BRP, you should be taking steps to sign up for an eVisa now. Doing so will give you an easy means of proving your immigration permission after 31st December 2024.
You can gain access to your eVisa by creating a UKVI account online. It is free to register for an account with UKVI, and this video from the Home Office explains how to do it.
Until August 2024, the Home Office had advised people against trying to access their eVisa unless they had been given an individual notification by email. It is important to emphasise that this advice no longer applies, and that anyone with a BRP should now be taking action to create a UKVI account and access their eVisa.
You might already have a UKVI account, in addition to a physical permit. If this is the case, you don’t need to take any action. If, however, you will be travelling outside the UK, you should check that your passport is linked to your UKVI account.
If you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), you will already have a UKVI account and an eVisa. It will therefore not be necessary for you to take any action.
The deadline for most people to apply to the EUSS was 30th June 2021. However, you might still be able to submit a late application for settlement under this scheme if you:
In the event that you do apply to the EUSS and are successful in being granted status, you will automatically get a UKVI account and access to an eVisa.
It might be the case that you have indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain in the UK (also commonly referred to “settled status” or “settlement”), and presently use a different type of physical document – such as a vignette sticker or a wet-ink stamp in your passport – to prove your rights.
If this is your situation, you should make a free “no time limit” (NTL) application to replace your document with a BRP. You will then be able to use the BRP to create the UKVI account that will enable you to access your eVisa.
Alternatively, you may be settled in the UK, but you might not have a document proving your entitlement to stay in the UK. If you or your parent were settled in the UK on 1st January 1973, or you arrived in the UK before the end of 1988, you should check whether you are eligible to apply for evidence of your status under the Windrush Scheme.
Biometric residence card (BRC) holders who have been granted status under the EUSS will already have an eVisa, so it will not be necessary for them to take any action to obtain one. If none of the above describes your exact situation, or if you require tailored advice and guidance, please give our experts in UK immigration law at Cranbrook Legal a call today, on 0208 215 0053.
When it comes to such an important transition, here at Cranbrook Legal, we can completely understand that you will be anxious to make sure you take all the necessary steps.
For many overseas nationals who need to create a UKVI account and access their eVisa, this process will be relatively quick and straightforward. Other people, however, may encounter issues for which they need tailored advice and assistance. Sure enough, our award-winning specialists in UK immigration law can provide such advice and assistance. We can advise you on the documents that you will require and review these
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