Phasing out of Physical Visas
At the end of 2024, the Home Office will be phasing out physical visas – also known as Biometric Resident Permits (BRPs) - in favour of moving to a fully digital immigration system, with all immigration status recorded in the form of an eVisa. An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status and the conditions of your permission to enter or stay in the UK.
The benefits of this system are that your eVisas are more secure and cannot be lost, stolen, or tampered with, and you will not need to wait for the delivery of a document following an application decision being made.
Due to this rollout, many BRP cards have an expiration date of 31/12/2024.
Will this affect my current immigration status?
The expiration date of 31/12/2024 is for the physical BRP card only. However, you may need to take action in order be able to prove your right to work to employers after your card expires.
If your status is indefinite - with no expiration date - or if you have time-limited leave to remain which is later than 31/12/2024, your immigration status will not be affected.
If your BRP expires before the end of 2024, your immigration leave may also expire at that point. If you plan to remain in the UK, you should make a visa renewal application the usual way.
If you are unsure when your visa ends, you can check the letter you received from the Home Office when they approved your application.
What do I need to do?
Throughout 2024, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will be contacting BRP holders with an invite and instructions to create a UKVI account, so please make sure that the Home Office has your correct email and postal address so that they can reach you. If you need to update your contact details, you can fill out a change of circumstances form on GOV.UK.
If you have not yet been contacted about creating an account, you will be able to create your account and access your eVisa later in 2024. You can sign up for updates on the e-visa roll out here https://www.gov.uk/email/subscriptions/single-page/new?topic_id=online-immigration-status-evisa after creating or signing in with your GOV.UK One login.
Once your registration is completed, you can use your UKVI account to share your immigration status with third parties i.e. employers, by generating a share code in the View and Prove Service on GOV.UK. These share codes last 90 days, and you can generate a new code whenever you need one, meaning you don’t need to keep hold of or remember one singular code.
Further guidance on any of this can be found on GOV.UK, here are some useful links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/evisa-rollout-begins-with-immigration-documents-replaced-by-2025
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/online-immigration-status-evisa
https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/17/media-factsheet-evisas/
