Migrants workers in UK invited to switch to e-visa to update their immigration status online

LONDON April 20: As part of the UK government’s plan to digitalise the immigration system people in the UK with physical immigration documents are being invited to switch to an eVisa.

From 17 April, individuals in the UK with physical immigration documents will receive an email from the Home Office, inviting them to create a UK visas and immigration (UKVI) account to access their eVisa.

What is an eVisa?

If you have a physical document, the way you prove your immigration status will change. Although, how you apply for permission to enter or stay in the UK will stay the same.

This new approach means that physical documents like biometric residence permits and vignette visa stickers will be replaced by an ‘eVisa.’

If you have physical evidence of your immigration status, such as a BRP, that document will remain valid until its expiry date.

If your immigration status was granted for a longer period that status will not be affected by the expiry of your physical document. An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status and the conditions of your permission to enter or stay in the UK.

An eVisa does not affect your immigration status if you already have permission to enter or stay in the UK.

You must create an online UK Visas and Immigration, or ‘UKVI account’ if you do not already have one, to view your eVisa and to share your immigration status with third parties.

eVisas are secure and cannot be lost, stolen, or tampered with and you will not need to wait for, or collect, a physical document after your application has been decided.

Your eVisa will be linked to your passport or travel documents, so when you travel, carriers and border force will be able to check your immigration status automatically. This means it is important to keep your current passport or travel document details updated in your UKVI account.

For more information about eVisas and how this change will affect you, visit GOV.UK/eVisa.

Physical documents will be gradually phased out and nearly all visa holders living in the UK will have access to an eVisa by 2025, the Home Office has said.

The electronic rollout comes after it was revealed that flaws with the Home Office immigration database have resulted in tens of thousands of people being listed with incorrect names, photographs or immigration status.

Healthcare workers and severly disabled people are among thousands who are being wrongly stripped of work and benefits because they do not have a physical document to prove their legal status.

Foreign nationals on “leave to remain” have to renew their status every few years, and while they wait for a decision, they are put on “3C leave”.

This is meant to protect the rights they have to work, study or claim benefits, but it leaves them without a physical document confirming their status – something many employers insist on seeing.

Speaking about the eVisa rollout, Tom Pursglove, the minister for legal migration and the border, said replacing physical documents, called biometric residence permits, with a digital system “will ensure firm control over who comes here to live, work or study”.

Mr Pursglove added: “We’ve already taken really significant steps to digitally transform the border and immigration system, and this wider rollout of eVisas is a key part of that process.

“Replacing physical immigration documents with eVisas will ensure firm control over who comes here to live, work or study, strengthening border security and preventing abuse of the immigration system, while delivering cost-savings for UK taxpayers.”