Home Office says biometric residence permit holders no longer need an invitation to create a UKVI account
The Home Office updated its eVisa guidance yesterday, as biometric residence permit (BRP) holders in the UK no longer need an email invitation to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account and access their eVisa.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Anyone with a biometric residence permit (BRP) should now take action to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa. Replacing physical immigration documents with eVisas by 2025 is a key part of the transformation and digitisation of the UK’s border and immigration system."
Image credit: WikipediaThe Home Office's updated online immigration status (eVisa) guidance is available here.
It states: "If you have a biometric residence permit (BRP) that expires on 31 December 2024, you can now create a UKVI account and access your eVisa. You should do this before the expiry date of your BRP."
An eVisa is an online record of a person's immigration permission in the UK, and any conditions that apply.
The Home Office published a new 5-minute video on YouTube yesterday, available here, which provides details about how a person can create a UKVI account to access their eVisa.
In its updated guidance, the Home Office notes that not all eVisas might be viewable immediately. It explains: "If you cannot see your eVisa details as soon as you create your UKVI account, there is nothing you need to do. We will contact you directly by email once your eVisa is available to view. You can use your BRP to prove your immigration status until your eVisa details are available."
The Home Office provided the following background information about eVisas:
• An eVisa is an electronic record of a person's immigration status. It provides customers with the ability to view and prove their immigration status online. To protect against identity fraud, eVisas are securely linked to the holders' unique biometric information in the same way as for Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs). eVisas are accessed via a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account, which visa holders create as part of the process of transitioning to an eVisa, and which they can then use to share information about their immigration status and conditions, such as their right to work or rent in the UK.
• eVisas remove the need for physical documents such as BRPs, ink stamps and visa vignette stickers (a physical visa sticker in a customer's passport), or the Biometric Residence Cards (BRC).
• Physical immigration document holders are urged to take action before their document expires at www.gov.uk/evisa.
• The transition to eVisas does not impact a customer's underlying immigration status, and customers will be able to use an expired BRP to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa.
• The transition to eVisas is in-line with other countries which have replaced, or are planning to replace, their physical immigration documents with digital forms of immigration status.
• A wide range of communications activity is already being delivered in support of the transition to eVisas, with further activity planned throughout 2024. This includes frequently reviewed GOV.UK content, proactive engagement with UK and international media, extensive stakeholder engagement, and development of a stakeholder 'partner pack' of eVisa communications materials, including a factsheet containing information for those who check immigration statuses, which is available here.
The phased rollout of eVisas began in April 2024 and was initially open to BRP holders by email invitation only, with the Home Office noting that the service would open to all in the summer.