What every employer with migrant workers needs to know ahead of December 2024: BRP holders in the UK no longer need an email invitation to access their eVisa.
What is an eVisa?
An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status, and the conditions of your permission to enter and stay in the UK. You will need your eVisa to prove your immigration status, for example to a landlord or prospective employer.
Key changes: from Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) to eVisas
As we wrote in our recent article, UK Visas & Immigration are rolling out a digital immigration system, which includes replacing physical documents with an online record of a migrant’s immigration status (applicable to any non-UK national in the UK).
Anyone who has a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) which was issued at any time since early 2020, will see that it is set to expire on 31 December 2024 – even if their leave/permission to remain in the UK expires after that date.
The change that has recently been introduced confirms that, rather than waiting to be invited by UKVI to obtain your eVisa, migrants can go ahead and create their UKVI account and access their eVisa. In short, UKVI’s guidance has been updated to confirm that those holding a BRP in the UK no longer need an email invitation to access their eVisa.
What action must be taken?
Obtain access to your eVisa in good time before the expiry date of your BRP.
How do you access your eVisa?
If you have a BRP which expires on 31 December 2024, you should set up a UKVI account to access your eVisa, which you should use to travel into the UK, together with your passport.
If you don’t already have a UKVI account, you will be able to create one, and confirm your identity, using the UK Immigration ID check app on a smartphone. Details of how to create a UKVI account to access your eVisa and share information about your immigration status can be found at www.gov.uk/get-access-evisa.
Your eVisa will be linked directly to your UKVI account. If, once you have set up your UKVI account, you do not see your eVisa details right away, UKVI will contact you by email once your eVisa is ready to view. Until then, you can continue to use your BRP when travelling into the UK.
What information is needed to create a UKVI account?
You will need:
- Access to an email address
- An ID document – eg, your passport or current BRP
- Your current BRP number
- Your application number, if you’re applying for a new visa: this number starts with GWF
- A smartphone, to download the ID verification app
What if you hold physical documents confirming your immigration status and do not have a BRP?
For those who hold another physical document confirming their immigration status – a vignette or wet-ink passport stamp for example – you will need to make a ‘No Time Limit’ application to obtain a BRP. Once the BRP is issued to you, will need to create a UKVI account and follow the steps above to obtain an eVisa.
British and Irish citizens do not need an eVisa or a UKVI account, and so do not need to do anything.
If you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you already have an eVisa and do not need to take any action to obtain one.
Supporting employees with eVisa transition – what should employers do?
Employers should reach out to all sponsored workers or other employees who have leave to remain and are subject to immigration control within their organisation to set up a UKVI account to access their eVisa, which they will use in the future to travel into the UK. Until the end of 2024, these individuals should continue to carry their BRP. For more information and assistance with any part of the process, please contact our immigration team.
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