After many months of frustration, delay and confusion, the government has finally admitted that the eVisa rollout is causing problems for people in accessing digital proof of their immigration status.

This legal update breaks down the current position on the eVisa rollout, and what this means for people with eVisas, as well as expired BRPs cards and legacy documents.

UK government statement on eVisas

On 4 December, the Secretary of State for Migration Seema Malhotra released this written statement, and this accompanying media factsheet, published on 5 December.  

This statement effectively softens the roll out of the digital immigration system and pushes back the hard deadline of 31 December 2024.

In this blog we break down what the statement says.

First, the statement explains the benefits of the eVisa system, a digital immigration system where someone’s status cannot be ‘lost, stolen or damaged’. It goes on to say that over 3.1 million people (mostly individuals with BRPs) have successfully made the transition to eVisas from March to November 2024. 

There are, however, still ‘a proportion of people’ (exact figure not specified, probably because the Home Office is not aware of the extent) who have not made an application for a UKVI account to access their eVisa, even though they are eligible.

The statement then goes on to make a number of key changes to the eVisa roll out. 

Expired BRP cards

Everyone with a BRP card is ‘encouraged’ to switch to eVisas before their BRP expires. If someone with an expired BRP does not make a UKVI account before 1 January 2025, they will still be able to do so in 2025, using their expired BRP card.

This means that you will not be penalised if you do not make an eVisa account before the end of the year. The statement also says that you will be able to use an expired BRP to access Right to Work and Right to Rent services online. 

International travel

On international travel, the statement says that if you have an expired BRP, you will be able to use it as a valid form of travel until at least 31 March (and this date will be kept under review).

If you are travelling in the early part of 2025, you are advised to continue carrying your expired BRP as you travel.

The announcement from the Home Office explains that for international travel, there will be a ‘24/7 carrier support hub’, which will be available for carriers (this means airlines) to use should they have difficulties checking someone’s immigration status using either the eVisa or an expired document. 

Legacy document holders

For those with old style ‘legacy’ documents, the government has further simplified the process. Anyone who now makes a No Time Limit (NTL) application, will have their UKVI account and eVisa manually created for them.

The statement confirms that if you are a legacy document holder, and you have your proof of status in a passport/vignette sticker, you will still be able to prove your rights as you do today where they are accepted, including for the right to rent or to travel to the UK. 

Printed documents 

Somewhat confusingly, the announcement advises people to print their eVisa profile page, while also saying printed documents will not count as proof of immigration status. They advise people to print the page ‘for their own records’.

Responses

In response to this statement, ILPA and the3million published this joint letter to the Home Office. The letter is very detailed, and covers a range of topics. Here we outline the main points. 

The letter highlights that some groups of people are not included in the government statement. Groups not included are: 

• People whose BRP/Cs expire on any date between 31 October 2024 and 30 December 2024 inclusive, since BRP/Cs were no longer being issued from 31 October 2024.
  
• People, including those with refugee status, who were first granted immigration status on or after 31 October 2024, but have been unable to access their eVisa.
  
• People whose leave is extended by section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 and have not been issued with an eVisa or a BRP/C renewal.
  
• People with existing digital-only status (e.g. EU Settlement Scheme and Hong Kong BN(O) visa holders) whose eVisa is not functioning correctly due to errors on Home Office databases, or who have not known (or been able) to link their travel document to their eVisa. 

On the points on international travel, this letter points out that carriers are ‘risk averse’ and so in cases of doubt, are ‘likely to err on the side of caution and deny a person boarding’. The authors point out that carriers are liable for fines if they transport someone who does not have permission to enter the UK. 

The letter welcomes the idea of the carrier support hub, but questions the planned implementation. They point out that there is no support line for passengers, only for carriers. For passengers experiencing difficulties, they will only have access to the UKVI Resolution Centre line, which frequently has over 1 hour wait times. It is also only staffed from 8am to 8pm Mondays to Fridays, and 9:30am to 4:30pm at the weekend. It is also not a free number. 

The letter also points out that the Home Office has explicitly denied any liability for any loss or damage that arises from use of the UKVI account, including “any direct, indirect or consequential loss, any inability to use the UKVI account, any disruption to access to the UKVI account, any information that is lost or corrupted while data is being transmitted, processed or downloaded from the UKVI account.” 

Right to Remain key tips 

At Right to Remain, we have been sharing essential information about the eVisa transition at every stage of the process. We have regularly updated our Legal Updates blog with key changes (here and here), and created a new Key Guide on How to support someone with the transition to eVisas. 

At every stage, we have encouraged members of our communities to read up on this process, and to share information widely. But we have also been acutely aware of many the barriers people face when making the eVisa transition. Even those who have access to the necessary technology have had difficulties accessing and viewing their eVisa – some eVisas show incorrect information, or do not display their leave to remain correctly. 

The UK government shared information about the eVisa transition far too late, and there have been huge problems with how this transition has been communicated, implemented and managed. 

There is a lot at stake: if you are unable to prove your immigration status due to problems with the eVisa system, or otherwise, you risk very serious consequences. Not being able to prove your lawful immigration status when you need to can mean you cannot get a job, rent a house, or in some cases stay in the UK. 

At Right to Remain we are continuing to encourage people to make UKVI accounts and access their eVisa.

For individuals going through this process, we advise:

• Try and make a UVKI account and access your eVisa if you can, use the guides to help you and get support – look at the list of support organisations in the Right to Remain guide.
• Print out all your documents, and keep hold of them (even if they have expired)
• Use the reporting tool from the3million to report any problems you have
• Stay connected, and share your experiences 

For people in support roles, we advise:

• Integrating information about the transition into your casework, e.g. ‘are you aware that BRPs are expiring? Do you have an eVisa you can use’?
• Signposting to organisations with Home Office funding to support where possible.
• Supporting people to print copies of documents 
• Become familiar with the Home Office escalation routes for what happens when things do wrong and flag issues with the3million’s reporting tool and the Home Office reporting tool!