eVisas & BRPs

BRPs will only be valid to 31 December 2024*. If your immigration permission is granted beyond this date the full duration will be recorded in the UKVI decision but your BRP will expire on 31 December 2024.  You can prove the full duration of your permission online eg for work or renting purposes.

* The government has announced its intention to allow travel to the UK on expired BRPs up to 31 March 2025.   This assumes that your immigration permission is still in place at the time of travel.  The Home Office has said it will keep this arrangement under review.

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 as soon as you can and before the expiry date of your BRP.

Creating the digital account/eVisa is not a visa application, there is no fee, it does not require a new CAS.

UKVI provide online help with creating a digital account and accessing eVisa details.  The online help will initially provide automated responses, if necessary it eventually offers to put you through to chat with a person.

Although you will use the UK Immigration: ID check app to set up a digital account, scan ID documents and your face the app does not contain your digital account or your eVisa details.

You can use different UKVI links to access your digital account and eVisa details online depending on the purpose required:

• View and prove – is used to see a summary of your visa status and for creating a share code to prove your status to others.
• Update your UKVI account details - to check and update relevant details, including current passport, contact details.
• there is a dedicated link to report an error with your eVisa

if you are unable to access your digital account there is a link to recover access.

It is important to ensure your eVisa details are correct and that the passport you will use is linked to your digital account prior to travel.

You can do this by:

• checking your immigration status is displaying correctly by using the view and prove your immigration statusservice – if your status is displaying incorrectly, report an error with your eVisa 
• using the update your UKVI account detailsservice to check:
  • the passport you will use for travel is linked to your account
  • your personal details are correct

Given concerns about how the transition to eVisa travel may work:

The government has announced its intention to allow travel to the UK on expired BRPs up to 31 March 2025.   This assumes that your immigration permission is still in place at the time of travel.  The Home Office has said it will keep this arrangement under review.

 UKVI also advise

Passengers whose immigration permission is still valid but whose BRP/EUSS BRC expires on or after 31 December are advised to continue to carry their expired BRP/ EUSS BRC with them when they travel in the early part of 2025.

Passengers may also wish to create a View and Prove share code in advance of travel, which is valid for 90 days. 

Furthermore, if you are unable to set up access to your eVisa, or are having difficulties updating your UKVI account before you need to travel to the UK you can get a ‘replacement BRP visa’.  The replacement BRP visa will allow you to travel to the UK only once and will cost £154.  After travel you should continue to resolve any issue with your account/eVisa.

Provided you have linked your current passport details to your digital account travel providers such as airlines, Eurostar or ferry companies should be able to check your visa status directly from your passport. See the travelling with an eVisa section for more details.

In some circumstances you may have to obtain a share code and provide this to the person who needs to check your visa status, eg

• To the University to check your right to study
• To an employer to check your right to work
• To a landlord to check your right to rent

To get the relevant share code you access your eVisa details using the view and prove your immigration status service.

It is important to keep your digital account details up to date, especially if there is a change to your contact details, passport or other personal details such as name.  See the further information on how to update your UKVI account details.

If you are unable to access your digital account there is a webpage to recover access.

If your status is displaying incorrectly, you can report an error with your eVisa online.

UKVI provide online help with creating a digital account and accessing eVisa details.  The online help will initially provide automated responses, if necessary it eventually offers to put you through to chat with a person.

UKVI can also be contacted by telephone.  Selecting the ‘eVisa’ option tends to just lead to online information.  In order to speak with someone instead, select the most appropriate option for the eVisa related issue such as problems with view and prove, accessing or updating your account.  Generally this will lead to:

UK Visas and Immigration contact centre
Telephone: +44 (0)300 790 6268 - select option 3
Telephone: +44 (0)203 875 4669, if you are unable to dial 0300 numbers
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8.30pm
Saturday and Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm

In addition you can also contact Student Advice and Support Service at advice@lboro.ac.uk.

If your BRP is lost or stolen, you must notify UKVI by completing an online report.    

If it is stolen you should report this to the police and try to obtain a police report/reference. Many police forces (including Leicestershire and Metropolitan police) do not take reports of lost ID. 

UKVI will cancel a reported BRP, the BRP will no longer be valid even if it is subsequently recovered after a loss or theft. You are also required to cut up any cancelled BRP in your possession. 

If your BRP is lost or stolen you must notify UKVI by completing an online report. It is advisable to report any loss or theft to local police and retain any report/reference issued. 

UKVI will cancel a reported BRP, the BRP will be no longer be valid even if it is subsequently recovered after a loss or theft. You are also required to cut up any cancelled BRP in your possession. 

If you have set up a digital UKVI account with current eVisa and passport details you should be able to use this – see the travelling with an eVisa section for more details.