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eVisas and your UKVI account

Physical immigration documents have gone: since 1 July 2026 even new visa stickers have stopped, and your permission to be in the UK now lives in your UKVI account.

Reviewed against GOV.UK on 19 August 2026.

What an eVisa is

An eVisa is an online record of your identity, immigration status and the conditions attached to it. There is no card and no sticker to lose. You reach it through a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account, which is free to set up and free to use. Anyone granted permission to enter or stay in the UK now gets an eVisa, not a physical document.

How the move away from BRPs happened

Biometric residence permits were printed with an expiry date of 31 December 2024, and Home Office guidance confirms that all BRPs expired by that date and have been replaced by eVisas. Card expiry never affected the underlying permission. A concession followed: expired BRPs and EU Settlement Scheme biometric residence cards that expired on or after 31 December 2024 could still be used for travel to the UK until 1 June 2025, and from 2 June 2025 were no longer accepted as evidence of status for travel.

An expired BRP still has one narrow use: you may be able to use it for 24 months after the expiry date printed on the card, or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first, and only to create a UKVI account, to access and share your eVisa details, or to apply to extend your permission to stay. For every other purpose you must use the eVisa.

Setting up your UKVI account

You need an account if you hold any UK visa, settlement, a digital exemption or right of abode, and each person needs their own: a partner and children joining as dependants cannot share yours. To create one you need a mobile phone number and an email address to sign in with, plus one of the following: a valid passport with your visa application number (a GWF or UAN), a valid passport with your BRP number, or your expired BRP card. If you have neither a valid passport nor an expired BRP, or cannot use a smartphone, there is an alternative way to confirm your identity before linking the account to your eVisa.

Legacy documents and the end of vignettes

Biometric residence cards can still be used in some situations, and a visa vignette (sticker) already in a passport remains valid until it expires. For new arrivals the key change is that on 1 July 2026 UKVI stopped issuing vignette stickers to successful new applicants. First-time travellers now have nothing in the passport: collect it from the visa application centre, sign in to your UKVI account, check the permission shown is correct, and travel on the passport linked to that account. The carrier verifies the digital permission rather than looking for a sticker.

Proving your status: view and prove

Use the view and prove service to see your eVisa and generate a share code. You sign in with your passport, national identity card, biometric residence card, expired BRP or UKVI customer number, plus access to the phone number or email address on the account. A share code lasts 90 days and can be used as many times as you need before it expires.

The person checking needs the code and your date of birth. GOV.UK puts it plainly: you will not need to show them your eVisa. Do not send screenshots or photographs of your status instead of a code. For work this matters legally: employer guidance states that eVisa holders can only use the Home Office online service to evidence their right to work, and an employer who merely looks at the worker's own view of the service gets no statutory excuse. Employers and landlords run their own check, which shows whether you have the right to live in the UK and any restrictions on it.

Travelling with an eVisa

You must travel on a passport or travel document added to your UKVI account, and you can add more than one. With dual nationality, add the passport you will actually travel on; if one of your nationalities is British or Irish you do not need an eVisa and should use that passport, or one with a certificate of entitlement. Your details must exactly match the passenger information you give your carrier: the carrier may not let you travel if they are wrong, and you may be delayed at the UK border. If a carrier cannot verify your status automatically, give a share code or produce a valid physical immigration document with your passport. Since 11 March 2026 Home Office travel documents are linked to UKVI accounts automatically, though a physical document is still issued.

Common problems and how to fix them

Losing access to the old email address or phone number is the most common difficulty; UKVI runs an account recovery service and a webchat for sign-in problems. You cannot change your name or passport while a visa decision is outstanding. From abroad, a biometric passport lets you update passport, name and nationality remotely; other changes may mean contacting UKVI and giving biometrics at a visa application centre.

If your eVisa shows the wrong date of birth, nationality or status, if no share code will generate, if you cannot view the eVisa after signing in, or if the Home Office created an account you have never used, report it through the eVisa error webform. You give your name, date of birth and nationality exactly as they appear, plus a passport number, expired BRP number, GWF or UAN, or UKVI customer number. UKVI aims to fix most issues within 5 working days, and complex cases within 15 working days. If you are asked for a BRP at the border, the card has been replaced: offer a share code, because the digital record is the status.

Settlement on paper, and Windrush

If your indefinite leave is evidenced by a wet-ink stamp or a vignette with no expiry date, you keep that document, but you can move to an eVisa through a free no time limit (NTL) application. The fee was removed on 6 April 2022; it had been £248.20. You need the passport you last entered the UK on, your settlement document if you still have it, and biometrics at a service point; processing takes up to 6 months. Do not use NTL if you have an expired BRP or EU Settlement Scheme status, as there is a different route. Anyone settled here on 1 January 1973, or who arrived before 1988, should also check the Windrush Scheme.

EU Settlement Scheme status

Settled and pre-settled status has always been digital: holders get no physical document automatically and prove their rights with 90-day share codes. Anyone issued an EUSS biometric residence card should note the 2 June 2025 travel change above and check the passport or identity card they travel on is on the account.

How PRIMEVISA helps

• Setting up or recovering a UKVI account where the original email address, phone number or documents are no longer available.
• Correcting eVisa errors and pressing UKVI where wrong details are blocking work, renting or travel.
• Free no time limit applications where indefinite leave sits in an old passport stamp or vignette, including Windrush-era cases.
• Advising individuals, employers and landlords on share codes, right to work and right to rent checks, and refused boarding at check-in.

Common questions

My BRP expired on 31 December 2024. Is my immigration permission still valid?
Yes. All BRPs expired by 31 December 2024 and were replaced by eVisas, but the card's expiry never affected your underlying permission. You may still be able to use the expired card for 24 months after the printed expiry date, or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first, and only to create a UKVI account, to access and share your eVisa details, or to apply to extend your stay. Since 2 June 2025 it has not been accepted as evidence of status for travel.

How long does a share code last, and what does the checker see?
A share code lasts 90 days and can be used as many times as you need within that period. The person checking needs the code and your date of birth; GOV.UK confirms you will not need to show them your eVisa, so never send screenshots or photographs instead. Their check shows whether you have the right to live in the UK and any restrictions on it.

I have just been granted a visa but there is no sticker in my passport. Can I travel?
Yes. UKVI stopped issuing visa vignette stickers to successful new applicants on 1 July 2026. Collect your passport from the visa application centre, sign in to your UKVI account, check the permission shown on your eVisa is correct, and travel on the passport linked to that account. If your carrier cannot verify your status automatically, give them a share code.

I cannot access the email address or phone number on my UKVI account. What now?
Use the UKVI account recovery service and the eVisa webchat for sign-in problems, and update your details online once you are back in. You cannot change your name or passport while a visa application decision is outstanding. From abroad, a biometric passport lets you update your passport, name and nationality remotely; other changes may require contacting UKVI and giving biometrics at a visa application centre.

My indefinite leave is a wet-ink stamp in an old passport. Do I have to move to an eVisa?
You keep the document, but the practical answer is yes: make a free no time limit (NTL) application, for which the fee was removed on 6 April 2022. You need the passport you last entered the UK on, your settlement document if you still have it, and biometrics at a service point; processing takes up to 6 months. Anyone settled here on 1 January 1973 or who arrived before 1988 should also check the Windrush Scheme.

Related guides

• UK work visas: Skilled Worker and sponsored routes
• Settlement and British citizenship
• EU Settlement Scheme late applications
• UK visa fees 2026
• Right to work checks for employers

This page summarises guidance published on GOV.UK and was last reviewed on 19 August 2026. It is general information, not immigration advice on your own case. PRIMEVISA LTD is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, registration F201600043. We are registered at Level 1 in Immigration and in Asylum and Protection: appeals, tribunal and court work, judicial review and cases argued outside the Immigration Rules are handled by advisers registered at Level 2 or Level 3, and we refer you where that is needed.

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