UK eVisa Transition 2026: BRP Replacement and Status

A UK eVisa is the digital immigration status record held in a UKVI account, replacing the physical Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) card. The Home Office has moved BRP holders onto eVisas in phased waves through 2024 and 2025. The January 2025 rollout day saw login outages and some airline boarding refusals, since stabilised through Home Office mitigations.

What an eVisa is and how it replaces the BRP

The eVisa is a digital record of a person's UK immigration permission. It records the type of leave (for example Skilled Worker, Spouse, ILR), the dates of that leave, and any conditions on it. The record sits in the Home Office case management system and is accessed by the holder through a UKVI account. The account is linked to a specific passport. When the passport changes, the holder updates the link.

The previous physical Biometric Residence Permit card carried much the same information on a chip embedded in the card. The card was issued at the start of the leave and was used to show right to work, right to rent, and to evidence status at the UK border on return. The Home Office's stated reason for moving to the eVisa was to remove the cost and risk of physical document distribution, to align the UK with other countries' digital immigration systems, and to allow checks to be done in real time against the underlying record rather than against a printed card.

The View and Prove service, accessed inside the UKVI account, generates a one-time share code that the holder gives to an employer, landlord, or other checker. The code is valid for thirty days. The recipient enters the code along with the holder's date of birth on the relevant GOV.UK service page and sees a confirmation of status. The official description is at GOV.UK: view and prove your immigration status.

Timeline: BRP to eVisa

The transition followed a published timeline. BRPs began carrying an expiry of 31 December 2024 from late 2021 onwards, even where the underlying leave continued for years beyond that date. From 2023, the Home Office began contacting BRP holders by email, asking them to create a UKVI account and link their immigration status to it.

The active migration ran through 2024. Holders received emails with personalised links to set up the account. The migration covered both individuals and dependants. By the end of 2024 a substantial proportion of the BRP-holding population had created UKVI accounts and migrated.

On 1 January 2025 most physical BRPs expired by their printed date. The Home Office issued contingency guidance that allowed expired BRPs to be used as supporting evidence of status when travelling, and asked carriers to accept this evidence while the digital systems were being completed. The exact contingency window was published on GOV.UK and was extended more than once during 2025.

By the time of writing in May 2026, the eVisa is the primary record of status for most non-British and non-Irish UK residents. The BRP is no longer the principal evidence document, although holders still retain the physical card for backup. Up-to-date Home Office news on the transition is published at GOV.UK: changes to the immigration rules.

January 2025: what went wrong

The cutover from physical BRP to digital eVisa concentrated a great deal of routine system usage on the first working days of January 2025. Several distinct incidents were reported.

First, login outages on the UKVI account service. Users attempting to retrieve a share code in the first week of January found the service slow or unavailable at peak times. The Home Office attributed this to higher than expected demand and added capacity over the following days.

Second, share-code generation failures. Even where login succeeded, the View and Prove service did not always return a working share code on the first attempt. Employers and landlords in the early January window reported having to wait for the holder to retry. The fix was system-side capacity and reliability work.

Third, boarding refusals at overseas airports. Some carriers, particularly those whose ground staff had not yet completed retraining on the eVisa, treated an expired BRP as no longer valid for boarding to the UK, even where the Home Office's contingency guidance permitted it. A small number of UK residents were stranded outside the UK for short periods while the carrier's documentation team confirmed the position. The Home Office, the Department for Transport, and IATA issued joint guidance to clear the picture for carriers.

Fourth, employer right-to-work check confusion. Employers conducting routine right-to-work checks in January 2025 sometimes received unclear results because the holder had not yet created their UKVI account. The published right-to-work guidance was updated to clarify that employers should ask for a share code in line with the View and Prove service, and that employers who completed compliant share-code checks were protected under the statutory excuse.

These incidents were concentrated in the first weeks of January 2025 and largely worked through by the end of the first quarter. They are referenced here as a date-stamped operational episode, not as ongoing system status.

Home Office mitigations

The Home Office responded with a defined set of mitigations.

• Extended BRP acceptance window: expired BRPs continued to be accepted by carriers as supporting evidence of status into 2025, with the end-date of the window extended more than once. The current position is published on GOV.UK; check before travelling.
• UKVI account contact route: a dedicated UKVI Resolution Centre line for eVisa issues was reinforced. The Resolution Centre handles account access problems, status display errors, and urgent travel cases.
• Carrier briefings: airlines flying to the UK were briefed on how to verify status digitally in cases where a passenger does not have a working share code at the gate.
• Right-to-work guidance update: the Home Office published a refreshed employer's guide to right-to-work checks that explains the share-code process and the position where the worker is partway through migrating to the eVisa.
• Account setup support: GOV.UK pages on creating the UKVI account were expanded, and a step-by-step video walk-through was published.

The combination of these mitigations brought the system to a steady state during 2025. Issues still arise on individual cases, but the systemic incident pattern of early January 2025 has not recurred at scale.

How to create your UKVI account

Setting up a UKVI account requires:

1. An email address that the Home Office can use to send the verification link. Use one the holder regularly checks.
2. The passport that was used in the most recent UK visa application. The account links to that document number.
3. The BRP card number or, where the holder never had a BRP, the visa vignette number from the original visa decision letter.
4. Access to a phone for two-factor authentication via SMS or an authenticator app.

The starting page is GOV.UK: eVisa, which links through to the account creation flow. Once the account is set up, the holder can sign in at any time to view their immigration status and generate a share code through the View and Prove service. The first share code is usually generated for an employer, a landlord, or for the holder's own records.

When the passport changes (renewal, replacement, change of nationality document), the holder updates the linked travel document inside the UKVI account. This step is important. A UKVI account linked to an old passport will not match the new passport at the airline check-in desk.

What to do if your eVisa will not load

If the UKVI account will not load, status will not display, or the share code is not generating, the recommended sequence is:

1. Try a different browser, ideally one without ad-blocking extensions, on a stable connection. Many account display issues are browser-side.
2. Confirm the email address and password are correct. Use the password reset flow if uncertain.
3. Check the linked passport number matches the passport currently in hand. If it does not, the account needs the linked document updated.
4. If the holder is mid-migration (still on a BRP that has expired by its printed date but with leave continuing), check the current Home Office position on use of expired BRPs as supporting evidence.
5. Contact the UKVI Resolution Centre using the contact details published on GOV.UK. For urgent travel cases, the Resolution Centre can sometimes provide a status confirmation directly to the carrier.
6. If the case involves an employer right-to-work check that is at risk of failing because of a system fault on the holder's side, the employer should follow the Home Office Employer Checking Service route rather than treating the check as failed.

For complex cases where the underlying record is inaccurate (for example dates of leave shown incorrectly, conditions missing or added in error), the route is a correction request to the Home Office through the Resolution Centre. Corrections are not handled at the airline gate.

Travelling with an eVisa: airline rules

For international travel back to the UK, the passenger checks in with the passport linked to their UKVI account. The airline confirms permission to enter by checking the eVisa record. In most cases, this is automatic and invisible to the passenger; the eVisa record sits behind the passport scan at the check-in desk.

It is good practice for the holder to:

• Log in to their UKVI account before travelling and check that status displays correctly.
• Generate a share code for travel purposes (the View and Prove service offers a travel-specific code) and keep the reference number and date of birth handy.
• Carry a backup printed or saved copy of the most recent visa decision letter, especially during 2025 to 2026 while some carriers are still adjusting to the digital system.
• If the BRP card is still in hand and not damaged, carry it too. Some carriers continued to ask for it through 2025 as supporting evidence.

UK Border Force checks at the UK arrival desk are now keyed to the eVisa record. Passport scans match the record automatically and the officer sees the status on screen. Passengers with valid leave should expect a routine arrival check, although carrying supporting documents helps in any edge case where the system query returns unclear results.

Frequently asked questions

What is a UK eVisa?

A UK eVisa is a digital record of immigration status held in a UKVI account linked to a passport. It replaces the physical Biometric Residence Permit card and is used to show right to work, right to rent, and right to enter the UK on return from abroad. The View and Prove service generates a one-time share code to give to employers and landlords.

Why did my BRP expire on 31 December 2024 when my leave runs longer?

BRPs issued from late 2021 onwards were printed with an expiry of 31 December 2024 because the Home Office planned to move all status holders to the digital eVisa by that date. The underlying immigration leave continues for the period stated in the original grant. The BRP was the card; the leave is the underlying permission.

What happened with the January 2025 eVisa problems?

The first working days of January 2025 saw concentrated login outages on the UKVI account service, share-code generation failures, and some airline boarding refusals where staff did not accept the expired-BRP contingency evidence. The Home Office added system capacity, extended the BRP acceptance window, and updated carrier guidance. The incidents largely worked through by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

How do I create my UKVI account?

Go to GOV.UK: eVisa and follow the create-account flow. You will need the email address linked to your most recent visa application, the passport used in that application, your BRP card number or visa vignette number, and a phone for two-factor authentication. The account creation takes around twenty minutes if all the documents are to hand.

What if my eVisa status will not load?

First try a different browser or device. Confirm your password and email are correct. Check the linked passport number is the passport you are using. If status still does not load, contact the UKVI Resolution Centre using the details published on GOV.UK. For urgent travel cases the Resolution Centre can sometimes confirm status directly to a carrier.

Do I still need to carry my BRP if I have an eVisa?

The eVisa is the primary record. Most checks no longer require the BRP. During 2025 to 2026 some carriers continued to ask for the BRP as supporting evidence while the digital system bedded in. Carrying a non-damaged BRP alongside the passport is harmless and can save time in edge cases.

What does an employer or landlord do with my share code?

The employer or landlord enters the share code, plus your date of birth, on the relevant GOV.UK page. They see a confirmation page showing your immigration status, your right-to-work or right-to-rent details, and a date stamp. They save that confirmation page as their record. The share code is valid for thirty days from generation.