Briefing: eVisas replacing physical status documents

The Home Office is ending the use of physical documents as proof of someone's immigration status.

The aim to achieve this by the end of 2024 was announced in a May 2021 strategy paper entitled New Plan for Immigration: Legal Migration and Border Control. 

Documents such as biometric residence permits and vignettes in passports have steadily been phased out and replaced by an eVisa system which requires people to have a UKVI digital account - accessible with an email address and telephone number - by which to access and share the digital record of their immigration status and what this permits them to do in the UK.

Amnesty first raised concerns with the Home Office about this system by letter in June 2021. This briefing explains more about the eVisa system and the concerns we continue to have.