Insights
Moving from a BRP to an eVisa
What a UKVI account is, how to prove your status online and what to do if the details are wrong.
Published Last reviewed
Immigration status in the UK is now held digitally. The plastic biometric residence permit has given way to an eVisa: a record linked to your UKVI account and your passport, which you share rather than hand over. Since 1 July 2026, UKVI has also stopped issuing visa vignettes (stickers) to successful new applicants, so people coming from overseas receive an eVisa too. A small number of applicants are instead issued a Form for Accompanying an eVisa (FAV), which has to be collected from the visa application centre before travel — your decision letter will say if this applies to you.
What you actually need
- A UKVI account, created once and then kept for the whole time you hold status.
- A current passport or travel document linked to that account.
- The email address and phone number attached to the account, kept up to date because they are used to recover access.
Proving your status
Instead of showing a document, you generate a share code and give it to the employer, landlord or other checker, who uses it with your date of birth to view what they are entitled to see. Codes are time limited and specific to the purpose, so a code generated for renting is not the one an employer needs.
You do not need to give anyone your account login. Anybody asking for it does not understand the system.
Travel
Carriers check status electronically against the passport linked to your account. If you travel on a different passport from the one in the account, or the account has not been updated after a renewal, that is where problems appear. Update the account before you book, not at the airport.
When the details are wrong
Errors do happen: the wrong expiry date, the wrong conditions, a missing dependant, or status that does not appear at all. These are correctable, and there is a route for reporting an error, but it takes time. The moment to deal with it is when you notice it, not the week you need to prove your status to a new employer.
Practical points
- Create the account before you need it, not on the day you need a share code.
- Keep your expired BRP. It is no longer proof of status, but it is useful evidence if something has to be corrected.
- Update the account immediately after renewing a passport.
- Check what the record says about your conditions, not just the dates.
What we can and cannot help with
We provide advice and application assistance for straightforward immigration matters within our IAA Level 1 Immigration authorisation. Where a matter falls outside that authorisation — for example because it involves adverse immigration history, a discretionary or human-rights claim, an administrative review, an appeal or tribunal work — we will tell you and signpost or refer you to an adviser authorised at the appropriate level.
If an application is refused, we will explain whether a new straightforward application may fall within our Level 1 service scope. Where review, appeal, tribunal or other higher-level work is required, we will signpost or refer you to an appropriately authorised adviser.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) makes the final decision on every application. No immigration adviser can guarantee that an application will be approved.
Questions clients often ask
Is my expired BRP still proof of my status?
No. Status is proved through your UKVI account and a share code. Keep the card even so, because it records details that help if a record has to be corrected.
What if I cannot get into my UKVI account?
Recovery uses the email address and phone number linked to the account, which is why keeping them current matters. Where recovery fails there is a support route, but it takes time, so start before a deadline rather than after one.
Have a question about your own application?
General guides cannot cover every situation. Tell us what you want to apply for and we will confirm whether it is within our Level 1 authorisation.
The enquiry form is on this site and reaches us directly. Please do not send identity documents until we ask for them.