UK Visas and Immigration is moving visa holders to a digital immigration status, the eVisa. Updated Home Office guidance on 11 November 2025 confirms the next phase: for applications made on or after 30 October 2025 in many work, study and family routes, and for indefinite leave to enter, successful applicants may not receive a passport vignette and must view their permission in a UKVI account before travel.
UKVI also states that eVisas have already replaced vignettes for some main applicants on work and study routes for applications submitted on or after 15 July 2025. Applicants will be told in their decision notice whether any vignette is still issued alongside the digital record.
From 11 November 2025, UKVI will invite some recent successful applicants who only received a vignette to set up a UKVI account and access an eVisa. Once invited and enrolled, those individuals can use either the eVisa or their vignette to evidence status; no action is required unless UKVI contacts them.
Looking ahead, the department plans to extend digital evidence to visitors. From early 2026, most successful visit visa applicants and some other routes will be issued an eVisa as well as a vignette; later in 2026 vignette stickers will cease entirely, with eVisas used on their own.
An eVisa is a digital record of identity and immigration status. Switching from a physical document does not alter the holder’s rights or conditions. UKVI sets out security, convenience and quicker checks at the border and with third parties among the benefits, while relevant data will continue to be shared with public authorities where appropriate.
Access depends on circumstances. GOV.UK guidance indicates that most people with permission to be in the UK for more than six months, and those with settlement, can access an eVisa; many with shorter permissions in work, study and family categories can do so as well. Some categories, such as ETA holders and Standard Visitors, are outside scope for now, though selected Standard Visitor applicants may be contacted to access an eVisa from 3 November 2025.
To set up a UKVI account, users need an email address and phone number. A valid passport plus an application or BRP number can be used; alternatively, an expired BRP can be used for up to 18 months after the printed expiry date. Identity is usually confirmed via the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app, with non‑app routes available where needed. Dependants require their own UKVI accounts.
Status is proved online through the ‘view and prove’ service. Individuals generate a time‑limited share code, valid for 90 days, to present to employers, landlords or carriers alongside their date of birth. UKVI advises keeping account details current, including names and travel documents, to avoid delays.
For travel during transition, the Home Office confirmed a temporary allowance: BRPs and EU Settlement Scheme biometric residence cards that expired on or after 31 December 2024 remained acceptable for entry to the UK until and including 1 June 2025. From 2 June 2025, expired documents stopped being valid for travel. Holders with an eVisa should continue to carry any in‑date physical document until it expires and ensure the passport used for travel is linked to their account.
Delivery volumes are significant. UKVI transparency data published on 21 August 2025 recorded 4,501,235 UKVI accounts created to access an eVisa by 31 July 2025, with further updates due. The Home Office stopped producing BRPs for new grants of leave of more than six months from 31 October 2024, reinforcing the shift to digital proof.
Support is available for those who need help. An initial package announced in September 2024 provided up to £4 million to a UK‑wide network of charities to assist vulnerable users with account creation and access. On 1 September 2025, the Home Office added up to £400,000 for 25 national and community‑based organisations through to 31 March 2026; the current list is published on GOV.UK.
For employers, universities, landlords and carriers, the operational change is the shift from plastic cards and stickers to online checks. Pre‑arrival communications should direct eligible arrivals to create a UKVI account, update passport details ahead of travel, and be ready to provide a share code for right to work or right to rent checks. Organisations should note that many applicants on or after 30 October 2025 will arrive without a vignette, and visitors move to digital evidence through 2026.