Resource Hub

We have put together the troubleshooting information below, and hope it will be helpful to you.

We just ask one thing - if you are experiencing any problems at all in setting up your UKVI account, accessing your eVisa, or using your eVisa to evidence your rights, then please fill in our simple reporting form. We really need to hear from you to build up the evidence on how eVisas are impacting people.

Bookmark this link for yourself and for sharing with others: https://evisa-problems.org.uk

Having problems with your UKVI account or eVisa?

Report your problem

Frequently asked questions:

  • Not everyone needs to set up a UKVI account to see their eVisa, because you may already have one but not realise it’s called that.

    If you were granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) you should already have a UKVI account, and can see your digital status which is now referred to as an eVisa. In fact, the EUSS was the initial roll-out of eVisas. If you are from Hong Kong and have a BN(O) visa, you are also likely to already have a UKVI account through which you can see your eVisa.

    The easiest way to check is to try to log into View & Prove (https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status) - if you can use that service and see your digital status online, then you have a UKVI account, and can access your eVisa.

    If you have a Biometric Residence Card (BRC - note, it has to say ‘Residence Card’ not ‘Residence Permit’ at the top), then you do not need to set up a UKVI account. You will either have status under the EUSS in which case you already have a UKVI account and access to your eVisa (as described above). Otherwise, if you do not know if you have a UKVI account you should seek urgent legal advice to assess your situation. You may need to make a late application to the EUSS, after which you will automatically end up with a UKVI account.

    If you have a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP - again, note that your card has to say ‘Permit’ not ‘Card’ at the top) then you will need to make sure you have a UKVI account to access your eVisa. The rest of this document contains helpful information.

    Note - the vast majority of BRCs and BRPs have an expiry date of 31 December 2024 on them. This does not necessarily mean that your permission to be in the UK will expire then! Your eVisa - once you have access to it - will show your true immigration status expiry date.

    If you have an older document such as a letter from the Home Office, or a stamp or sticker (also known as vignette) in your passport, then it’s advisable to move towards an eVisa but it’s not mandatory. To do so, you need to follow the “No Time Limit” application route, which will result in a UKVI account being set up as part of the process.

    See this GOV.UK website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/online-immigration-status-evisa for more information.

  • Free support for people who need help with creating their UKVI account and getting access to their eVisa can be found here: gov.uk/government/publications/evisa-community-support-for-vulnerable-people

    You can use the Home Office web-chat service (https://ukimmigration-support-webchat.homeoffice.gov.uk/evisa) which will give general information about how to set up or access your eVisa, and how to update details on your UKVI account, including linking passports and travel documents. It can’t correct errors on your eVisa, or give details about your immigration status or any visa application.

    You can contact the UKVI Contact Centre

    • Telephone: +44 (0)300 790 6268 - select option 3

    • Telephone: +44 (0)203 875 4669, if you are unable to dial 0300 numbers

    • Monday to Friday, 8am to 8.30pm

    • Saturday and Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm

  • Fill in this Home Office form: Report an error with your eVisa - GOV.UK

  • Contact the UKVI at Help with accessing your UK Visas and Immigration account or updating your account details - Contact UK Visas and Immigration for help - GOV.UK

    • Telephone: +44 (0)300 790 6268 - select option 3

    • Telephone: +44 (0)203 875 4669, if you are unable to dial 0300 numbers

    • Monday to Friday, 8am to 8.30pm

    • Saturday and Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm

  • Recover your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account - Use this online process to regain access to your account if you have lost access to the phone and email you use to receive security codes: https://update-your-details.homeoffice.gov.uk/account-recovery/help

  • Unfortunately the system won’t let you update your eVisa with a new passport if you’re waiting for a decision on an immigration status application (for example you have pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and you’ve applied for settled status but this application is still pending, or if you have applied to extend your current visa or switch into another visa route and you are waiting for a decision).

    NOTE - please check that you are allowed to travel while waiting for a decision - in many immigration routes leaving the UK will invalidate your pending application. (This does not apply if you have pre-settled status under the EUSS and have submitted another application to upgrade to settled status under the EUSS.)

    In some instances, you can’t link a new passport document while outside the UK, because you’d be asked to send in your passport by post to the Home Office, which you shouldn’t do from abroad. In such cases, if you’re able to travel with your previous passport, then do so. You can then use the update service to change your details when you’re back in the UK.

    If you are unable to link your current passport to your eVisa, this does not mean you do not have the right to travel. However you may be unable to check-in online. Instead you will likely need to go to a check-in desk, and hopefully carrier staff will be able to contact the UK Carrier Support Hub to check that you have the right to travel.

    You can otherwise apply for a temporary visa - go to this GOV.UK website and after choosing your language, select the option “Temporary visa to enter the UK, or to transfer or replace your visa (vignette) in your passport or travel document”. You may need to attend a visa application centre to provide biometrics.

  • The Home Office has confirmed that it is not possible to link a Refugee travel document, a Stateless person'‘s travel document or a Certificate of travel (all issued by the Home Office) to your UKVI account.

    However, you are allowed to travel with a travel document, even though you can’t link it to your eVisa. Airlines and other carriers should accept your physical travel document as proof of your permission to enter the UK.

    See this guidance to carriers https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/document-checks-and-charges-for-carriers.

    In section 2.3, it says "acceptable physical documents include:" ... "a valid UK (Home Office-issued) Refugee Travel Document,
    a valid UK (Home Office-issued) Stateless Persons Travel Document, a valid UK (Home Office-issued) Certificate of Travel.    "

    • Carry your expired card with you, if you have one
      If you still have your physical biometric card (BRP or BRC), and it has an expiry date of 31 December 2024 or later, carry it with you when travelling. The Home Office announced in February 2027 that expired documents could be used for travelling until 1 June 2025 - see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-your-uk-visas-and-immigration-account

    • Save a share code in advance, if you can access your eVisa
      If you have an eVisa and can access it successfully at View & Prove, then log in and generate a share code (select ‘Something else’ as the reason for generating a share code). Share codes are valid for 90 days. A carrier wanting to check your status can go to this website https://www.gov.uk/check-immigration-status and input your share code and date of birth to see that you have residence status in the UK and should therefore be allowed to board. 

    • Link the passport that you’re travelling with to your eVisa, if you’re able to
      If you have an eVisa, you should be able to link ID documents to it by logging into Update your UK Visas and Immigration account details.

    • Apply for a temporary visa if you can’t do any of the above
      If you cannot access your eVisa from abroad and have no other evidence of your permission to travel, or if you are unable to update your eVisa with a new passport, then you should consider applying for a temporary visa which lets you re-enter the UK once only: https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/country-selection

    • Firstly, make sure you keep a careful record of what happened, and keep receipts of all your expenses in case you can later make a claim for compensation.

    • Try to travel using a different carrier, because another carrier might be more willing to contact the UKVI’s Carrier Support Hub, accept your expired biometric permit or expired residence card (if you have it) or engage with your share code (if you have one).

    • Use your airline’s complaints process. See this denied boarding guidance from the Civil Aviation Authority for more information.

    • Submit a complaint to the Home Office by using the website Complain about UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) - GOV.UK - make sure you ask for an ex-gratia payment in respect of any loss and distress caused.

    • Write to your MP to tell them about what happened to you. It is essential that MPs find out how the eVisa system is affecting their constituents. Remember that MPs represent everyone who lives in their constituency, whether they have the right to vote or not.

  • If you haven’t set up a UKVI account yet, or you’ve tried but cannot access your eVisa, but you still have a biometric residence permit/card (BRP/C), then you should be able to use this document even if it has expired - as long as your underlying permission to be in the UK has not expired.

    Rather than logging on at View & Prove, you can use the Right to Work website instead - see https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work/get-a-share-code-online. When you are asked whether you have a UKVI account, or status under the EUSS, choose the option “I have a biometric residence card or permit”.  You should hopefully then receive a share code that you can give to your (prospective) employer.  This should work even if your BRP/C shows an expiry date of 31 December 2024.

    If this doesn’t work:

    • Contact the UKVI Resolution Centre to get them to raise a technical ticket and get it fixed. Make sure you ask them for an ‘Incident Number’ as proof of your call, and make a note of it.

    • Tell your (prospective) employer they must use the Home Office’s Employer Checking Service (https://www.gov.uk/employee-immigration-employment-status) so that the Home Office can tell them you have a right to work.

    • We have a note for employers https://the3million.org.uk/publication/2024100201 that you can download and print, to remind employers they have an obligation to avoid discrimination.

  • This only applies to England - as you do not need to prove your right to rent in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

    If you haven’t set up a UKVI account yet, or you’ve tried but cannot access your eVisa, but you still have a biometric residence permit/card (BRP/C), then you should be able to use this document even if it has expired - as long as your underlying permission to be in the UK has not expired.

    Rather than logging on at View & Prove, you can use the Right to Work website instead - see https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-rent/get-a-share-code-online. When you are asked whether you have a UKVI account, or status under the EUSS, choose the option “I have a biometric residence card or permit”.  You should hopefully then receive a share code that you can give to your (prospective) landlord.  This should work even if your BRP/C shows an expiry date of 31 December 2024.

    If this doesn’t work:

    • Contact the UKVI Resolution Centre to get them to raise a technical ticket and get it fixed. Make sure you ask them for an ‘Incident Number’ as proof of your call, and make a note of it.

    • Tell your (prospective) landlord they must use the Home Office’s Landlord Checking Service (https://eforms.homeoffice.gov.uk/outreach/lcs-application.ofml) so that the Home Office can tell them you have a right to rent.

  • If you haven’t set up a UKVI account yet, or you’ve tried but cannot access your eVisa, but you still have a biometric residence permit/card (BRP/C), then you should be able to use this document even if it has expired - as long as your underlying permission to be in the UK has not expired.

    DWP should be fully aware that the expiry date on a BRP/C does not reflect the expiry date of someone’s permission to be in the UK.

    the3million and Migrants Organise have written to DWP, and have received a reply which emphasise this. You can read the letter at https://the3million.org.uk/publication/2024120201, and you could show it to your DWP decision maker if you are having a problem. 

    The letter states: “Internal instructions have been issued to Decision Makers across all DWP benefit lines, including on how to manage claims from customers whose Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) expires on 31 December 2024. These instructions make it clear that an individual’s underlying immigration status is not impacted by the expiry of physical permits. Instructions are also clear that customers whose underlying immigration status continues to be valid after the expiry of their physical permit on 31 December 2024 will not have their claims suspended or terminated.”

    The letter includes a copy of these instructions - see pages 4 and 5 of the letter.

    We had previously also created a note for local authorities and DWP decision makers https://the3million.org.uk/publication/2024102201 that you can download and print, to remind decision makers about the transfer to eVisas.

  • Government details on eVisas

    Some organisations have produced guides on how to create eVisas, which may be helpful to some:

    Petition on mitigations to 31 December 2024 cliff-edge: