Since the UK Government announced plans for digitalisation of migrant status, it has struggled for successful implementation. It stopped issuing plastic Biometric Residence Permits from 31st October 2024, confident its digitalisation roll-out would seamlessly take over.
The 31st of December2024 completion date was missed, and so was the next proposed date of 31st March 2025. As of 2 June 2025, Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) were no longer accepted for international travel to the UK.
Instead, applicants needed to have an eVisa to travel to the UK unless they were in categories where they would still be issued with an entry vignette. Once an applicant used their entry vignette, they had to create an eVisa account whilst in the United Kingdom to demonstrate their status.
For certain immigration routes, successful applicants still need to register for an account on applications granted during 2025. This will continue until successful applicants to all immigration routes are provided with an account automatically at the point they are granted status.
UKVI account adoption and statistics
The Home Office has a record of all UKVI accounts that have been created. By the end of 2024 there had been approximately 4 million account creations in total. As of July 2025, this has now risen to 4.5 million accounts.
The Home Office believes this number will decline over time because people will continue to create accounts and immigration leave will expire for some applicants who will be removed from consideration. At the end of July 2025, the Home Office believe there will approximately 200,000 remaining people who had an immigration status at the end of 2024 who still need to create a UKVI account.
Common problems with eVisa and UKVI accounts
Account creation challenges
However, there are practical, technology-related problems, which practitioners are seeing on a daily basis. The process of creating an eVisa is relatively straightforward. The initial UKVI account is created using either the applicant’s passport with visa application number or expired BRP, as long as it is not more than 18 months old. An applicant verifies their identity, and once the account has been created an applicant should link their eVisa to their account. There are various self-help videos on the UKVI website, which applicants can refer to if they have issues.
In theory it all works smoothly, the reality is somewhat different…
Technical and verification issues
The issues applicants are facing can be broken down into those which occur at each stage.
First, many applicants simply being unable to create a UKVI account.
Second, if they manage to create an account, they are then facing issues with completing the set up. The applicants will inevitably try to contact the Home Office, who are very difficult to contact. Furthermore, if applicants are lucky to get in contact with the Home Office, the advice given is usually extremely unhelpful. More often than not bots are on the end of the line and this is very unsatisfactory.
Applicants also face issues once they have managed to create an account and verify their identity, as many cannot even see the actual eVisa or the details are not correct. Again, once applicants endeavour to contact the Home Office, they are met without a remedy, which further adds to their frustration.
Representatives are also finding applicants face actual problems with the eVisa, as they are able to view it but cannot link their current passport to the eVisa and the reasons for this are difficult to obtain. Even if they can contact the Home Office as per the above scenarios, the outcome is often unsatisfactory, and applicants are left in limbo.
Real-world consequences for applicants
The problems manifest as applicants are reliant on their eVisas to prove their right to work, right to rent or other basis. Without a satisfactory eVisa, applicant face real difficulty; and with the government clamping down on those who haven’t done right to work or rent properly, many applicants find themselves in distressed situations.
The problems extend to travel outside the United Kingdom. Without a valid eVisa and subsequent share code, applicants are being refused travel. This is despite the fact the UKVI may have granted the applicants with some form of status. As per above, this is causing a great deal of distress for those applicants.
The Home Office’s digitalisation rollout - what needs improvement
The Home Office plans for digitalisation still need a great deal of work before applicants can feel confident that they will not face any issues due to having digital status.
Please contact our Business Immigration team if you require further guidance or assistance where an eVisa and/or UKVI account is causing concern. Our specialist team will be able to assist.
The information provided in this article is provided for general information purposes only, and does not provide definitive advice. It does not amount to legal or other professional advice and so you should not rely on any information contained here as if it were such advice.
Wright Hassall does not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on any information published here. Definitive advice can only be given with full knowledge of all relevant facts. If you need such advice please contact a member of our professional staff.
The information published across our Knowledge Base is correct at the time of going to press.
