UK introduces grace period for eVisa transition until March 2025

The UK connected Wednesday introduced a grace play until March 2025, during which clip expired carnal documentation volition beryllium accepted for planetary question arsenic visa holders marque the modulation to an wholly online eVisa system.

As portion of an ongoing Home Office drive, each visa holders – including galore Indians – utilizing a carnal biometric residence licence (BRP), a passport containing a visa vignette sticker oregon ink stamp confirming their “indefinite permission to enter/remain” successful the country, oregon biometric residence paper (BRC) arsenic grounds of their migration rights, were fixed until the extremity of December to marque the power to an eVisa.

While the Home Office claims implicit 3.1 cardinal radical person already switched implicit to an eVisa, determination are believed to beryllium respective others who person been incapable to conscionable the year-end deadline – having encountered method issues, among different reasons.
“For those who are yet to power to an eVisa, a wide scope of guidance and enactment is available,” said Seema Malhotra, UK Minister for Migration and Citizenship.

“I person been listening to feedback from visa holders, stakeholders and MPs, and we are continually streamlining and adapting to guarantee this is simply a creaseless transition. As portion of that, I americium pleased to corroborate greater flexibility connected carriers accepting expired documents to creaseless the modulation for those travelling internationally without compromising connected borderline security,” she said.

A bulk of the BRPs are acceptable to expire towards the extremity of this twelvemonth and are being automatically transitioned online successful phases, to beryllium accessed by creating and logging into a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) online account.

Now, arsenic a “fallback” to assistance guarantee a creaseless modulation to eVisas, airlines and different carriers volition beryllium capable to judge BRPs and BRCs expiring connected December 31, 2024, oregon aboriginal arsenic grounds of support to question to the UK, provisionally until March 31 adjacent year. The Home Office said this day volition beryllium kept “under review” and passengers volition stay taxable to the accustomed migration checks and requirements.

“Anyone seeking to participate the UK whose underlying migration presumption has expired volition beryllium liable for refusal of entry,” the Home Office said.
It issued different entreaty this week for insubstantial visa holders to entree the eVisa web done the GOV.UK online strategy and marque the switch.

Anyone with indefinite permission to stay who uses an ink stamp oregon vignette successful a passport to beryllium their rights tin proceed to usage their documents for different 3 months and are encouraged to marque a “No Time Limit application” to entree an eVisa.
“It is escaped and straightforward to power to an eVisa, which offers greater convenience. An eVisa cannot beryllium lost, stolen oregon tampered with, and allows visa holders to instantly and securely beryllium their migration rights. Switching won't change, interaction oregon region someone's existent rights oregon migration status,” the Home Office said.

It flagged a bid of enactment measures successful spot for anyone encountering immoderate issues during the modulation period, including a 24/7 chatbot and helplines.
Using a phased attack to implementing integer services, the Home Office intends that by 2025 astir radical volition person a “secure and seamless integer journey” erstwhile interacting with the UK's migration system.

With an eVisa, it is besides hoped that less radical volition request to permission their passports with the Home Office portion awaiting a determination connected their migration status. EVisas besides mean that migrants bash not request to marque trips to cod documents similar BRPs oregon hold for these documents to beryllium sent to them, redeeming them connected renewal fees.

The process launched successful April this twelvemonth nether the erstwhile Conservative government, with BRP holders emailed straight with instructions connected however to make a UKVI relationship to entree their eVisa.

It has since been implemented by the Labour government, which has been warned by immoderate integer rights experts of imaginable favoritism against those incapable to beryllium their British residency rights arsenic a effect of glitches successful the rollout of the eVisa system.

The authorities has dismissed the concerns and stressed that the three-month modulation model until March 2025 would assistance code immoderate tiny fig of visa holders impacted.

British passport holders and Irish citizens, including those who antecedently held an migration presumption but person since acquired British citizenship, are not impacted.