The eVisa: Government replacing physical immigration status documents with online record of immigration status

Once in place, the eVisa will replace: 

• Biometric residence permits.
• Biometric residence cards.
• Passport endorsements, such as indefinite leave to enter wet ink stamps.
• Vignette stickers in passports, such as entry clearance or visa vignettes.

These eVisas will be fully digital and will clearly show an individual’s permissions to enter or stay in the UK and any conditions attached to those, potentially making it easier for you, as an employer, to carry out right-to-work checks on potential employees.

EVisas will only replace the documents listed above. If your worker is a British or Irish citizen with a British or Irish passport, you can continue to accept those passports as evidence of the right to work.

As biometric residence permits (BRPs) are set to expire on 31 December 2024, employees who hold a BRP need to apply for an eVisa by that date – this involves applying for a UKVI account.

So, what do you need to do?

We recommend: 

• Identifying any employees who have previously proven their right to work using a biometric residence permit or card.
• Checking whether a manual check or an online check was performed in respect of each of those employees.
• Then call us to get advice on whether you need to do a repeat check – this will depend on whether a manual or online check was carried out originally and will also depend on whether those checks were carried out correctly in the first place.

The rules here are fairly complex.

If you don’t properly identify whether repeat right-to-work checks need to be carried out in respect of each employee in this category, then you may lose the statutory excuse that protects you, as an employer, if you do accidentally employ someone illegally and so it is really important to put the wheels in motion now.

We advise sending a memo to all staff advising those who hold a biometric residence card or permit to apply for their eVisas by 31^st December, too.

This will minimise disruption to the business and help you to efficiently carry out any necessary repeat checks.

For any more information about this, please do not hesitate to contact us.