Biometric residence permits (BRPs)
Getting your BRP if you applied from outside the UK
If you applied for your immigration status (for example, your visa) from outside the UK, you’ll need to collect your biometric residence permit (BRP) once you’re in the UK.
You must usually collect your BRP before the vignette sticker in your travel document expires or within 10 days of arriving in the UK, whichever is later.
Check your decision letter. It will tell you to collect your BRP from either:
- a named Post Office branch
- your sponsor, if you chose this option when you applied
You must be over 18 to collect a BRP.
What you’ll need
Bring your passport or travel document with your vignette sticker in when you collect your BRP.
You’ll get your vignette sticker when your visa application is approved.
Collecting a child’s BRP
You must be nominated to collect a child’s BRP, even if you’re the child’s parent.
The Home Office will tell you within 5 working days if you’re approved to collect the child’s BRP.
You do not need to be nominated if you’re also collecting your own BRP and you are named on your child’s vignette sticker.
Collecting your BRP from a different Post Office branch
You can choose to pick up your BRP from a different Post Office branch. You’ll need to arrange this at the Post Office branch you want to use and pay a fee. The Home Office cannot change the Post Office branch for you.
Check that the Post Office branch you want to use offers a ‘BRP collection service’.
Nominate someone else to collect your BRP
You can nominate someone else to collect your BRP if you have a serious illness or disability that prevents you from collecting it. You cannot nominate someone else to collect your BRP for any other reason.
The Home Office may email you to ask for proof that you cannot collect your BRP in person - for example, a letter from your doctor. Your nominated person will not be allowed to collect your BRP if you cannot show any proof when asked.
The person you’ve nominated to collect your BRP must provide your passport as evidence that you’ve entered the UK.
The person you nominate must have one of the following:
- a passport
- an EU national identity card
- a BRP
You can get someone to make the nomination for you, for example a legal representative, charity, employer, college or university.
You’ll be told within 5 working days if the person you nominate is approved to collect your BRP. There are other ways to prove your immigration status before they collect it.
If you change your mind, you can still collect your BRP yourself or you can nominate a different person. You do not need to cancel the original nomination.
Report a problem with collecting your BRP
Tell the Home Office if you cannot collect your BRP for any reason, for example:
- you went to collect it from the Post Office and it was not there
- you’ve lost your passport or travel document, or cannot prove your identity
- you do not know which Post Office to go to because you’ve lost your decision letter
The Home Office will email you to tell you what to do next. You will usually get a response within 5 working days. It’ll take longer if you do not give an email address.
There are other ways to prove your immigration status before you collect it, for example if you need to leave and re-enter the UK.
After you get your BRP
BRPs are being replaced by eVisas. An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status.
Most BRPs will expire on 31 December 2024. If you have permission to stay in the UK longer than your BRP, you need to set up access to your eVisa before your BRP expires.