Guidance

Residence documents: information for financial providers

Updated 5 September 2024

Online evidence of immigration status (eVisa)

General information for completion of Know Your Customer (KYC) checks

When making KYC checks, customers may provide proof of identity from a range of options that include:

• eVisa – digital evidence of immigration status
• all signed passports, with a valid UK entry clearance where applicable
• all signed Home Office Travel documents
• Home Office Immigration Status Document
• a valid Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)
• Biometric Residence Card (BRC)
• Frontier Worker Permit (FWP)

This guidance offers information to account providers about the transition from BRPs and BRCs to eVisas.

We are replacing BRPs and BRCs with eVisas

Since 2018, UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) has gradually replaced physical immigration documents with digital proof of immigration status in the form of an eVisa, for customers already living in the UK and new visa customers too.

Since 2018 we have rolled out eVisas incrementally across different routes, both for in country and out of country applications. By 2025, almost all physical immigration products and services will be replaced with an eVisa.

The Home Office will stop issuing biometric physical immigration documents, in the form of BRPs and BRCs, later this year and most BRPs will expire by the end of 2024. Most BRCs and FWP cards will also expire at the end of 2024, but a small number of BRPs and BRCs issued before 2021, may show a later expiry date.

Where an individual holds a BRP or BRC that expires on the 31 December 2024, this expiry date refers to the document only, and not to the expiry date of the holder’s immigration status. However, how they prove their status will change from 2025 and they should take action to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa before their BRP expires. There is no need to recheck the status of an individual solely because their BRP or BRC expires on the 31 December 2024.  

The transition to eVisas is already underway, with millions of customers already receiving them on select immigration routes, such as the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

The transition to digital documents/eVisas will continue into 2025 when we will stop issuing stamps/vignettes in passports too.

In March 2024, we started to invite groups of in-country customers who hold a BRP card to sign up and create their UKVI account and get access to their eVisa. On 6 August 2024, we opened the service for all customers with a BRP to create their UKVI account to access their eVisa before their BRP expires. Most BRPs expire on 31 December 2024.

Online immigration status (eVisa) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) will provide the latest information to all customers.

What is an eVisa?

An eVisa is an online record of a customer’s immigration permission in the UK, and any conditions which apply, which can be viewed by logging into the ‘view and prove’ service using their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. A customer can also link their travel document (such as passport) to their UKVI account to facilitate straightforward international travel.

The UKVI account provides customers with the ability to use online services to ‘view and prove’ their immigration status, including their rights to rent, work, study and access public services, by sharing relevant information about their permissions in the UK.  

The eVisa is an identification document for the purposes of section 7 of the Identity Documents Act 2010.

More information about the eVisa is available on GOV.UK (Online immigration status (eVisa) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).

eVisa image from the online ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service

How can an eVisa be used to prove an individual’s immigration status?

Individuals with an eVisa as evidence of their status are able to use the online ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service (https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status) to provide a time-limited code (‘share code’) to third parties such as landlords, employers and banks which will allow that third party to access, view and confirm identity and immigration status details.  

Financial institutions and others can check someone’s identity, if they have their share code and the individual’s date of birth, using the online ‘check someone’s immigration status’ service: https://www.gov.uk/check-immigration-status. The digital system has the benefit of providing real time information about the individual’s current immigration status, direct from Home Office systems. It also enables checks to be conducted without physical documents changing hands.    

The Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) guidance makes it clear that firms can use electronic sources to verify a customer’s identity, provided that they have both (i) verified that the customer (and where appropriate, beneficial owner) exists and (ii) satisfied themselves that the applicant seeking the business relationship is, in fact, that customer (or beneficial owner).  

The digital system will show the individual’s facial image and is linked to their identity document, providing financial institutions confidence in the individual’s identity.

This is part of the Home Office’s plans to develop a border and immigration system which will be digital by default, which means we will increasingly replace physical and paper-based products and services for all routes with accessible, easy to use online and digital services.

For the purposes of this guidance, individuals with an eVisa, BRP, BRC or FWP can present their document for the purpose of identity checks. More detail on the design and security features of BRP/Cs and FWPs to aid the checking of these documents is set out below.

Physical evidence of immigration status

Individuals still providing a BRP or BRC

We will stop issuing most BRPs and BRCs from Autum 2024. However, some individuals may still provide a BRP or BRC to evidence their immigration status.

What are BRPs, BRCs and FWPs?

The BRP and BRC hold a customer’s biographic details (name, date and place of birth) and biometric information (facial image and fingerprints) and show their immigration status and entitlements while they remain in the UK.

BRPs are titled ‘Residence Permit’. BRCs are titled ‘Residence Card’, ‘Permanent Residence Card’ or ‘Derivative Residence Card’.

FWPs are titled ‘Frontier Worker Permit’ and were issued from January 2021 and will only appear on the latest card design.

Should an individual provide an out-of-date BRP/BRC, you may determine whether they hold a digital eVisa as well. In most instances they should hold an eVisa and will be able to provide a share code, as detailed above, to evidence their immigration status. If a customer with an expired BRP advises that they do not yet hold an eVisa, they should be directed to gov.uk/evisa where they can find information on how to register.

Many individuals who are settled in the UK continue to hold legacy immigration documents, such as vignettes and ink-stamps which they may still present to you as evidence of their identity and status in the UK. We are encouraging them, and BRP/BRC holders to obtain an eVisa as soon as possible.

Guidance on checking on physical documents including legacy documents can be found on GOV.UK at Examining identity documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).