UK’s error-prone eVisa system is ‘anxiety-inducing’
Technical difficulties imply scores of individuals dwelling within the UK don’t have any means to reliably show their immigration standing or “proper” to be within the nation following the Dwelling Workplace’s transition to an digital visa (eVisa) system.
These affected by the eVisa system’s technical failings informed Laptop Weekly, on situation of anonymity, that your entire expertise has been “anxiety-inducing” and described how their lives had been thrust into “uncertainty” by the transition.
Every additionally described how the “inordinate quantity of stress” related to not having the ability to reliably show their immigration standing has been made worse by an absence of responsiveness and assist from the Dwelling Workplace, which they accused of primarily leaving them within the lurch.
In a single case that was reported to the Data Commissioner’s Workplace (ICO), the technical errors with information held by the Dwelling Workplace have been so extreme that it discovered a breach of UK information safety regulation.
“At one level, I actually needed to take a month off work from this as a result of I used to be so stressed,” stated Athena*, who informed Laptop Weekly she has been unable to entry her eVisa account as a result of the Dwelling Workplace’s laptop can not match the title on her passport to the title on her account.
That is regardless of her title, which has by no means modified, being the identical on her passport, eVisa account and Biometric Residence Allow (BRP).
“At one level, I used to be calling them day by day however getting a distinct response every time. In the long run, the Dwelling Workplace stated, ‘ship your passport by way of’, however that’s my solely type of identification within the UK.”
Regardless of being her solely legitimate type of identification after the expiry of her BRP, the Dwelling Workplace was unable to provide her a timeframe by which she might count on to get her passport again or advise how she might show her indefinite go away to stay standing within the meantime.
“For me, that’s a very scary prospect,” stated Athena. “What if I out of the blue want my ID? My dad can be unwell, so if one thing out of the blue occurs, I’m going to want it again. I can’t simply ship my passport by way of.”
She added: “Immigrants within the UK have already got a tough time proving our identification – in case you take away passports with no assure of when it can return, it leaves us very susceptible. I simply don’t assume the Dwelling Workplace appreciates that.”
Athena is much from alone – on 31 December 2024, the immigration paperwork of thousands and thousands of individuals dwelling within the UK expired after being changed with a real-time, online-only immigration standing by the Dwelling Workplace.
Whereas the division has been issuing eVisas for a number of years – together with to European Union (EU) residents who utilized to the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) after Brexit, these making use of for Expert Employee visas, and folks from Hong Kong making use of for the British Nationwide (Abroad) visa – paper paperwork have now been fully phased out.
In late January 2025, Laptop Weekly reported that – regardless of repeated warnings from civil society and migrant help teams which began as early as October 2021 – folks have been already having hassle proving their immigration standing whereas travelling again to the nation, simply two weeks after the UK’s formal transition to an eVisa system.
Persisting points
Since then, dozens of individuals like Athena have reported a spread of persisting points. This contains an incapacity to hyperlink bodily paperwork like passports to their on-line accounts, and flawed info being included in folks’s profiles.
Others have reported being unable to generate a “share code” through their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) digital account, which is required to show immigration standing when coping with a spread of third events, resembling employers and letting businesses, or being locked out of their accounts altogether.
For one scholar, being unable to entry the eVisa system to generate a share code has price them a number of job alternatives since arriving within the UK in early 2025.
“Regardless of finishing the method twice and making a number of makes an attempt, the system continues to point out the identical error message, stopping entry to my eVisa,” they informed migrant help organisation The3million through its on-line reporting instrument.
“I’ve a UKVI account, however can not entry the eVisa by way of it. My visa sticker (vignette) in my passport will expire [soon], and the lack to entry my eVisa has already price me a job alternative at McDonald’s, the place I used to be unable to offer the required eVisa proof. I’ve additionally misplaced different job alternatives and stay unable to use for brand new ones as a result of I can not acquire a share code – which is barely obtainable as soon as the eVisa is accessible.”
In one other case reported to The3million, a physician with indefinite go away to stay who has lived within the UK for 20 years was unable to journey to a medical convention as a result of a persistent IT error means they’re unable to hyperlink their official identification paperwork to their UKVI account.
Regardless of three separate makes an attempt to replace their particulars, the system continues to generate error messages that the title on the account is completely different to the title on the identification paperwork: “That is clearly incorrect, as all paperwork have the identical title. The passport is already linked to his BRP and was used to substantiate his identification for the eVisa account.”
Within the case of Andrew – a Czech nationwide who was granted pre-settled standing beneath the EUSS after greater than two years of the Dwelling Workplace holding his case in administrative overview – the ICO discovered that the technical errors with information held by the Dwelling Workplace have been so extreme that it constituted a breach of UK information safety regulation.
Talking with Laptop Weekly, he stated ongoing technical errors with the eVisa system meant his account continued to show an expired scholar visa, as a substitute of his new partner visa, and flawed passport info for nearly half a yr.
Andrew added that as a result of his pre-marriage surname was nonetheless on the previous passport, he was unable to log into his UKVI account utilizing his new passport, which means there was no approach to entry proof of his immigration standing.
Whereas the Dwelling Workplace finally fastened the difficulty with Andrew’s previous visa being displayed, this solely occurred after getting in contact with The3million to escalate the case on his behalf. Even then, the account continued to show his previous passport info.
Regardless of the UK Normal Information Safety Regulation (GDPR) stating that organisations should rectify inaccurate private information inside one month, the Dwelling Workplace initially gave Andrew a timeline of six to eight weeks, earlier than saying it couldn’t present a timeframe when he referenced the one-month rule.
Whereas the passport info was finally rectified, this solely occurred after he flagged the case to the ICO, which then intervened on his behalf.
Writing to Andrew, the info regulator concluded in late Could 2025 – in a letter seen by Laptop Weekly – that “an infringement of information safety regulation has occurred” ensuing from “a lot of errors regarding your private information on the eVisa system”.
It added: “We’ve got written to the Dwelling Workplace, setting out our view. We’re happy to listen to that this challenge is now resolved. However, the Dwelling Workplace has dedicated to checking that there are not any additional errors along with your private information.”
Laptop Weekly contacted the ICO to ask in regards to the nature of the work underway with the Dwelling Workplace to make sure underlying information points are fastened, and whether or not it plans to formally examine the broader eVisa system, given the sheer variety of folks experiencing technical points.
“We frequently interact with the Dwelling Workplace on information safety points to make sure the division strives to satisfy its information safety obligations and mitigate potential dangers,” stated an ICO spokesperson.
Laptop Weekly additionally contacted the Dwelling Workplace about its breach of UK information safety regulation, however acquired no acknowledgement of the regulator’s findings.
Whereas others, like Andrew, have reported that their points have now both been resolved or partially resolved since talking with Laptop Weekly, they described being afraid of issues occurring sooner or later that would go away them, as soon as once more, unable to reliably show their standing.
Athena, for instance, has since been capable of briefly entry her eVisa account by way of her BRP, however the doc was imagined to expire in March 2025. And she or he doesn’t know the way for much longer she’ll be capable of use this technique, as whereas the expiry deadline was prolonged to June, “nobody [at the Home Office] confirms or denies something… They will actually simply transfer the aim posts and say, ‘you possibly can now not entry this account’.”
Others additionally famous that whereas the problems might have been resolved, there was no communication from the Dwelling Workplace in regards to the nature of the technical issues.
Left within the lurch
Regardless of the completely different circumstances of individuals’s immigration standing and the particular issues every has had with the eVisa system, all of these Laptop Weekly spoke with described the Dwelling Workplace as “extraordinarily unhelpful” all through your entire course of.
They added that, once they do finally handle to get in contact with Dwelling Workplace employees, they’re met with confusion and obtain completely different responses from completely different folks.
“What actually struck me was while you name them, they’re actually not useful,” stated Athena, who added that in her first name with the Dwelling Workplace, she was informed by employees it could possibly be a difficulty together with her passport not stating first and final title, solely to then be informed on a second name that “the machines don’t learn some names very effectively”. She added: “It’s like they have been virtually guessing.”
For Ada, whose utility for political asylum was accepted by the UK authorities in early 2025, it took the Dwelling Workplace almost a complete month to ship her the letter containing login particulars to her UKVI account.
Nonetheless, when the letter did finally arrive, she discovered she was unable to entry the account, whereas her husband Yasin – who had additionally utilized for asylum on the identical time – was capable of entry his.
Regardless of three telephone calls with the Dwelling Workplace, certainly one of which was fully automated, the difficulty was not resolved till the couple reached out to The3million, which lobbied the division on their behalf.
“The Dwelling Workplace doesn’t assist. We spoke with an actual individual twice, and each of them didn’t assist in any respect,” they stated, including whereas they have been informed to report the difficulty on-line after the primary human-led name, the Dwelling Workplace operators have been unable to provide them a timeframe for the way lengthy it might take to resolve the issue.
“Then we acquired an e mail saying there is no such thing as a challenge with the eVisa, so we referred to as them once more and so they stated we didn’t report the error within the right manner, regardless that we used the hyperlink within the e mail they despatched to us.”
Ada added that regardless of not being supplied with a Nationwide Insurance coverage quantity till they log into their UKVI accounts, Dwelling Workplace employees have been asking for this info to resolve the difficulty: “We can not see it with out accessing the visa. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
Unaided by the Dwelling Workplace, the couple got here throughout The3million whereas frantically looking out on-line for assist.
They informed Laptop Weekly that, whereas it’s a reduction to have the technical challenge resolved – the character of which they’re nonetheless unclear about – the expertise was extremely aggravating, as UKVI account entry is required when renting and making use of for jobs or welfare advantages.
Their stress was compounded as, in the course of the asylum utility course of (which for them lasted 9 months), candidates will not be allowed to hire or work. They’re additionally anticipating a child.
“Being pregnant is hard by itself, each emotionally and bodily, and the extra stress made issues a lot worse,” stated Yasin, including that as a result of that they had already been ready so lengthy for his or her asylum utility to be processed, there was now a urgent want for them to have the ability to apply for work, housing and advantages.
Ada added they might have been left homeless inside a matter of weeks with out intervention from The3million, however that they need to by no means have needed to depend on exterior assist in the primary place: “They sorted it out in a single day … [but] we must always have been capable of resolve it by ourselves straight with the Dwelling Workplace.”
The same sentiment was shared by Andrew, who informed Laptop Weekly that points together with his account displaying an expired scholar visa and flawed passport info have been solely resolved when his case was escalated by The3million and the ICO, respectively.
He added that his hassle with an absence of Dwelling Workplace responsiveness began effectively earlier than the eVisa system was even deployed, with the division taking up two years (and a number of flawed rejections) to grant him settled standing.
He described your entire state of affairs together with his eVisa as “extremely aggravating”, noting that he was unable to finish important PhD work throughout this time because of the sheer period of time and power he spent coping with the Dwelling Workplace.
Andrew added that as a result of his college wanted up-to-date proof of his standing, he was additionally “continually checking” whether or not it had been fastened and searching on the guidelines out of worry that he was the one who had made a mistake or achieved one thing flawed.
“I used to be so stressed about it. It was actually onerous to concentrate on my precise analysis as a result of, alongside all this educational work, I used to be spending hours and hours simply with this, documenting all the pieces, staying in contact with the Dwelling Workplace,” he stated, including he might have as a substitute spent the time specializing in publishing his work, which he was by no means capable of consequently.
“I even have ADHD, so for me it’s fairly troublesome maintaining observe of all the pieces. It’s not like I can do a one-off e mail in 10 minutes – I’ve to organize for it, look into all the pieces, take into consideration what truly occurred.”
Like others Laptop Weekly spoke with, Andrew stated that even getting by way of to the Dwelling Workplace is a problem: “Typically, there’s no level in making an attempt, as you’ll have to wait two hours on the road, simply being continually informed, ‘it’s going to be fastened, it’s going to be fastened’, after which it’s not.”
Others Laptop Weekly spoke with – together with some who’ve been dwelling within the UK for many years – shared related experiences of hysteria and frustration ensuing from technical points with accessing their visas whereas travelling.
Hassle travelling
For Amelia, a US citizen with indefinite go away to stay who has been within the UK since 1975, persistent errors with organising a UKVI account imply she continues to be having to depend on bodily paperwork which have technically expired.
Amelia stated the method for organising the account was complicated, as she was being bounced round completely different net pages and seemingly being requested to enter the identical info a lot of instances.
She famous how, shortly after finally managing to finish the eVisa utility course of, she was instructed to log in and examine her particulars. Nonetheless, when she went to take action, a message knowledgeable her that she couldn’t log in as a result of the applying wasn’t full, at which level she realised two separate identification numbers have been connected to her account.
“Supposedly, I ought to get one other e mail with the proper identification quantity telling me to log in and examine my particulars,” she stated. “If it hasn’t come by the tip of subsequent week, I’ll go to my MP.”
Whereas Amelia’s points have been resolved since clearing the Dwelling Workplace web site cache – which means she will now entry her eVisa – she has been compelled to journey together with her previous passport and letters confirming her go away to stay throughout this era, one thing she ought to technically not be capable of do beneath the UK authorities’s new guidelines.
Nonetheless, she nonetheless bumped into enormous delays, as airport employees in that occasion have been initially unable to confirm her previous passport with the go away to stay stamp, which means she needed to go to a number of completely different workplaces to finally declare her boarding cross.
“They all the time say get to the airport two hours earlier than or no matter it’s, however you spend all that point simply making an attempt to pay money for your boarding cross due to this eVisa state of affairs,” stated Amelia, including that in her expertise of being in queues with others over the eVisa challenge, “we get much less trouble” being white.
Alice – a French American who got here to the UK as a toddler within the Seventies and who additionally has indefinite go away to stay – detailed to Laptop Weekly how she was almost unable to show her immigration standing when coming back from Luxembourg as a result of airport employees didn’t know what to do together with her UKVI-generated share code: “They don’t know what the hell is happening with it.”
Whereas she had already checked into her British Airways flight on-line 24 hours beforehand, she was requested at bag drop for her Digital Journey Authorisation (ETA), at which level she defined that she had settled standing.
Nonetheless, when she supplied the share code, she was knowledgeable by employees that they couldn’t do something with it as a result of they didn’t have web entry on the desks. With airport employees not realizing what to do with the code, Alice was handed from one individual to a different for at the very least 45 minutes, till she finally got here throughout a member of employees who additionally had settled standing.
Alice added that whereas he initially bumped into errors himself when making an attempt examine her share code on his telephone (quite than the work laptop), “he knew sufficient” in regards to the system from his personal expertise that, between them, they have been finally capable of generate a brand new code for her, however from his telephone.
That member of employees then needed to persuade his co-workers to simply accept the code as proof of Alice’s standing.
“It’s so extremely aggravating, and you are concerned as an individual who’s not achieved something flawed in case you’re going to get caught within the crosshairs,” she stated. “It is a fiasco, we’d like bodily proof … this method by the federal government simply places the onus of the brand new immigration guidelines on everybody else.”
Alice added this might “simply” have resulted in her lacking the flight: “It simply so occurred that I received to the gate simply in time, and the flight was then delayed … there’s strain on all people’s aspect and I believe it’s going to trigger absolute mayhem by way of the summer time.”
Responding to Laptop Weekly’s request for remark, the Dwelling Workplace stated eVisas have been extensively used for years, and that almost all of holders proceed to make use of them with none issues.
It added that, in situations the place folks do expertise issues, the Dwelling Workplace provides a variety of help, together with by way of its EU Settlement Decision Centre for folks in search of technical assist, and its Assisted Digital Service for many who do not need entry to gadgets or the web.
Doubling down
In September 2024, a report from Open Rights Group (ORG) examined the technical underpinnings of the eVisa system, noting it shouldn’t be understood as a digital equal of bodily immigration papers – which stay fixed each time they’re considered and can be utilized offline – as customers have to be linked to the web to generate their immigration standing in actual time, each time they should show it.
“When customers enter their particulars to log into the Authorities View and Show system [in their UKVI account], they don’t seem to be accessing their standing straight, however quite their credentials are getting used to look and retrieve dozens of various information held on them throughout completely different databases,” it stated, including that analysis has recognized over 90 completely different platforms and casework programs that immigration information could also be pulled from inside the UKVI ecosystem to find out an individual’s standing.
“View and Show makes use of an algorithmic and probabilistic logic to find out which information to extract and which e-records to make use of when it encounters a number of information, i.e. in situations the place folks have renewed or modified their immigration standing or appealed an incorrect choice. It’s these real-time and opaque automated checks that generate an individual’s immigration standing, which they will then share with an employer, landlord or worldwide provider.”
Whereas ORG and The3million have straight proposed options to the Dwelling Workplace – resembling using QR codes or “secure token” programs – the division’s eVisa coverage staff insisted way back to December 2023 that it might not “compromise on the real-time facet” of the e-Visa checks as “any examine of a person’s immigration standing have to be achieved in actual time to mirror the present immigration standing held” on its programs.
Regardless of clear and persevering with points with the eVisa system, the UK authorities is doubling down on its method, claiming in its Could 2025 immigration whitepaper that “the transition to eVisa has been efficiently offering a considerably higher end-to-end expertise for people all through their complete journey”.
It additionally detailed how eVisa information would allow the Dwelling Workplace to “replace information in actual time when [a person’s] standing adjustments” and stated the intelligence supplied by digital visas would permit the state to “keep and enhance contact” with folks as they transfer by way of the immigration system.
“Put collectively, the great, intelligence-led and efficient roll-out of eVisas to all overseas nationals resident within the UK may have a transformative influence on our immigration controls: telling us when every particular person leaves the nation and once they have returned; telling us whether or not they have the best to work, to hire, to say advantages or use public providers; and telling us how lengthy they’ve the best to remain,” it stated.
“Importantly, eVisas will make it a lot simpler for Immigration Enforcement to determine those that attempt to keep and work within the UK illegally, to trace them down and take motion towards them.”
The whitepaper made no point out of the well-documented points individuals are having with proving their standing on account of the eVisa system, though it did notice that work is ongoing to reinforce the accuracy and high quality of the info held.
“We’ve been seeing complaints in regards to the eVisa scheme since day one, from the second folks started organising their eVisa accounts,” Sara Alsherif, migrant rights programme supervisor at ORG, informed Laptop Weekly.
“Now, greater than a yr later, we’re nonetheless seeing the identical unresolved issues: system failures, folks dropping jobs and advantages attributable to technical errors, and others experiencing excessive stress when making an attempt to return to the UK regardless of having a proper to enter.
“The digital-only standing has confirmed unreliable and inconsistent. When the system doesn’t work, individuals are left stranded and unsupported. The Dwelling Workplace should introduce an offline different that gives a safe and accessible backup within the occasion of digital system failure. Nobody ought to lose their rights due to a technical glitch.”
*The names of all these Laptop Weekly spoke with have been modified to guard their identities.
