The Home Office is expanding its eVisa system across most major immigration routes, replacing the physical visa vignette for successful applicants in the work, study, family and Indefinite Leave to Enter categories.
From 30 October 2025, those granted permission under these routes will no longer receive a visa sticker in their passport but will instead view their immigration status digitally through their UKVI account. As the next step toward a fully digital immigration system, where immigration permission is recorded and evidenced electronically rather than through physical documents, the change will have implications for visa applicants and employers in the UK.
What is changing?
Under the updated process, successful applicants will be notified by the Home Office of how to access their eVisa before travelling to the United Kingdom. The eVisa record, visible through the applicant’s UKVI account, confirms the type and duration of leave granted, any conditions attached to it, and evidence of the holder’s right to work or study. Those applying under other visa categories will continue to receive a vignette until the eVisa rollout is completed across all routes.
Implications for Applicants
Applicants are required to have or create a UKVI account to access their digital immigration status. Once logged in, they can view and share their eVisa through a secure link when proving their status to employers, landlords or other third parties. The Home Office has confirmed that detailed instructions and video guidance are available through the GOV.UK eVisa portal, and applicants will receive confirmation of whether a vignette will still be issued in their specific case.
Early user experience of the eVisa platform suggests that technical access issues can delay verification, particularly where passport data has not been correctly linked to the UKVI account. The Home Office has acknowledged isolated cases of individuals struggling to access their status, affecting their ability to prove their right to live or work in the UK. Applicants should ensure that passport details are entered exactly as they appear on the travel document and that accounts are tested well before arrival to avoid disruption.
Implications for Employers
For employers, the change requires operational adjustment as to how right to work checks are carried out. Rather than reviewing a physical visa vignette, HR teams will need to verify immigration status digitally using the Home Office online checking service. Organisations should ensure that internal systems, training and onboarding procedures are updated to reflect this change, particularly for workers arriving from 30 October 2025 onwards. Failure to verify digital status correctly could expose employers to compliance risk, including potential civil penalties where an individual’s permission is incorrectly recorded or not verified in full.
DMS Perspective
Further eVisa expansion is expected through 2026, ultimately covering all visa categories, including visitor and temporary routes. For now, the change applies only to the main work, study, family and settlement routes. Applicants and employers should anticipate additional Home Office updates as the digital system becomes the single source of immigration status verification in the United Kingdom.
The expansion of the eVisa model forms part of the Home Office’s wider digital immigration strategy. The move is intended to improve efficiency, security and monitoring while reducing reliance on physical documents that can be lost or forged. However, as the transition period continues, mixed documentation formats are likely to persist across the workforce. Employers managing sponsored workers or complex immigration portfolios should plan for this overlap, ensuring both digital and physical evidence can be reconciled in audit records and that line managers understand how to confirm status using the new system. Internal audits should reconcile legacy physical evidence with new digital records so that sponsor files remain coherent for inspection.
Onboarding should include a pre-start check that the worker can access their UKVI account, that passport details match exactly and that share codes display the expected conditions.
Where contractors or agency workers are involved, confirm who verifies digital status and who retains the record.
Contingency planning is needed for travel changes, passport renewals and account access issues, since any mismatch can stall right to work confirmation and delay start dates.
Need Assistance?
DavidsonMorris are UK immigration compliance and right to work specialists. For guidance on any aspect of the eVisa system, right to work verification and checks, compliance auditing or for support with compliance training for your personnel, contact us.
