UK Moves Toward e-Visas, Phasing Out Biometric Residence Documents
Find out what UK productions should do to prepare for the expiration of biometric residence permits on December 31, 2024.
As part of its plan to modernize the UK’s immigration system, the UK's Home Office wants to implement e-Visas for most visa holders living in the UK by 2025.
As such, most physical documents – such as biometric residence permits (BRPs) and biometric residence cards (BRCs) – are being phased out, with most BRPs expiring on December 31, 2024, even if the individual’s right to remain in the UK extends beyond that date.
Holders of these documents will receive an email from the Home Office inviting them to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access their eVisa, which will serve as digital proof of their right to remain in the UK.
What does this mean for production teams?
Since April 6, 2022, holders of BRPs and BRCs (as well as frontier worker permits (FWPs)) have had to use the Home Office’s online service to evidence their right to work rather than a physical document.
Likewise, employers have had to conduct online checks for these individuals using the Home Office’s right to work checking service. This service would allow them to check the expiry date of an individual’s right to remain in the UK and not just the expiry date of their physical document.
For long-running productions and production companies who hired people before April 6, 2022, repeat online checks will need to be carried out for anyone whose right to work was checked using a physical BRP, BRC or FWP to confirm that their right to remain in the UK extends beyond the expiry of their document on December 31, 2024.
Repeat checks will not be necessary for anyone who has indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
To prepare for this change, productions should ensure that their teams are carrying out right to work checks in the correct way and assess whether anyone requires a repeat right to work check to be carried out before December 31, 2024.