Immigration Corner | How to view your immigration status online in the UK

Dear Mr Bassie,

I would like to know how to view my United Kingdom immigration status online.

– HH

Dear HH,

Persons can get access to their online immigration status by reviewing their eVisa. An eVisa is an online record of someone’s immigration status and the conditions of the type of permission they have to enter or stay in the United Kingdom (UK).

To obtain access to their eVisa, persons need to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. Once they have access to their eVisa, they can sign in to their UKVI account to view their eVisa and prove their immigration status. Persons should note that using an eVisa does not affect their immigration status or the conditions for them to enter or stay in the UK.

Those persons who have a wet ink stamp or vignette sticker that shows that they have settlement in the UK with no expiry date, for example, indefinite leave to remain, can either continue to use the stamp or sticker or choose to get access to an eVisa. This is known as a ‘no time limit application’.

CREATE A UKVI ACCOUNT TO ACCESS THE EVISA ACCOUNT

Persons who would like to access their eVisa must have permission to stay in the UK for longer than six months. The eVisa should also have been granted in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland; not the Channel Islands or Isle of Man.

Please be aware that persons cannot get access to an eVisa if they have had a visa for less than six months, such as a visitor visa; have a European Union Settlement Scheme family permit; have an electronic travel authorisation; or are exempt from immigration control, including if they are a diplomat or have ‘right of abode’.

To access, persons will need to provide a phone number and email address that can be used again. Persons will use them each time that they prove their immigration status online.

Those persons will also need one of the following, if they have them:

• A valid passport and their visa application number – this is a global web form number or unique application number;

• A valid passport and their biometric residence permit (BRP) number;

• Please note that the BRP card can be expired.

Further, those persons who do not use their passport to get access to their eVisa, will need to update the UKVI account with their passport details before they can use their eVisa to travel to the UK.

Persons who have either a valid passport or a BRP card will need access to a smartphone so that they can install an app to confirm their identity.

GET ACCESS TO THE EVISA IF PERSON HAS SETTLEMENT

If making a no time limit application, persons will also need

• Their settlement document, for example, a passport containing a stamp or vignette sticker; and

• The passport or travel document used when they most recently entered the UK

Please note that it can take up to six months to get an eVisa. However, persons can continue to use their document to travel until it is received.

Just for completeness, persons can help someone else to create their UKVI account. For example, their child or someone who cannot use the Internet and can manage their account for them if they are acting on their behalf, or if they have the power of attorney.

I hope this helps.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the past global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com