Foreign nationals have already faced problems with the government’s rollout of electronic visas just two weeks in, with some travellers having difficulty boarding UK-bound flights and refugees left without any way to prove their immigration status.
Millions of people living in the UK saw their immigration documents expire on 31 December 2024 as the Home Office transferred to a digital system. Foreign nationals now have to rely on digital records of their status to travel to the UK, prove their right to work, or rent a flat.
But only two weeks in, people have already reported problems trying to fly back to the UK, with travellers coming from Germany, France, Malawi, Egypt and Cyprus all struggling to prove their immigration status to foreign airport staff.
Refugees in the UK are also having problems connecting their passports to their online visa, digital rights groups have warned. Some new refugees, who face imminent eviction from Home Office accommodation, have also been left waiting on their eVisa accounts, which they need to get set up a bank account, claim benefits, or rent housing.
open image in galleryPassengers should now have their passports electronically linked to their visa status (Getty Images)
Chisomo Kalinga, 43, an academic at the University of Edinburgh, was travelling back from a research trip in Malawi when she found herself struggling to prove her eVisa status. She told The Independent: “When I got to the check-in counter [in Malawi], they said we don’t have anywhere to get your eVisa. It was extremely stressful. I had the share code printed out and they said they couldn’t do anything with that.
“I ended up getting someone to give me their phone and I logged into gov.uk to show my eVisa and they let me on the plane. It took me half an hour to get it up because the internet was so slow. I was left with three minutes before they were threatening to close the gate.
“They knew what the eVisa was, they knew the change, but they said they had no way of accessing it. It didn’t come up on their systems that there was a visa attached to the passport.”
She said that she has already faced problems in the UK as well, with her GP not accepting her share code, a code that validates someone’s immigration status to their employer or service, and asking her to email them a screenshot of the visa.
Have you faced any problems with your eVisa? Contact holly.bancroft@independent.co.uk
Another traveller told the3million, a representative group for EU citizens in the UK, about a flight from Paris to the UK on 1 January where border officers didn’t have access to their eVisa and would not accept a share code. They had to log in to their online account on their phone to satisfy the officials.
Before the transition, the Home Office assured visa holders that airline carriers would have access to automated status checks as part of their check-in procedures, and if that failed carriers would also be able to access the government checking website themselves.
Home Office officials said they have done extensive training with airline carriers and have set up 24/7 helplines for carriers and foreign border force to easily check someone’s visa status.
Mark Seymour, who works for refugee charity The Gap in Wales, said that while eVisas were a good step forward he had also come across problems with the roll-out. He estimated that in Newport around 20,000 people still need to apply for their eVisas.
He explained: “There are now no Biometric Residence Permits being issued to new refugees, and they are meant to get an eVisa instead. However there are several new refugees who have been given eviction letters from their Home Office accommodation but they don’t yet have an eVisa.”
Mr Seymour added: “If you ring the eVisa resolution centre you get an ‘I’m sorry our queue is full call back later’”. The Home Office said they are monitoring the average wait times for the resolution centre and working to resolve any problems.
open image in galleryAirplane goers have had difficulty proving their immigration status on their way back to the UK from abroad (AFP via Getty Images)
The charity is also supporting two unaccompanied asylum seeking children who have been granted refugee status, and set up with eVisas by the Home Office. However, their eVisas have been set up with Home Office email addresses and numbers that have not been forwarded to the refugees, leaving them with no way of logging in to their account, Mr Seymour said.
Sara Alsherif, from the Open Rights Group, said they had also seen people contacting them for help with a range of similar problems. “In the case of one family, everyone has got their eVisas apart from one child. Since September they’ve been waiting for this child’s eVisa account and they can’t apply for school, benefits etc, without proving that their child has a right to be in the country.”
In another case reported to the3million citizens rights group, an eVisa applicant has had her details merged with another completely random person.
Her advisor wrote in saying: “She cannot prove her status in the UK, we’re actively trying to resolve this before it becomes a problem for her employer. This is major GDPR breach. The third party has access to all of our client’s personal information including her passport details, telephone number and email address.”
The Home Office could not comment on individual cases.