eVisa: what it is and how to access yours

What an eVisa actually is

A record, not a document you carry.

An eVisa is the digital record of two things: your identity and immigration status, and the conditions attached to that status. It shows the type of permission you hold, for example a Skilled Worker visa or indefinite leave to remain, and whether you are permitted to work or study. You are granted an eVisa automatically when an application for permission is granted.

Nothing about your permission changes because it is held digitally. The start date, expiry date and conditions are the same as they were on the physical document, and you still need to apply to extend or settle before your permission expires.

• eVisas have replaced physical immigration documents.
• A biometric residence card may still be usable in some situations.
• A visa vignette sticker in a passport remains valid until it expires.
• You never pay to set up a UKVI account or to view your eVisa.

Accessing your eVisa

Everything goes through a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account.

You view your eVisa by signing in to a UKVI account. If you do not have one, you set it up first. To sign in you need the identity document linked to the account and access to the phone number or email address recorded on it.

• An identity document

  A passport, national identity card, valid or expired biometric residence card, expired biometric residence permit, or your UKVI customer number.

• Your contact route

  Access to the mobile number or email address you use to sign in, because a security code is sent to it.

• Up-to-date details

  Update your account if your name or nationality has changed, or if you can no longer be recognised from the photo held.

• Travel document details

  Add the passport or travel document you will actually travel on before you book flights.

How to view your eVisa

Four steps, from your UKVI account.

• Go to the UKVI account sign-in and enter the document or customer number linked to your account.
• Enter the security code sent to the phone number or email address held on the account.
• Check your name, nationality, photo and passport details are current, and update them if not.
• View your status, or generate a share code from the account when you need to prove it.

Using your eVisa

Three things it is used for, day to day.

When something goes wrong

Errors and access problems are handled by two different routes.

Report an error with your eVisa if the record itself is wrong, for example the wrong date of birth or the wrong immigration status, or if you can view your eVisa but cannot use it to generate a share code. If instead the problem is getting in at all, the fix is account recovery rather than an error report.

If you cannot access your eVisa and you need to prove your right to work or your right to rent now, there are alternative ways to do that which do not depend on the eVisa. Our UKVI account help page sets out the order to work through.

Setting up a UKVI account step by step

Most people only need to do this once.

Setting up a UKVI account starts with going to the GOV.UK page for creating a UKVI account and choosing the option that matches how your permission was granted, for example following a link in a decision letter, or using an identity document you already hold. You will be asked to verify your identity, usually by scanning a passport, national identity card, or biometric residence card using a smartphone app, and by taking a photo to confirm it is you.

Once identity is verified, the account is linked to your existing immigration status, and your eVisa becomes visible when you sign in. You then set the email address and mobile number you will use to sign in in future, both of which receive a one-time security code each time you log in, so it is worth using contact details you expect to keep for the life of your permission rather than a temporary address.

• A compatible device

  A smartphone capable of running the identity verification app, or access to someone who has one, for the initial set-up step.

• Your decision reference

  The reference from your grant letter or email, which speeds up matching your identity document to the correct immigration record.

• Patience with the photo match

  The verification step compares a live photo to your document photo, so poor lighting or an out-of-date document photo can cause repeated failed attempts.

Common problems and how they are resolved

Most eVisa issues fall into a small number of recurring categories.

• Account set-up fails to match an existing immigration record, usually because the identity document used does not match the one held on file
• The eVisa shows an incorrect date of birth, name spelling or nationality, most often carried over from an error on an earlier paper record
• A share code will not generate even though the eVisa displays correctly, which is usually a technical fault rather than a status problem
• Sign-in fails because the linked phone number or email address is no longer accessible
• A dependant’s eVisa is not visible even though their application was approved, often because their account was never separately set up
• An employer or landlord reports that a share code did not return the expected result, which needs checking from both the checker’s side and the account holder’s side

For the first two categories, an error report to UKVI is the right route, since these are problems with the record itself rather than with access. For sign-in and share code problems where the underlying status is correct, UKVI's account recovery service and webchat are the quickest paths, and a call is rarely necessary if the online steps are followed carefully.

eVisas and right to work or right to rent checks

What changed for employers and landlords when physical documents were phased out.

Before eVisas, an employer or landlord typically checked a physical document, such as a biometric residence permit or a passport vignette, in person or via a copy. With eVisas, the check is done through the online right to work or right to rent checking service, using a share code the applicant generates and provides. The checker enters the code and the applicant's date of birth, and the service returns only the information relevant to that check, such as whether the person can work and until when.

This shifts a small amount of responsibility onto the status holder, who has to be able to generate a working share code on request, rather than simply carrying a card. It is worth generating a share code and confirming it works before a first day at a new job or before a tenancy start date, rather than discovering an account problem at the point the check is actually needed.

Who to contact for different eVisa problems

Matching the problem to the right contact point avoids being passed between services.

Cannot set up a UKVI account at all

UKVI eVisa technical support

Account exists but eVisa shows wrong details

eVisa error report

Locked out of an existing account

UKVI account recovery service

Need to prove status urgently and cannot access account

Alternative right to work or right to rent evidence route

Underlying visa or extension question

Regulated immigration adviser

If the underlying issue is not really about the eVisa at all, for example your permission is due to expire and you need to extend it, or your circumstances have changed since it was granted, that is a substantive immigration question rather than an account problem, and it is worth taking advice on the application itself before the current permission runs out.

eVisas for children and other dependants

Each person on a family application needs their own account to view their own record.

A child included on a parent's application is granted their own eVisa, distinct from the parent's, and it needs to be accessed through its own UKVI account rather than viewed inside the parent's log-in. For a young child, a parent or guardian typically manages that account on the child's behalf, using the child's own identity document details, until the child is old enough to manage it independently.

This separation matters most at the point a share code is needed for the child, for example for a school, a college or a first part-time job. The parent needs to be able to sign in to the child's account specifically, not their own, to generate that code, so it is worth confirming a dependant's account is set up correctly at the same time as the main applicant's rather than leaving it until a code is urgently needed.

Moving from a physical document to an eVisa: what to check

For anyone who held a biometric residence permit or a vignette before eVisas were introduced, a short checklist is worth working through.

• Confirm a UKVI account has been set up and that it correctly shows your current immigration status
• Check the expiry date, conditions and any restrictions shown match what you understood your permission to be
• Add your current passport or travel document details, even if they were already recorded against an old document
• Generate a test share code to confirm the account works before you actually need one
• Update the contact details on the account if the ones used for set-up are no longer current
• Keep a note of your UKVI customer number in case you need to contact support about the account later

Working through this once, rather than waiting until a right to work check or a border crossing forces the issue, avoids the situation where an access problem surfaces at the least convenient moment, such as the morning of a flight or the first day of a new job.

When an eVisa problem is really an immigration problem

Not every eVisa question is a technical one.

Some of what looks like an eVisa fault is in fact a substantive change in status that has not yet been correctly reflected, for example after a switch of visa category, after a grant of settlement, or after a change of name or nationality that has not been formally updated with the Home Office. In those cases, correcting the underlying record, not just the account, is the fix, and it may need supporting evidence rather than a simple error report.

If you are not sure whether what you are looking at is an account glitch or a genuine gap in your immigration history, for example because a previous application was granted for a shorter period than you expected, it is worth having a regulated adviser review the underlying grant before you rely on the eVisa for travel or for a right to work check. See our book a consultation page, or check your continuous residence position on the ILR calculator if settlement is the next step.

Written and reviewed by Wesbridge Associates – IAA regulated (Level 1, F202537300). Editorial policy

Information sourced from the GOV.UK eVisa guide, reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Guidance changes; we verify the position at the point of instruction.