Non-EU spouse has BRC, how to update the address?

As the title says, my non-EU spouse has EU Right to Reside / Biometric Residence Card (BRC), one of these:


We have just moved to a new address. How do we update the Home Office of the new address with regards to the BRC? I tried Googling and found two pages, not sure which one is the right one to use (or whether it's OK to use both)?

1. https://www.gov.uk/change-circumstances-visa-brp
Seems to be specific to visas or BRPs, and I'm not 100% sure if BRC is the same as BRP. Also if you click through it leads to a paper form that needs to be posted by mail. The form is titled Points-based system migrant change of circumstances, which doesn't look right.

2. https://visa-address-update.service.gov.uk
Seems a very general online service that applies to all types of migrants.

Does anyone know?

UK residents don't need to update the Home Office of addresses change. Citizens neither.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 17, 2019 11:01 am

UK residents don't need to update the Home Office of addresses change. Citizens neither.

Are you absolutely sure? Because the 1st link in my post says:

You must report any changes if you’re in the UK and have either:
- got a biometric residence permit (BRP)
- applied for a BRP but haven’t had a decision yet

This includes changes of address. If BRC is a sub-type of BRP, then you might have to report. They do look very similar and are often referred as the same class of card, e.g. here.

From personal experience in a few decades I have never advised the Home Office of address changes - maybe I was just lucky. Not a topic that comes up very often, maybe there are members here who have done it,

i have had my BRC for over 7 years and i used to move to different addresses i have never updated once ! first time i realise that people might need to update their addresses !

To the best of my understanding, this all depends on the type of visa (card) you are on.

I think there was a discussion here a couple of months ago re reporting of address change for non-EU family member of EEA citizen. The conclusion was that this is not required as basically non-EU family member uses the same rights as the EU citizen. There is also no requirement to be registered with police.

I don't know what is the situation with BRPs issued for non-EU spouse of UK citizen.

However, for example, a non-EU Tier 2 employee need to be registered with police and - I assume - notify police if he\she changes the address.

iwolga wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 17, 2019 2:50 pm

a non-EU Tier 2 employee need to be registered with police and - I assume - notify police if he\she changes the address.

For the sake of avoiding misunderstandings, this depends on nationality, and you'll know this if your nationality is concerned. In other words, this does not mean all Tier 2 visa holders need to register with the police / report changes of circumstances with the police.

That being said, this is the very reason I never contacted the Home Office to notify any change of circumstances. Since I already had to report to the police every single change of address, work, passport, and visas; I always assumed this report would automatically cascade to the Home Office (i don't think it does, but that's what I thought at the time).

This means, in 10 years, the Home Office has known of my current address only when I have made a new application or renewal of visas / residence documentation. I have switched from Student Tier 4 to Post Study, to Tier 2, to EEA BRC, to a replacment EEA BRC... and never ever had a problem; not ever a question of why my address is not the same as the one I used in my last application... so I don't think they keep a record, or that it matters.

I do think I panicked at one point after my first EEA BRC application, as I realised I might have had to notify them of my change of address, and I believe I filled some form at some point, although I'm sorry to say, I cannot remember which one it was or where I found it. I do not have any email trace of this either, nor an acknowledgement of any record being updated. So I have an eerie feeling that that was pointless.