Do we HAVE to swap ILR sticker for BRP, then e-visa?

[jsanc]

The official guide is kind of contradictory, on the one hand it says if you have ILR sticker, "you cannot access evisa now and should apply later", on the other hand it says if you have an ILR sticker you should apply for a BRP via NTL, and then get an evisa.

My question is, is this really necessary? Do we HAVE to get a NTL/BRP now to get an evisa, or can we wait until (if) it will be possible to go from directly a sticker to an evisa?

Also, will stickers expire now that evisas are coming in? When BRPs came in we were advised (by lawyers no less) that it made no sense for us to change to BRPs because stickers are still valid. Will this still be the case for the evisa change? I cannot find that information anywhere, only that BRPs are being phased out.

TIA!

[zimba]

You are mixing everything up. ILR is simply a status, it has no expiry. BRP or stickers are simply travel documents and have expiry dates. However, they do not have any value beyond that and you cannot use them on their own to prove your right to work, right to rent, etc in the UK.

At the moment, you need a BRP to get an eVisa and BRPs remain valid for travel until expiry. So to get an eVisa you need to apply for a BRP first. This will probably change in the future. eVisa is only useful from next year, so for now you can travel as normal with your sticker/BRP without any issues until next year. For the time being, to get an eVisa you need to have access to a BRP.

[jsanc]

You are mixing everything up. ILR is simply a status, it has no expiry. BRP or stickers are simply travel documents and have expiry dates. However, they do not have any value beyond that and you cannot use them on their own to prove your right to work, right to rent, etc in the UK.

At the moment, you need a BRP to get an eVisa and BRPs remain valid for travel until expiry. So to get an eVisa you need to apply for a BRP first. This will probably change in the future. eVisa is only useful from next year, so for now you can travel as normal with your sticker/BRP without any issues until next year. For the time being, to get an eVisa you need to have access to a BRP.

Yes, that is what I mean-sorry I should have been more precise with wording.

What I really want to know is, is there any documentation/official warning out at the moment, that says visa stickers for ILR can no longer be used for travel/proof of status, from next year onwards. I've only seen that BRPs expire and can't be used, because they do have an expiry date, but visa stickers don't, and there's no info on whether they will be made mandatorily redundant/unusable.

Because when BRPs first came out, they didn't affect ILR stickers: even if you got a BRP you can still use your ILR sticker to travel, so it was more for employment purposes etc.

Basically if we can't use the ILR sticker to travel from next year onwards, then we'd have no choice but to apply for BRP then get an evisa. But if we can still use the ILR sticker to travel, then we'd prefer not to get a BRP at the moment.

[vinny]

Having Digital status only seems to be a bad idea?

[jsanc]

Having Digital status only seems to be a bad idea?

Completely agree, hence our reluctance and hesitance. I want to know/see official document that says visa stickers can no longer be used for travel/proof of status before I switch to evisa. If anyone has seen anything to that effect please do send link so we can be updated...