Emergency travel with evisa for non-visa national

[sjplep]

I have some questions about the new eVisa system.



My partner is a Japanese national with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. She was granted ILR in October 2014 with a BRP which expires in October 2024. We have not yet received an email on switching to eVisa. Previous guidance suggests applying for a renewal within 3 months of BRP expiry, so we are looking into that now given it is July.



While investigating the process to renew the BRP, we discovered the following :

https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence- ... xpired-brp

Quote: ‘If your permission to stay in the UK lasts longer than your BRP. You do not need to apply for a replacement BRP. You’ll switch to using an ‘eVisa’ instead by 31 December 2024. An eVisa is an online record of your immigration status. You will no longer need a BRP. The Home Office will email you about how to get access to your eVisa. If you’ve not been contacted by the Home Office, you do not need to do anything yet. You’ll be able to set up access to your eVisa later in 2024. You can keep using your BRP until it expires.’

And

https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/202 ... et-evisas/

Quote:

'The Home Office has launched a phased rollout of eVisas to biometric residence permit (BRP). Initially this is to BRP holders by email invitation only, being sent in phases. The service will open to all BRP holders from summer 2024. '



Question 1: Are we correct in understanding that we do not need to apply for a replacement BRP and will just switch to the new eVisa system this summer? Indeed based on the links above, for ILR holders, there does not even appear to be a way to apply for a replacement BRP *even if you wanted to* even during a ‘bridging period’ if you already hold ILR – is that correct?

Question 2: Should we need to travel overseas between October (after the expiry of the BRP) and January (when the new eVisa system will be fully operational), what documents should we carry with us?
(We don't plan to but she has elderly parents so you never know). As a non-visa national I do not believe re-entry to the UK will be a problem, but we would plan to carry as a precaution both the expired brp and the original letter granting ilr (and may continue to do this in future) – though one would hope the eVisa system will be operational by then.

Question 3: I’ve seen some postings elsewhere (searching for YouTube videos and the like) where people have claimed to gain access to eVisa without receiving the invite email first. Bearing in mind email is not a guaranteed form of comms and can go awry, go to spam folders etc as well as the current guidance still saying to wait for the invite, I’m wondering if anyone else has had any experience of getting eVisa access before being invited?
(I believe it’s better to wait for now but I’m just curious here).



(Apologies if this is going over old ground, I was able to locate some similar questions but not quite the same so wanted to share for peace of mind).



Thank you for reading and for any help!

[lolo2]

As a non-visa national, she shouldn't have any issues to re-enter the UK when travelling between October and 31-12-2024, I don't think she needs to apply for a new BRP card. Other members who are non-visa nationals travelling with an expired BRP are already re-entering the UK with no issues.

The ILR status doesn't expire, it's only the card that does.

I wouldn't worry at all about being invited or not to register for an eVisa, eventually everyone with a BRP card will be in that e-system.

[zimba]

Non-visa nationals should face no issues: viewtopic.php?t=348225#p2170120

[sjplep]

Thank you for your responses! That helps and we'll keep an eye for when this opens to all.

[sjplep]

To all

I hope you can reassure me of something. We are in a tricky situation and I am fairly confident of the answer, but want to be sure and am looking for confirmation -

I am a UK national, resident in the UK. My wife is a Japanese (i.e. non-visa) national and was granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in 2014.

Her BRP runs out in October 2024. Because we knew of the changes coming up, we got onto the e-visa process quickly and she now has her e-visa set up (we have printouts to prove this). This is linked to her Japanese passport which is valid for the next couple of years.

Last week we had the tragic news that her father is terminally ill and has estimated 2-3 months to live. My wife is taking advice from her sibling but obviously wants to help visit and care for him in his final weeks. We will be booking travel imminently.

Now she has the e-visa, I imagine there would be no issue returning to the UK even if the BRP expires. (As she is also a non-visa national, and furthermore I don't believe that new BRPs for people with ILR are being issued anyway).

Can anyone confirm this or comment to the contrary if I'm mistaken?

Apologies if this seems straightforward - this is a stressful and sad situation and clearly we want to be sure there will be no issue with return in this period.

Thank you so much for reading this.

[CR001]

Topics merged.

You were already given advice about this when you asked similar questions earlier this month.