Enter UK on BRP instead of getting replacement vignette

[phutmun]

My daughter (7) was due to start boarding school in the UK in January 2021. She obtained the necessary student visa and was issued a vignette in her passport.

Because of the school closures, she didn't start in January. She will only start at the end of April. Unfortunately her vignette expires on 24 March.

Her BRP has been issued and has arrived at her school. If we could fetch this from the school and get it to her, could she use it to enter the UK in April? Would this cause any problems? Is entering on the vignette an important part of the visa activation process? If so, I'd be nervous to skip it by entering on the BRP.

I ask because our situation makes getting a replacement vignette difficult:

We applied for the student visa using her South African passport when we were living in South Africa. We left South Africa in late Dec 2020 and have been in Dubai since then. However, we don't have residency in Dubai yet. We expect that this will still take a few months. We only expect to be in Dubai until 29 Mar, then we will be traveling in Namibia and Kenya until 25 April, which is when we planned to come to the UK with her. I expect this would make trying to obtain a replacement vignette quite difficult?

Any guidance you could provide would be very helpful.

[sah10406]

Her BRP has been issued and has arrived at her school. If we could fetch this from the school and get it to her, could she use it to enter the UK in April?

This is impossible. If the school is a nominated Alternative Collection Location (ACL) there are strict rules about issuing BRPs, including only issuing it to the holder in person, after the holder has entered the UK on their vignette.

[phutmun]

Right, thanks. I suspect the school would have given it to me, although they probably shouldn't

I ended up applying for a replacement vignette in Dubai, awaiting result, hopefully they will issue it.

Out of curiosity: if I did get the BRP, would she be able to enter the UK on it, or would it cause problems? Is entering on the vignette an important part of the visa activation process?

[sah10406]

Out of curiosity: if I did get the BRP, would she be able to enter the UK on it, or would it cause problems? Is entering on the vignette an important part of the visa activation process?

Given that you have applied for a replacement vignette, you need to wait for that. The ACL needs to return any BRPs that are not properly collected.