How will an e-visa be validated when traveling back to the UK?

[Taq]

Hello Experts,

My ILR BRP is expiring at 12/2024 and my evisa online is not yet ready despite having received an email.

Apart from that, I'm concerned about how an e-visa will be verified by immigration in another country when traveling back to the UK.

I assume you'll need to show it on your phone/laptop by logging into your gov account. However, I'm worried about the possibility of network issues or device malfunctions. Furthermore, how can we expect the immigration officers at another country to believe you just by showing it on a phone without a hard copy? I'm really worried.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Taq]

Even if you carry a printed copy of the evisa, how can its validity be proved?

[AmazonianX]

We do not know the inner workings of HO or what is actually in place for the evisa regime to work effectively. Any response will be a guess wirh refrerence to other e-verification systems in place and working around the world.
So we all await how this will be in practice after the full roll out by HO.

[lolo2]

You're worrying too much for something that haven't even happened yet. This eVisa system is still under deployment and subject to many issues, we only can expect that the Home Office have all these things sorted out by 31-12-2024.

At the moment and until that date, it's still required to hold a BRP card when travelling. That's advised on the UKVI website. Eventually airline staff abroad will be informed about this system and how they can check the status of passengers holding a visa.

Other countries provide electronic visas to their foreign nationals with no issues.

[secret.simon]

To quote Donald Rumsfeld, the mechanism for the validation of e-visas is a "known unknown". We know that we don't know how it will work in practice.

If I were a UK e-visa holder, I wouldn't plan any international trips in the first half of next year.

Having said that, I'd point out that the EU and Schengen zone countries are also moving to an e-visa system. Indeed, the UK is implementing e-visas because it was an EU wide deadline before the UK Brexited and it has already invested quite a lot of money and effort into it. So I'm sure that the change will not be limited to just the UK but will impact quite a few countries and will likely be rolled out in unison.

how can we expect the immigration officers at another country to believe you just by showing it on a phone without a hard copy?

Why would the immigration officer of another country be interested in your UK visa? The only people who should be bothered about it are the airline staff who check if you can board the flight and the UK immigration staff, who should be able to check your immigration status directly on their systems.

[Ticktack]

The E-visa isn't as complex as it sounds. It would be linked to your passport. Airlines can verify it easily so would the immigration of the UK.

The USA already have their ESTA, The Canadians ETA, and the UK have already started implementing the ETA since February this year.

An ETA gives you permission to travel to the UK.

Who can apply
You can apply now if you’re a national of:

Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates

This I believe was the test phase. The E-visa would work in similar ways as this.

[Taq]

Thankyou for your reply.

Why would the immigration officer of another country be interested in your UK visa? The only people who should be bothered about it are the airline staff who check if you can board the flight and the UK immigration staff, who should be able to check your immigration status directly on their systems.

For example, in India, if you hold an Indian passport, you must present valid visa documents issued by the country you are travelling to at immigration.

Hence, my original question stemmed from a probable scenario: what could happen if someone cannot successfully present the e-Visa on their devices at the departure country's immigration?

Thanks,

[lolo2]

This question doesn't have a simple response. I'd think there are many factors that can prevent someone to show a valid status when travelling. From a UKVI perspective, we only can expect them to provide everyone - with a BRP - access to an eVisa from 1st January 2025.

I agree with @secret.simon. If I had a BRP/"future" eVisa holder, I would be extra precautious and probably avoid any travel during the first weeks - or months - of 2025. This week some colleagues at work (BRP holders) were commenting that their Christmas/New Year travel plans could be impacted by this.

I have been travelling this year to EU countries with some of my colleagues and when we asked airline's staff abroad about this eVisa system in the UK replacing BRPs from 2025, absolutely none had a clue about it.

[orionsbelt1]

I completly agree with LoLo, some time back I wrote to Thai Airways, EVA Air and the Thai Embassy, they had no knowledge of these plans. I have had many communications with my ex MP who was very helpful but failed to come up with any meaningful answers. The fact that in the previous E Visa update they said not to dispose of your BRP etc is an indication that they not be ready / it wont work and there will be all sorts of problems at check in Desks on Jan 1 25. In fact its a shambles (as always with UK Immergration Issues) and I really think they even did not realise that the check in process was required.
Suggest you do not travel for the first 3 momths of 2025 and keep any BRP/BRC/ Visa's with you.
Also I think my wife now has an E Visa (or does she ) we are told we can vies her e visa !! but what does it look like? what data does it show?.......................
***1

[Londoner_1]

I envisage all Airlines from around the world will have access to an online visa system, they just punch in the passport number and the persons UK status will come up much like the US visa system.

The new system will come into force 1 jan 2025.