As the Home Office transitions to a digital system, the physical immigration documents of millions of UK citizens will expire in the new year.

Foreign nationals who wish to enter the UK, demonstrate their eligibility for employment, or rent an apartment will need to rely on digital records of their status as of January 1, 2025. When travelers provide their travel credentials, airlines, ferries, and international train operators will be able to immediately check their immigration status.

Migrants’ rights charities and experts have raised concerns that previous glitches with Home Office systems, such as merging of people’s identities, could hit the new digital roll-out in the new year. But government ministers have promised a “smooth transition” with a three-month grace period for expired documents.

Migrants’ rights charities and experts have raised concerns that previous glitches with Home Office systems, such as merging of people’s identities, could hit the new digital roll-out in the new year. But government ministers have promised a “smooth transition” with a three-month grace period for expired documents.

Foreign nationals should set up a UKVI account to access their eVisa before the 31 December deadline. Their online account will then be linked to their physical travel documents, such as a passport, to allow travel providers to run checks.

Dr Kuba Jablonowski, digital sociology lecturer at the University of Bristol, explained the changes, saying: “It’s not really that the documents are being switched over, it’s like they’re being switched off.

“It’s like switching from vinyl to Spotify. You can still listen to music, but it is very different in lots of ways. For example, if Spotify stops working you lose access to all the music that you have.

“Essentially with Spotify you don’t have any music, you rely on Spotify streaming the music to you. This is essentially what is happening with people’s immigration status.”

Will it affect my ability to travel internationally?

Airline carriers will be relying on automated status checks as part of their check-in procedures.

If these checks fail then they can also use the View and Prove website to check someone has the right to enter the country.

Ferry and international train operators should also be able to access the immigration status of their passengers.

Travellers need to have connected their travel documents to their UK Visas and Immigration account.

How many people are affected?

As of early December, 3.1 million had switched from physical documents to an eVisa already, according to the Home Office.

The government has not provided statistics for how many more people need to make the move, however more than four million people in total are thought to need to change to eVisas. That leaves nearly a million who had not yet made the switch by early December.

Is there a grace period for expired documents?

Yes, the Home Office announced in December that there would be a grace period where physical documents can still be used up to 31 March.

This extension is to “ease transition and address concerns” with the system, officials have said.

Airlines and other carriers will be allowed to accept expired biometric residence permits and cards for UK visa holders travelling back to Britain up to 31 March.

The Home Office says that anyone with indefinite leave to remain who uses an ink stamp or vignette in a passport to prove their rights will be able to continue to use these documents as they do today.

Will there be any problems with the switch to eVisas?

Refugee charities and experts have raised concerns about how the switch to digital will work, given past complications with the Home Office’s digital systems.

The Home Office has already faced issues with an immigration database that saw thousands of people being listed with incorrect names, photographs or immigration status.

Part of the problems involved “merged identities”, where two or more people had their biographical and biometric details linked incorrectly.

Separately some people who are legally in the UK and have the right to work here, but who are waiting on visa renewals, don’t have any documentation that they can use to prove their rights. This status is known as 3C leave, and despite a High Court judge telling the Home Office to provide these people with digital documents, this has not happened for many people.