Biometric immigration document meaning

In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Work sponsorship: sponsors EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q&As Key developments Future developments—Immigration calendar Note that the Immigration calendar sets out key forthcoming developments for business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Immigration (Biometric Registration) (Civil Penalty Code of Practice) Order 2025 Made as SI 2025/262, the Immigration (Biometric Registration) (Civil Penalty Code of Practice) Order 2025 provides for a reissued code of practice under section 13(4) of the UK Borders Act 2007 to come into force. It also enables the draft 'Code of Practice about the sanctions for non-compliance with the biometric registration regulations' (the 2025 Code) to be laid before Parliament. Updated by the Home Office, the 2025 Code has been revised to mirror the move away...

In this issue: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Long residence, discretion and human rights EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Preventing illegal working Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments Future developments—Immigration calendar Note that our Immigration calendar sets out key forthcoming developments relevant to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Home Office issues new UKVI identity standards guidance On 20 December 2024, the Home Office published new UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) identity standards guidance. It sets out comprehensive identity requirements for immigration and citizenship applications, specifying acceptable identity documents, including where an applicant may not hold a valid passport or travel document and what constitutes a reasonable excuse, alongside biometric enrolment processes and approaches for resolving identity discrepancies. The guidance stresses the necessity of establishing and fixing identities to support border...

In this issue Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Business, investment and non-sponsored work Preventing illegal working Family routes Long residence, discretion and human rights EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement International Daily and weekly news alerts Immigration Highlights 2024/2025 New and updated content Key developments Future developments—Immigration calendar Our Immigration calendar highlights key forthcoming changes for business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works UKICE comment on Home Office delay on eVisa implementation amid widespread concerns Professor Catherine Barnard and Fiona Costello, writing for UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE), examine difficulties with the eVisa rollout. They note the government has deferred the 31 December 2024 deadline for moving to a fully digital immigration system due to significant implementation issues. Main worries include poor awareness among visa holders, obstacles for certain groups in obtaining eVisas,...

What is a Biometric Immigration Document? A Biometric Immigration Document (BID) is the principal record that allows the holder to demonstrate their biometric and biographical details, immigration status, any conditions on their stay, and entitlement to public funds in the UK. It can also show the holder’s National Insurance number (for individuals on Worker routes) and whether NHS treatment is chargeable. With the shift to digital status, all BIDs are now issued in electronic form as an eVisa. The only exception is entry clearance for six months or less, such as a Visitor visa, although these will likewise move to eVisas in due course. An eVisa is an electronic record of status. The holder must have an online UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account so that they, and authorised third parties, can access their eVisa. Once a UKVI account is in place, a person can reach their eVisa by using the view and prove immigration status link on GOV.UK. When their leave expires or is cancelled, this link will...

This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews the process and requirements for lodging applications for settled and pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (the Scheme). It addresses: the need to make and submit a ‘valid’ application detailed procedural steps for seeking immigration permission via the Scheme (for European Economic Area (EEA) citizens and non-EEA citizens, from inside and outside the UK) the Home Office’s ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app the evidential standards and proofs (covering proof of identity and nationality, residence, and extra documents required for family members) formal authority for a legal representative to liaise with the Home Office in relation to the application the ongoing obligation to keep the Home Office updated regarding specified details following the grant of leave The Practice Note also outlines the application route for family permit applications made from outside the UK. For the purposes of this Practice Note, EEA citizens are those who are nationals of the remaining...

This Practice Note provides commentary on the documents that an employer may accept when undertaking a manual right to work check For details on when and why a right to work check is required, see Practice Note: Right to work checks: When and why. The UK has shifted to digital immigration status for non-British and non-Irish nationals. From 6 April 2022, employers were no longer allowed to accept or review physical Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs), Biometric Residence Cards (BRCs) or Frontier Worker Permits as proof of right to work, even if a later expiry was printed. Instead, an online check must be completed for these individuals. Those documents enabled holders to generate a share code before they were able, during 2024, to create a UK Visas & Immigration account to access their eVisas. Employers also gained the option to use Identity Document Validation Technology via an approved Identity Service Provider—now referred to as digital verification services—as an alternative to physically inspecting and copying current British and Irish...

Dear [ Applicant ], Your Skilled Worker visa I am pleased to confirm that your Skilled Worker visa has been approved. [ The visas for your dependant family members have also been approved ] . Initial entry and your eVisa You [ and your dependants ] have been granted immigration permission from [ Start date ] to [ End date ]. The Home Office has issued a visa for you [ and your dependants ] in digital format (also called an ‘eVisa’). Consequently, you [ and your dependants ] will not receive an endorsement in your passport [ s ] or any physical document confirming the grant of permission. [ Your permission is linked to your biometric passport used in your visa application. Please use the same passport to enter the UK. Before you travel to the UK, you will [ each ] need to create a UKVI account to access your eVisa and link it to your passport. To do this, go to the Home...

Monitoring immigration status and preventing illegal employment Proof of right to work check Copy format (paper or electronic) Type of document Which pages have been copied? For a passport or travel document, you should include: the front cover (only where the copy was taken between 29 February 2008 and 15 May 2014); any page(s) showing the photograph, name, date of birth, biometric details, expiry date, nationality, or signature; and if the person is not British or Irish (or was an EEA or Swiss national before 1 July 2021) and their permission is endorsed in their passport, the page bearing the stamp confirming the holder’s current UK immigration status and any conditions of stay. Does that stamped page display a UK date of entry shown by an entry stamp?...

Dear [ Applicant ], Your UK Expansion Worker visa I am delighted to advise that your Global Business Mobility—UK Expansion Worker visa has been approved. [ The visas for your dependant family members have also been approved ]. Initial entry and your eVisa You [ and your dependants ] have been granted permission from [ Start date ] to [ End date ]. The Home Office has provided your visa [ and your dependants’ ] in digital form (an ‘eVisa’). Consequently, you [ and your dependants ] will not receive an endorsement in your passport [ s ] or a physical document as evidence of your grant of permission. [ Your permission is linked to the biometric passport used for your visa application. Please use the same passport when entering the UK. ] [ It is current practice for the Home Office to issue dependants who applied through a Visa Application Centre with initial entry clearance as a vignette in the applicant’s passport. They...