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Foreigners living in the UK with UK BRP and BRC physical cards will find that their cards expire on 31 Dec 2024. Those physical cards are being replaced with UK eVisa.

The problem with the UK eVisa is that there is no certificate or document you can download to prove that you are a UK resident. Instead you have to go online to a gov.uk webpage and generate a temporary share code that is valid for 90 days. The share code can be used by employers or landlords to confirm that you have the right to live and work in the UK. They would take the share code and enter it in another gov.uk page and confirm the the foreigner's immigration status.

But this does not help while applying for visas to other countries. As an example, consider document required for Japan eVisa for tourism. A required document is:

Document to prove legal residency (e.g. residence certificate, residence permit, driver's license)

Now not everyone has a driver's license. BRP was the "residence certificate" or "residence permit". With BRP going away, what are we supposed to submit as "residence certificate" or "residence permit"? Surely a short-term share code cannot be a "certificate" or "permit".

I chose Japan only as an example but one can imagine many other visa applications would require a proof of current residency status in the UK. How are we supposed to prove our UK residency status when there is no document available to help with it?

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1 Answers1

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Until other countries give specific instructions, just provide a printout of the eVisa status page and the share code. For example, these are accepted by the several Schengen embassies in London, including France, Spain and Germany. The acceptance is explicit for Germany for example:

If you have not been issued a biometric residence card, please provide the share code for either your EU Settlement Scheme status or your immigration status. The printout is available from UKVI’s “Prove your immigration status”.

Or for Spain:

Proof of residence in the UK. Printed proof of inmigration status + share code from: View and prove your immigration status: get a share code - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Surely a short-term share code cannot be a "certificate" or "permit".

Sure they can; it shouldn't be valid for a very short time such that it may become invalid at the time of processing, but 90 days is generally plenty of time. This does not mean that you will not face difficulties from foreign authorities during the transition period, but by itself a requirement of a certificate does not imply the certificate has to be of unlimited validity.

How are we supposed to prove our UK residency status when there is no document available to help with it?

More directly answering the question: the share code and eVisa printout will be all you have starting in 2025, according to the current plans of the UK government.

You may face difficulties from foreign authorities, but it would be something that you will have to work out with that specific authority. Sometimes, it means that you may no longer benefit from something that you would have been entitled to with a physical BRP (e.g. transit visa exemptions in some countries); and sometimes, there is nothing you can do about it (other than complaining to the relevant UK and foreign authorities and entities). Given the number of foreign residents in the UK however, it is likely most entities needing these documents would adapt relatively soon.

The UK government is of course free to issue a more formal document to address difficulties faced by its residents; but there is no indication that they are planning to do so as of now.

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