Since the introduction of eVisas on 1 January 2025, the AFF Foreign & Commonwealth team has received numerous enquiries from spouses worried about travelling back to the UK and proving their status. Here we look at some of their main concerns…
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO IF I WANT TO TRAVEL OUT OF THE UK?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be as simple as showing your eVisa to the airline when you are returning to the UK.
We are aware of one spouse who was refused permission to board her flight to Morocco over Christmas because the airline would not accept the eVisa. Another spouse was asked to provide a printed copy of her eVisa and a share code when they were coming back from Turkey recently.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) guidance recommends the following:
- Before you travel, check your immigration status is displaying correctly on your eVisa, that your passport is linked to your account and that your personal details are correct.
- Print a copy of your eVisa. Not all airports have a good WiFi signal so you may not be able to open it online.
- Get a share code before you travel and print it out. Your carrier may ask to see it. A share code is valid for 90 days.
HOW DO I PROVE MY RIGHTS IN THE UK WITH AN EVISA?
If you have not yet applied for your eVisa, there are helpful videos explaining the process at gov.uk/government/collections/evisa-support-videos
Once you have created your UKVI account, you will be able to view the details of your eVisa online, for example your type of permission, when it expires and your conditions of stay in the UK. However, in order to prove your right to work and to rent you will need to get a share code at gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status
If you’re having problems proving your rights in the UK, please get in touch with us. The F&C team are aware of some spouses and veterans who have been given the status ‘armed forces’ instead of ‘settled’, which is leading to problems. If this applies to you, please contact us.
I’M HAVING PROBLEMS VIEWING MY EVISA
The most frequent issue raised to the F&C team about eVisas is people receiving the following error when logging into their eVisa ‘we cannot show proof of your status’. This issue has also been reported by other charities. It is possible to report an error at this link gov.uk/report-error-evisa but we have not known anyone to get a response from this so far.
CAN I CREATE AN EVISA EVEN IF I DON’T HAVE A VALID PASSPORT?
Yes, if you still have a copy of your expired BRP, you can use this as your valid ID when creating the account. However, if your passport has expired and you have lost your BRP, you will need to contact request-reference-evisa.homeoffice.gov.uk