UK scraps physical visa stickers as digital eVisas become mandatory from 1 July

The Home Office has completed the final step in its multi-year digital transformation by ending the issue of physical visa vignettes (“entry clearance stickers”) on 1 July 2026. From this date, all successful applicants for UK entry permission—whether visitors, workers, students or dependants—receive only an online immigration record known as an eVisa. An eVisa is linked to the holder’s passport in the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) account and can be shared with employers, landlords and public-service providers via a time-limited “share code”. UKVI says more than ten million eVisas have been granted since the pilot began in 2018, and the shift will save an estimated £36 million a year in production and courier costs while eliminating the risk of lost or stolen documents. For businesses, the change means sponsored workers arriving after 1 July will no longer collect a vignette or Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) after entry. HR teams must update onboarding checklists: new hires must sign in to their UKVI account and generate a share code so right-to-work (RTW) checks can be completed before their first working day. British employers unable to view an employee’s eVisa because the passport on file has changed could face civil penalties of up to £45,000 per illegal worker. Travellers should create or update their UKVI account before departure and carry the passport linked to that account. Carriers have been reminded that passengers who cannot show an eVisa, Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) or another form of valid permission must be denied boarding, with fines of up to £2,000 per passenger. UKVI advises users to allow extra time for the first journey on a new eVisa as some manual checks may still be required at smaller ports. In parallel, the Home Office has begun issuing a new “Form for Accompanying an eVisa” (FAV) for a small minority whose circumstances still require a paper endorsement—predominantly diplomatic travellers and people entering on emergency travel documents. The department says no other paper evidence will be accepted after 1 July and encourages organisations that routinely photocopy BRPs to move to digital RTW processes immediately.