In a notice circulated on 19 July, UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) warned the 5.6 million EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) status holders that outdated passport details could soon prevent them from boarding flights to and from the United Kingdom. From early 2027, carriers will be obliged to verify passengers’ status electronically—similar to the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system—meaning the passport number scanned at the gate must exactly match the document held in the traveller’s UKVI e-Visa account. Many EUSS holders have renewed their passports since obtaining status, and UKVI says mismatches are already triggering manual checks and missed flights. The agency is therefore asking employers, relocation providers and immigration advisers to cascade the message that clients should log into their UKVI accounts and add new document numbers now rather than waiting for the holiday rush. The same notice confirms a long-trailed policy shift that lowers the residence requirement for pre-settled status holders upgrading to settled status: 30 months of UK residence within a five-year window now suffices, with most eligible applicants being upgraded automatically using HMRC and DWP records. Immigration lawyers say the relaxation will make it easier for frequent business travellers and assignees who spent long stints abroad during the pandemic to secure permanent status. Corporate mobility managers should audit EU-national employees’ document details and travel profiles, update global-mobility portals to flag potential mismatches, and brief travel bookers that some carriers may begin enforcing the new verification step in test mode as soon as this winter. Failure to comply could see executives denied boarding, triggering costly re-tickets and client-meeting delays. Multinationals with large continental-European workforces are therefore adding UKVI-account checks to their pre-trip approval workflows alongside ETA screenings for non-visa nationals.
Source: Five Star International
