This message is for international students with a Student visa. The immigration system is becoming digital, and you must activate your e-visa by the end of 2024.
Who needs to take action?
If your Student visa is valid after 2024 but your visa documents expire this year, you will need to activate an e-visa. This is because we won’t be using BRP cards in 2025 anymore. If you don’t activate your e-visa in time, you may face difficulties travelling back to the UK, for example, when returning after the Christmas break.
Some students already have an e-visa. If you can see your photo and visa details after logging into the view and prove service, then you already have an e-visa and you don’t need to activate it again. However, please check that your visa expiry date is correct (see the section below).
If you have a physical visa document, such as a visa sticker in your passport or a BRP card which expires in 2024, and your actual visa is valid longer, you must activate an e-visa before the end of the year.
Please note: if your visa expires in 2024 and you need a visa extension (if you are, for example, repeating a part of your course) you must follow a different process. Please see our Information for repeaters page and contact Student Advice for further guidance.
What do you need to do?
You are required to create a UKVI account to access your e-visa before the end of 2024. Once the account is created and you are logged in, you will be asked to confirm your identity using an ID check app on your phone: it will ask you to scan your documents and take a picture of yourself.
You will then need to complete and submit a short online form. This is free of charge.
After you submit the form, the UKVI will email you when your e-visa is ready. This can take a few days.
Check our dedicated e-visa page for more details about the process.
Check your e-visa expiry date
When you access your e-visa using the view and prove service, please check that your e-visa has the correct end date. Read the ‘What happens after you create your UKVI account’ information to understand what your visa expiry date should be – this will depend on the end date of your last CAS and the length of your course.
If you have any doubts about this or spot any errors on your visa, please contact Student Advice for further guidance.
