Your student visa and online immigration status (eVisa)

Depending on your nationality or where you applied for your visa, you may already have an eVisa. If you do not yet have an eVisa, you will be able to create an account and access your eVisa by the end of 2024.

How do I get an eVisa if my BRP expires on 31 December 2024?

You will be able to create a UKVI account and access your eVisa before your BRP expiry date.

Some students have received an email from UKVI with instructions to create an account. If you have been contacted you can follow the instructions to create an account and view and share your eVisa. Starting in April 2024 UKVI have been emailing BRP holders in phases and later this summer they will open the service to all remaining BRP card holders.

If you haven’t received an email you will still be able to create an account later in the year. UKVI will add instructions on how to do this on their eVisa page. You can sign up so that you are notified of any updates to the eVisa page.

We will also update this page and notify you by email when registration for an eVisa is open to everyone not already contacted.

Do not try to create an account until either you receive an email inviting you to do so or the UKVI eVisa page has been updated with instructions on how to register.

Viewing and sharing your eVisa

Once you have a UKVI account you will be able to access your eVisa to view the details of your student visa permission, its expiry and conditions such as work permission. You will also be able to share information about your immigration status and conditions using the view and prove service by getting a share code. A share code gives time limited access to relevant data on your UKVI account. A new code is generated each time.

You can use the view and prove service to get a share code to provide your status and conditions for your college (undergraduate and graduate students) or department (Recognised Students) to save onto your student record. Before you have an eVisa your record is likely to show 31 December 2024 as your visa expiry date, in line with your BRP, so your college (or Department for recognised students) needs to update this.

You can also get a share code for an employer to use to check your right to work, or for a landlord or agent if you will be renting privately.

Remember to make sure your college always has an up-to-date record of your visa and passport

If you extend your visa, change to an eVisa or change your passport you MUST provide your college (or department for Recognised Students) with an updated copy. This is important because:

• it is a condition of Oxford’s sponsor license that your college (or department for Recognised Students) keeps fully up-to-date records of your visa and passport
• if we are not able to fulfil this sponsorship duty we may have to withdraw sponsorship which could lead to the loss of your student visa
• Oxford is required to check your right to study before permitting you to enrol and start your course or return to study after suspension
• if you currently hold a BRP with an end date of 31 December 2024, this will have been recorded by your college and needs to be updated to accurately reflect your full student visa permission when you get your eVisa
• the University needs your accurate visa details to be able to make the study completion report allowing you to apply for the post-study work Graduate Route visa
• the University’s internal right to work check system for employment in colleges relies on having your up-to-date visa details
• if your passport or BRP is lost or stolen, your college will be able to help by providing an up-to-date copy or confirming details. You should also keep your own up-to-date copies.

Travel once you have an eVisa

Your eVisa will be linked to your passport in your UKVI account. If you get a new passport, you will be able to update your UKVI account so that your eVisa can be checked through your new passport at the UK border. Until the end of 2024 you will still need to carry your BRP if you have one when you travel. From 2025 you will only need your passport that is linked to your eVisa. The UK Home Office is also working with carriers including airlines, ferry and international train operators so that from the beginning of 2025 they will be able to check your eVisa using your passport. 

Keeping your UKVI account up to date

You can update your personal information in your UKVI account, such as your contact details.

Your eVisa will be linked to your passport so you must update your UKVI account if you get a new passport. If you travel before you get confirmation that your UKVI account has been updated, take your old passport with you as well as your new passport.

Who already has an eVisa

Some students have a UKVI account and eVisa already.

• EU/EEA Swiss students who were able to use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to verify identity for a student visa application instead of attending a biometrics appointment
• Students who applied in the UK for a student visa for a new course or extension of study and were able to use the UK Immigration: ID Check app, note if you are a visa national you might have been given a new BRP as well as having an eVisa
• Some students with EU Settlement Scheme pre-settled or settled status
• Some students studying on a BN(O) visa
• Some students who applied under one of the Ukraine schemes

Proving your status if you do not already have an eVisa

If you do not already have an eVisa, your college will need to see your BRP and possibly your passport entry sticker to record your student visa details for compliance purposes. If your BRP end date is 31 December 2024 they will have entered this on your student record. When you upgrade to an eVisa you will need to share the details with your college (or your Department if you are a Recognised student)

To prove your work permission to an employer you will normally need to get a share code to give them using details from your BRP.

If you are renting private accommodation, you will need to provide a share code to the landlord or agent.

Updating your details with UKVI if you do not already have an eVisa

UKVI has a webpage explaining how to report a change of circumstances if you have a visa or BRP. If there is a change to any of these details you will need to get a new BRP:

• Name
• Nationality
• facial appearance
• date of birth
• gender

If you change your address you can report this online or using the Migrant change of circumstances form.

For any other changes, including your contact details or dependants details or to inform UKVI of about a new passport, use the Migrant change of circumstances form which you need to print off on paper and post. If you are using the form to tell UKVI about your new passport, at Question 10 tick ‘personal details’ and at Question 11 explain that you have a new passport and give the old passport and new passport numbers and in Question 12 the date of issue of the new passport.