Home Office must use e-visa delay to change flawed scheme

Open Rights Group has welcomed reports that the government is set to delay the rollout of its e-visa scheme, which was due to come into effect on January 1, 2025.

Responding to the news, ORG’s Migrant Rights Digital Justice Programme Manager, Sara Alsherif said:

“The Home Office has narrowly avoided a crisis after Christmas when migrants could have found themselves cut off from public services or even even denied re-entry into the country because of the flawed design, rollout and implementation of the e-visa scheme.

“ORG and many other organisations have been highlighting problems with the scheme for months. We are glad that the government appears to have at last listened to these concerns but they now need to make changes to ensure that any system works offline so that people can prove their immigration status in any circumstances. 

“It’s also still unclear what will happen to the many migrants whose Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) expire on December 31 and who have no other way of proving their immigration status. The Home Office must provide reassurances, especially for people who are planning to travel over the Christmas period.”

In September, Open Rights Group published a report, E-Visas: Hostile and Broken, which highlighted many flaws within the e-visa system. Read our press release here.

In addition, over 650 ORG supporters wrote to their MP asking them to request that the Home Office change the scheme.