The Home Office’s digital-by-default agenda reached a decisive milestone today after UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) formally updated its public guidance to state that visitor, seasonal worker, overseas domestic worker and direct-airside-transit visas issued on or after 26 February 2026 will be granted only as eVisas. The update, published on 12 March 2026 by UK Visa Assist and confirmed in back-channel briefings to specialist advisers, means that the familiar pink entry-clearance vignette will disappear from passports for millions of short-term travellers. Under the new system, successful applicants receive an email directing them to create a UKVI account where their immigration status is stored electronically.
![UKVI sets 26 February 2026 as cut-off for paper visa stickers, confirms nationwide roll-out of eVisas]()
For applicants who want hands-on assistance with the new process, VisaHQ’s London team can manage the entire eVisa application—from booking biometric appointments to ensuring the passport details in the UKVI account are correct—and can also train HR departments on using share codes for right-to-work checks. Details and contact information are available at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/
Airlines and ferry operators will verify permission to travel via a carrier interface that checks the passport number against the Home Office database—similar to the way the United States’ ESTA works. Border Force officers will scan the passport chip on arrival, with no need to stamp or visually inspect a sticker. For employers and landlords, the change accelerates the shift to online “share codes” as the only accepted evidence of right to work or rent. Existing Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) holders have already been told that their cards, which all expire on 31 December 2024, must be converted into a digital record before that date; today’s announcement simply completes the visitor-side of the puzzle. Failure to update a UKVI account when a passport is renewed could now result in denied boarding at overseas airports or lengthy secondary inspections on arrival in Britain. Digitisation offers obvious security and efficiency wins—electronic status is harder to forge, impossible to misplace and can be updated in real time—but there are practical headaches for mobility managers. Travel-bookings systems must store the exact passport number that appears in the eVisa record, and HR teams will need new processes to capture employees’ share codes. Companies relocating staff early in 2026 should schedule extra lead-time: applicants who cannot use the mobile “UK Immigration ID Check” app will still need to visit a Visa Application Centre for biometrics, yet will leave without a sticker in their passport and will have to create the online account before travelling. In the medium term, the eVisa shift lays the groundwork for fully automated e-gates that recognise digital status and for pre-clearance models in which carriers deny boarding to passengers without valid permission—mirroring the upcoming EU Entry/Exit System. For global businesses, the message is clear: audit employee travel documents now and build digital-status monitoring into core compliance workflows.
For applicants who want hands-on assistance with the new process, VisaHQ’s London team can manage the entire eVisa application—from booking biometric appointments to ensuring the passport details in the UKVI account are correct—and can also train HR departments on using share codes for right-to-work checks. Details and contact information are available at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/
Airlines and ferry operators will verify permission to travel via a carrier interface that checks the passport number against the Home Office database—similar to the way the United States’ ESTA works. Border Force officers will scan the passport chip on arrival, with no need to stamp or visually inspect a sticker. For employers and landlords, the change accelerates the shift to online “share codes” as the only accepted evidence of right to work or rent. Existing Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) holders have already been told that their cards, which all expire on 31 December 2024, must be converted into a digital record before that date; today’s announcement simply completes the visitor-side of the puzzle. Failure to update a UKVI account when a passport is renewed could now result in denied boarding at overseas airports or lengthy secondary inspections on arrival in Britain. Digitisation offers obvious security and efficiency wins—electronic status is harder to forge, impossible to misplace and can be updated in real time—but there are practical headaches for mobility managers. Travel-bookings systems must store the exact passport number that appears in the eVisa record, and HR teams will need new processes to capture employees’ share codes. Companies relocating staff early in 2026 should schedule extra lead-time: applicants who cannot use the mobile “UK Immigration ID Check” app will still need to visit a Visa Application Centre for biometrics, yet will leave without a sticker in their passport and will have to create the online account before travelling. In the medium term, the eVisa shift lays the groundwork for fully automated e-gates that recognise digital status and for pre-clearance models in which carriers deny boarding to passengers without valid permission—mirroring the upcoming EU Entry/Exit System. For global businesses, the message is clear: audit employee travel documents now and build digital-status monitoring into core compliance workflows.
