Most people can now check their UK immigration status online by signing in to their UKVI account, viewing their eVisa and, where necessary, generating a share code. An eVisa is the online record of a person’s identity, immigration status and conditions, and a UKVI account is needed to access it. There is no fee to set up a UKVI account or access an eVisa.

In many cases, checking UK immigration status is straightforward. However, the position can become more complex where a person has an expired BRP, old evidence of indefinite leave, a pending application, section 3C leave, an eVisa error, a changed passport or an urgent need to travel.

In this post we explain how to check your UK immigration status online, how to generate a share code, what to do if your eVisa is wrong, and when it may be sensible to take legal advice.

1. What Is a UK Immigration Status?

A person’s UK immigration status is their legal position under UK immigration law. It may include, for example, limited leave to enter, limited leave to remain, indefinite leave to remain, indefinite leave to enter, EU Settlement Scheme status, a digital certificate of entitlement to the right of abode or a digital record of exemption.

It is important to distinguish between having immigration status and being able to prove that status. A person may have permission to live, work or study in the UK but still experience practical problems if the Home Office digital record is incomplete, inaccessible or incorrect.

This distinction matters in everyday situations. Employers, landlords, universities, banks, carriers and public bodies may need to see evidence of status. If the online record is wrong, or if the person cannot access their UKVI account, the underlying immigration position may need to be analysed separately from the digital evidence available at that moment.

2. What Is an eVisa?

An eVisa is a digital record of a person’s immigration status.  An eVisa shows identity and immigration status, including rights in the UK such as the right to work, rent or claim benefits.

An eVisa should not be confused with an Electronic Travel Authorisation, which is advance permission to travel for certain non-visa nationals and is not evidence of an existing right to live in the UK. An eVisa must be distinguished from an ETA.

An eVisa is also not, in itself, the same thing as the legal grant of leave. It is the digital record of that grant. If the digital record is wrong, the answer is not always simply to accept the online record as conclusive. The decision letter, grant email, application history, passport endorsements, previous BRPs and Home Office correspondence may all be relevant.

3. Who Can Check Their UK Immigration Status Online?

Many people with UK immigration permission can now check their status online. This includes many people with limited leave, indefinite leave to remain, EU Settlement Scheme status, a digital certificate of entitlement or a digital record of exemption.

A person will already have a UKVI account if they have used the UK Immigration: ID Check app, created an account when applying for a visa, replaced a physical immigration document with an eVisa or applied to the EU Settlement Scheme. It also warns that a person who already has a UKVI account should not create another one.

Dependants should not be overlooked. If a partner or child is joining a person in the UK as a dependant, they need their own UKVI accounts to access their eVisas.

4. How to Check Your UK Immigration Status Online

The main online route is the View and Prove service. To use it, you will normally need the sign-in details connected to your UKVI account.

In practical terms, the steps are:

1. Go to the View and Prove service.
2. Sign in using the details connected to your UKVI account.
3. Use the relevant identity document or UKVI customer number.
4. Enter the security code sent to your registered email address or mobile number.
5. Review your personal details, immigration status, expiry date and conditions.
6. Generate a share code if you need to prove your status to another person or organisation.

Sign-in details may include a passport, national identity card, biometric residence card, expired BRP or UKVI customer number. The user will also need access to the mobile phone number or email address used to sign in to the UKVI account.

When checking your status, you should not only confirm that the account opens. You should check whether your name, date of birth, nationality, photograph, immigration status, expiry date and conditions are accurate. If you have a decision email or letter, compare the online record with the grant you were told you had received.

5. What Will Your eVisa Show?

Your eVisa should show your identity and immigration status. It may also show whether you have the right to work, rent, study or claim benefits, and whether conditions apply.

For some people, the most important detail will be the expiry date of their permission. For others, it will be the conditions attached to their leave, such as work restrictions, study conditions or a prohibition on access to public funds.

If the eVisa shows a shorter period of permission than expected, different work conditions, the wrong immigration category or incorrect personal details, the issue should be addressed promptly. Delay may create practical problems with employment, renting, travel or access to services.

6. How to Get a Share Code to Prove Your Immigration Status

A share code allows a third party to check a person’s immigration status using the relevant Home Office online service. The person checking status will usually also need the individual’s date of birth.

A right to work check, right to rent check and general immigration status check are not always the same thing. A share code should be generated for the correct purpose because different checking services may show different information to employers, landlords or other organisations.

A share code used to check someone’s immigration status expires after 90 days and that the checker will also need the person’s date of birth.

A share code should not normally be treated as permanent evidence. If the code expires, a new one can be generated. If a person cannot generate a share code, that may indicate either a technical account issue or an eVisa problem which needs to be reported.

7. Proving Your Right to Work or Right to Rent

Employers and landlords are not simply asking whether a person has immigration status. They are asking whether the person has a right to work or, in England, a right to rent.

For right to work checks, an employer can use a share code to check the types of job the person is allowed to do and how long they can work in the UK.

For right to rent checks, a landlord can use a share code to check whether a person can rent and for how long.

This is why it is important to generate the correct type of code. A person may be able to live in the UK but still have conditions on work. Equally, a person may need to prove a different aspect of status to a university, bank, local authority or other public body.

8. What If You Have an Expired BRP?

If you have an expired BRP but still have permission to stay in the UK, you should not assume that your immigration permission has expired. The expiry of the card and the expiry of the underlying permission are not always the same thing.

A person with an expired BRP and continuing permission to stay needs to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa. An expired BRP may be used for 24 months after the expiry date printed on the card, or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first, but only for limited purposes such as signing in to view an eVisa, creating a UKVI account or applying to extend permission.

The practical point is that the eVisa should now be treated as the main evidence of status. If your BRP has expired, you should check that you have access to your UKVI account and that the eVisa accurately records your status and conditions.

9. What If You Have ILR in an Old Passport?

Some people still hold old physical evidence of indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter. This might be a wet ink stamp or vignette in a current or expired passport.

A person with legacy evidence of ILR or ILE may need to make a free No Time Limit application to obtain an eVisa. A person with physical proof of settlement, such as a wet ink stamp or vignette with no expiry date, can choose whether to get an eVisa and that getting an eVisa will not change their immigration status.

The No Time Limit route is particularly important where the person needs to prove status to an employer, landlord, bank, university or carrier, or where old documents have been lost, stolen or damaged. The legal question is whether the person still has ILR or ILE; the practical question is how they can prove it in the digital system.

10. What If You Recently Applied for a UK Visa?

Checking your UK visa application status is different from checking your current immigration status. A pending application is not the same thing as an eVisa showing existing permission.

A visa application starts being processed once the applicant has submitted the application, provided biometrics and provided supporting documents and evidence. If an application is successful, the applicant will receive an eVisa to prove that they can come to the UK.

If you are waiting for a decision, you should check the current processing time for your application type. Applicants do not need to contact UKVI to track an application that remains within current processing times, because UKVI will not be able to provide status information during that period.

If your application is refused, the refusal letter should explain whether you have a right to administrative review or an immigration appeal. You should not assume that a refusal automatically means that you have no continuing status. The answer may depend on whether you had extant leave, whether your application was in time, whether it was valid, and whether section 3C leave applies.

11. What If You Have an Application Pending in the UK?

If you made an in-time application to extend or vary your leave before your existing leave expired, you may have section 3C leave while your application, and in some cases any appeal or administrative review, remains pending.

Home Office section 3C guidance explains that the purpose of section 3C leave is to prevent a person who made an in-time application from becoming an overstayer while waiting for a decision and, where applicable, while an appeal or administrative review is pending.

Section 3C leave is often misunderstood. It is not a fresh visa category. It extends existing leave by operation of law in specified circumstances. The conditions attached to the previous leave will normally continue while section 3C leave operates.

However, section 3C leave can be lost or may never arise. Problems can occur where an application is invalid, out of time, withdrawn, varied incorrectly or where the person leaves the UK while an in-country application is pending. Legal advice should be taken where a person’s right to work, right to rent, travel plans or lawful residence depend on section 3C leave.

12. Checking Your Immigration Status Before Travelling

Checking your status is particularly important before travelling with an eVisa. A person must travel with a valid passport or travel document that has been added to their UKVI account. An eVisa may be checked when a person leaves and enters the UK, uses the eGates or checks in with a carrier to return to the UK.

If you have renewed your passport, changed your name, changed nationality or hold more than one passport, check the UKVI account before travel. A person should keep personal details and passport or travel document information up to date so that details are correct when viewing an eVisa or generating a share code and so that the person can travel with their current passport or travel document.

A share code for travel may be useful where a carrier or border official asks for additional proof of status. A share code for travel is valid for 90 days and can be used more than once.

13. What If Your eVisa Is Wrong?

An eVisa error can be practical, legal or both. A minor spelling error may still cause problems if the details do not match a passport. A wrong expiry date, wrong immigration category or incorrect work condition can have more serious consequences.

Where the eVisa itself is wrong, or you can view it but cannot generate a share code, the starting point is the official Report an error with your eVisa service. This service can be used where eVisa details are wrong, where a person can view the eVisa but cannot use it to get a share code, where a technical error prevents viewing the eVisa, or where the Home Office created the UKVI account and the person has never been able to sign in.

You should keep copies of the decision letter or grant email, screenshots of the incorrect eVisa, attempts to generate a share code, employer or landlord correspondence and any Home Office reference numbers. These may be important if urgent travel, employment or access to services is affected.

14. What If the Wrong Status Has Been Shared?

Sometimes the problem is not simply that the eVisa display looks wrong. The issue may be that the wrong immigration status has been shared with another government department, a bank, an employer or a service provider.

The Home Office provides a separate service for asking it to check that immigration status is correct where a person believes the wrong status has been shared, where the wrong status has stopped access to work, benefits or services, or where the person does not have an eVisa. There is a different way to report an eVisa error where personal details are wrong.

This distinction matters. If the online eVisa record is inaccurate, the eVisa error route may be appropriate. If another body has been given the wrong status or a check has blocked access to work, benefits or services, the status-check route may be more appropriate.

15. Common Mistakes When Checking UK Immigration Status

Common mistakes include:

• creating a second UKVI account when one already exists;
• assuming an expired BRP means immigration permission has expired;
• failing to update a new passport or changed personal details;
• generating the wrong type of share code;
• assuming a pending application is proof of current status;
• confusing an eVisa with an Electronic Travel Authorisation;
• travelling before checking that the eVisa is linked to the current passport;
• failing to keep decision letters and Home Office emails.

The practical approach is to check the legal position and the digital evidence. They should match. Where they do not, the discrepancy should be resolved before it causes employment, travel, renting or service-access problems.

16. When Should You Take Legal Advice?

You should consider taking legal advice if your eVisa shows the wrong status, expiry date or conditions, if you cannot access your UKVI account, if you cannot generate a share code, or if an employer, landlord, university, bank or public body refuses to accept your status.

Legal advice is also recommended where you are relying on section 3C leave, have old ILR evidence, need to make a No Time Limit application, have an urgent travel issue, or have received a refusal decision.

You should also take advice if a refusal letter raises Administrative Review, immigration appeal or judicial review issues, because the effect on your continuing status may depend on time limits and the type of challenge available.

17. How Our Immigration Barristers Can Help

Our immigration barristers regularly advise individuals, families, employers and sponsors on UK immigration status, eVisas, UKVI account issues, share codes, right to work problems, right to rent checks, section 3C leave, indefinite leave to remain and Home Office errors.

We can advise on your current immigration position, assess whether the online record is consistent with your legal status, assist with urgent eVisa or status-proof issues and advise on the steps required to protect your position in the UK.

For expert advice and assistance, contact our immigration barristers on 0203 617 9173 or complete our enquiry form below.

18. Frequently Asked Questions: How to Check Your UK Immigration Status Online

How do I check my UK immigration status online?

Most people check their status by signing in to their UKVI account through the View and Prove service, viewing their eVisa and checking the personal details, status, expiry date and conditions shown.

What is a UKVI account?

A UKVI account is the online account used to access an eVisa and manage certain personal or passport details connected to the Home Office digital immigration system.

What is an eVisa?

An eVisa is a digital record of identity and UK immigration status. It may show the type of permission held, the expiry date and the conditions attached to that permission.

How do I get a share code?

You can generate a share code through the View and Prove service. You should choose the correct purpose, such as work, rent, travel or another immigration status check.

How long does a share code last?

A share code used to check someone’s immigration status expires after 90 days.

Can I use an expired BRP?

An expired BRP may still be usable for limited purposes connected with accessing an eVisa or creating a UKVI account, but the eVisa should now be used to prove immigration status more generally.

Does an expired BRP mean my visa has expired?

Not necessarily. The expiry of the physical BRP and the expiry of the underlying immigration permission may be different. You should check your eVisa and decision records.

How can I prove my right to work?

A person who is not a British or Irish citizen will often prove their right to work by generating a share code, which the employer can use with the person’s date of birth to complete the online right to work check.

How can I prove my right to rent?

A person may generate a right to rent share code, which the landlord can use with the person’s date of birth. Right to rent checks apply in England.

What should I do if my eVisa is wrong?

You should report an eVisa error if your eVisa details are wrong, if you can view your eVisa but cannot generate a share code, or if a technical error prevents you from viewing your eVisa.

Can I travel if my eVisa details are wrong?

You should not ignore an eVisa error before travel. You must travel with a valid passport or travel document added to your UKVI account and that your eVisa may be checked by carriers and border officials.

How do I prove ILR if it is in an old passport?

You may be able to rely on old physical evidence, but you may need to make a No Time Limit application to obtain an eVisa, particularly if you need digital evidence of your status.

Can I check a pending visa application online?

Checking a pending application is different from checking current immigration status. The Home Office provides processing-time information and states that UKVI will not normally provide status information where an application remains within current processing times.

Does section 3C leave show on my eVisa?

It may not always be straightforward to prove section 3C leave through an eVisa alone. If your lawful status depends on section 3C leave, take advice and keep evidence of your in-time application, previous leave and any pending appeal or administrative review.

Do British or Irish citizens need an eVisa?

British and Irish citizens generally do not need an eVisa to prove immigration status in the UK. British or Irish dual citizens should travel with their British or Irish passport, or a passport with a certificate of entitlement where relevant.