Don’t panic if you lose your British visa BRP: 4 steps for emergency switching to eVisa
Your wallet is stolen, you rummage through your luggage when moving, or you discover when you go through customs that the BRP (Biometric Residence Card) that has been with you for several years is missing. My heart suddenly went cold: I lost my identity certificate, what should I do about work, renting a house, and entering and leaving the country?
Take a deep breath first. In the eVisa era, losing your card is no longer a "sky is falling" thing, but you must do a few things right at the first time, otherwise you may be fined or even affect your subsequent permanent residence application.
Let’s figure it out first: BRP has been completely replaced by eVisa
Key background - all BRP have all expired on December 31, 2024. The official proof of British visa status is the online electronic visa eVisa, which is bound to your UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) online account .
In other words: your "identity" does not exist on the plastic card, but in the cloud. If you lose your card, you won’t lose your identity—provided you have created a UKVI account. This is the most important thing to confirm right now.
BRP Lost/Damaged: 4 Steps to Emergency Response
Step 1: Report the loss immediately or you will be fined up to £1,000
Don't ignore it just because "the card has expired anyway". GOV.UK Clarification: who fails to report a lost or stolen BRP may be fined up to £1,000, and in serious cases may even be required to leave the country. This is still valid even if the card expires at the end of 2024. You can log in to GOV.UK and search "report lost or stolen BRP" to report online, or you can entrust a family member or lawyer to do it on your behalf.
Step 2: Create or retrieve your UKVI account (eVisa entry)
You can create an account without a card. Use passport or visa application reference number (visa application reference number) to register on GOV.UK. If you don't have both, the system will direct you to verify your identity separately. Already registered but can’t get in? Follow GOV.UK's "Recover your UKVI account" retrieval process.
Step 3: Generate share code to prove visa status to landlord/employer
After logging in to your account, use "view and prove" to generate share code (share code) . Note: Each share code is only valid for 90 days and needs to be regenerated after expiration. Right to Work and Right to Rent inspections all rely on it.
Step 4: Before entering or leaving the country, regenerate a new share code
eVisa When passing customs, you can automatically identify your identity by swiping your passport with , without showing a physical card. However, official advice is: should generate a new share code before leaving the country, and ensure that the passport has been correctly bound to the UKVI account to avoid being stuck at the border inspection when returning to the UK.
These two pitfalls are most likely to affect permanent residence in the UK
First, the passport information of was not updated in time to . If you get a new passport but it is not updated in your UKVI account, eVisa cannot be linked, and there will definitely be problems with entry and exit - you must develop a habit of this, and update your account as soon as your passport is changed.
Second, the account has not been activated for a long time. As of April 2025, more than 4.3 million people have created a UKVI account. If you haven't built it yet, please do it as soon as possible - it's the worst thing to wait until you find out you can't get in until you need to use it. Your residence expiration date will also be displayed in the eVisa status, which is an important basis for calculating the continuous residence time of your permanent residence (ILR).
Tips: The permanent residence path has strict requirements on the number of days of continuous residence and departure (for example, the 5-year path usually does not exceed 180 days of departure every 12 months). eVisa During the chaotic period of switching, it is even more important to manage your own timeline. If you are not sure how many days are left before permanent residence, you can use 永居计算器 APP to calculate the number of days.
This article is for reference only. Please consult a licensed attorney for specific circumstances. For specific operations and time limits, please refer to the latest announcement from GOV.UK.
[Data source] GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/online-immigration-status-evisa · https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits
📌 Chat in the comment area: , have you successfully created a UKVI account and seen your eVisa? At which step in the process are you stuck? Speaking out may help others who are similarly anxious.
If you find it useful, please forward it to your friends who are also applying for permanent residence in the UK - don't let a lost card delay the residence time you have saved so hard.