Get The Visibility Your Company Needs
Reduce compliance risks and mobility costs while managing individual and project-related travel with ImmiSMART: the solution that unifies your travel and mobility programs.
UNITED KINGDOM – UKVI is phasing out visa vignettes for students.
May 22, 2025
By Jaana Hennessy, Senior Manager, Immigration Services & Operations, Newland Chase
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) shared an interim update with all education sponsors in May 2025 on the expected timings for the next phase of the eVisa transition from physical immigration documents to online immigration status.
Background to the update
Since November 1, 2024 UKVI has been issuing entry vignettes for students (and other visa applicants) with a validity of 90 days to travel to the UK. The applicants have then been instructed to create a UKVI account and access their eVisa, which initially replaced the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) that would have been used to prove immigration status.
Next phase of transition
The next phase of this transition will remove the need for the visa vignette to be printed and stuck in the passport, meaning visa applicants will ONLY receive an eVisa.
This will be a significant service improvement for many visa applicants, reducing the need to attend the Visa Application Centre (VAC) to one just day—on which they will still enrol biometrics and share documents—but will get their passport back on the same day, rather than having to travel back to collect their passport once a decision has been made. This could be a great benefit for many who need to travel some distance to attend their nearest VAC.
UKVI is planning to remove the visa vignettes from the customer journey in phases on specific visa routes. They recognise the importance of the expected volumes of student visa applications for summer 2025 and are keen for students to take advantage of this improvement to the customer journey.
Timeline for the changeover
UKVI aims to start issuing eVisas from mid-July 2025 only for the main applicants in student routes. Any student dependants will continue to receive a visa vignette and an eVisa (and need to leave their passport at the VAC).
We expect to receive further updates from UKVI in due course and we will inform clients of further developments. UKVI is committed to working closely with all student sponsors to ensure that everyone is informed, supported, and able to adapt to this positive change in the student visa journey.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Newland Chase Education dedicated contact or send a message to [email protected] should you have any specific questions regarding this update.
This immigration update is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal or scenario-specific advice. Furthermore, it is important to note that immigration announcements are subject to sudden and unexpected changes. Readers are encouraged to reach out to Newland Chase for any case- or company-specific assessments.
