Guidance

Residence documents: information for financial providers

Updated 17 October 2025

Online evidence of identification and immigration status (eVisa)

General information for completion of Know Your Customer (KYC) checks

When making KYC checks, customers may provide proof of identity and immigration status from a range of options that include:

• eVisa – a digital record of a person’s identity and their immigration status
• all signed passports, with a valid UK entry clearance where applicable
• all signed Home Office Travel documents
• Home Office Immigration Status Document
• Frontier Worker Permit (FWP)

This guidance offers information to account providers about the transition from biometric residence permits (BRPs) and biometric residence cards (BRCs) to eVisas.

BRPs and BRCs have now been replaced with eVisas

UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) has replaced physical immigration documents with eVisas, which are a digital proof of immigration status, for customers who are already living in the UK and to new visa customers too. In addition to showing the person’s immigration status, eVisas can also be used for identification purposes.

Since 2018 we have rolled out eVisas incrementally across different immigration routes, both for in country and out of country applications. Most physical immigration products and services have now been replaced with an eVisa.

Physical vignettes in passports are being phased out and are being replaced by eVisas.

You can find more information about eVisas.

Status holders can create a UKVI account to access their eVisa.

What is an eVisa?

An eVisa is an online record of a customer’s immigration permission in the UK, and any conditions which apply, which can be viewed by logging into the ‘view and prove’ service using their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. A customer can also link their travel document (such as passport) to their UKVI account to facilitate straightforward international travel.

The UKVI account provides customers with the ability to use online services to ‘view and prove’ their immigration status, including their rights to rent, work, study and access public services, by sharing relevant information about their permissions in the UK.  

The eVisa is an identification document for the purposes of section 7 of the Identity Documents Act 2010. It includes the person’s name, date of birth and nationality, which are essential to establishing their identity.

To check a person’s identity using an eVisa, you need to go to the online ‘check someone’s immigration status’ service.

More information about the eVisa is available on GOV.UK.

eVisa image from the online ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service

How can an eVisa be used to prove an individual’s identity?

Financial institutions and others can check someone’s identity, if they have their share code and the individual’s date of birth, using the online ‘check someone’s immigration status’ service.

The digital system has the benefit of providing real time information about the individual’s current immigration status, direct from Home Office systems. It also enables checks to be conducted by financial institutions without physical documents changing hands.

The Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) guidance makes it clear that firms can use electronic sources to verify a customer’s identity, provided that they have both (i) verified that the customer (and where appropriate, beneficial owner) exists and (ii) satisfied themselves that the applicant seeking the business relationship is, in fact, that customer (or beneficial owner).

The digital system will show the individual’s facial image, which is linked to their identity document, providing financial institutions confidence in the individual’s identity.

This is part of the Home Office’s plans to develop a border and immigration system which will be digital by default, which means we will increasingly replace physical and paper-based products and services for all routes with accessible, easy to use online and digital services.

For the purposes of this guidance, individuals with an eVisa can present it for the purpose of an identity check. Some people may hold a valid BRC, but if they have immigration permission, they will have an eVisa and it is possible the information on the BRC may no longer be accurate.

How can an eVisa be used to prove an individual’s immigration status?

Individuals with an eVisa can evidence their identity and immigration status by using the online ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service to provide a time-limited code (‘share code’) to third parties such as landlords, employers and banks.