UK eVisa and Share Code: How to Use Your Digital Immigration Status in 2026

Physical Biometric Residence Permits no longer exist. Since January 2025, all UK immigration status — including Skilled Worker visas — is held entirely digitally through the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) online system. Understanding how this works in practice matters from the moment you land in the UK to every time you start a new job, sign a rental agreement, or cross a border.

What an eVisa Is

An eVisa is your immigration status recorded digitally in the Home Office's systems, accessible through a UKVI online account. It is not a document you download or print — it is a live status record tied to your UKVI account and linked to the passport you used when you applied.

When your Skilled Worker visa is approved, UKVI sends a decision email. You then access your status through UKVI.gov.uk by logging into the account you created during the application process. The eVisa confirms your leave type, expiry date, and any conditions (such as "no public funds" and any work restrictions).

How to Create and Access Your UKVI Account

Your UKVI account is created during the visa application process. When you applied, you set up credentials (email address and password) to access the UKVI system. After approval, you log in to the same account to view your eVisa.

If you applied before the eVisa system fully launched and you had a physical BRP card, you may need to create a UKVI account to access the digital version of your status. The Home Office ran a conversion process; if you have not yet linked your existing leave to a UKVI account, do this promptly. Physical BRPs are no longer accepted as proof of immigration status.

Keep your login credentials secure and accessible. You will need them regularly throughout your time in the UK.

What a Share Code Is and When You Need One

A share code is a nine-character code you generate through your UKVI account to allow a third party to verify your immigration status online. The third party — an employer, landlord, or other organisation — enters your share code and date of birth into the online check service to see your current status.

Share codes are used for:

• Right-to-work checks: Every UK employer must verify your right to work before employment begins. For eVisa holders, this is done via share code, not by examining a physical document.
• Right-to-rent checks: Landlords and letting agents must verify your right to rent residential property. Again, share code plus date of birth through the online portal.
• Other status verification: Banks, some government services, and other organisations may request proof of your immigration status.

How to generate a share code:

1. Log into your UKVI account at UKVI.gov.uk
2. Navigate to "View and prove your immigration status"
3. Select the purpose: right to work or right to rent (different codes for different purposes)
4. The system generates a nine-character alphanumeric code

Share codes are valid for 90 days from generation. After 90 days they expire, but you can generate a new one at any time — there is no limit on how many you generate.

What the employer or landlord sees: When they enter your share code and date of birth, the portal confirms your name, the type of leave you hold, the expiry date, and whether you have the right to work or rent. They should not ask to see a physical document — the online check is the authorised process.

If an employer insists on seeing a physical document and refuses to use the share code portal, they are not following the current right-to-work checking process. You are not obligated to produce a document that no longer exists.

Travelling and Returning to the UK

When you travel internationally and return to the UK, you travel on the passport that is linked to your UKVI account. Border Force verifies your eVisa digitally on arrival.

You do not need a vignette sticker in your passport, and there is no physical card to collect at the border or from a specified post office (the old BRP collection process). The digital verification happens at the e-gates or at a border officer's station.

Important: If you renew your passport, you must update your UKVI account to link the new passport before travelling. Travelling on a new passport that is not registered in your UKVI account can cause problems at the border. Update your passport details in the UKVI system as soon as you receive your new passport.

What to Do If You Cannot Access Your UKVI Account

If you lose access to your UKVI account (forgotten password, changed email address, compromised account), the recovery process runs through the UKVI contact centre. You cannot simply reset credentials without identity verification, as the account controls access to your legal immigration status.

Steps to recover:

• Use the "forgot password" function first with your registered email
• If your email address is no longer accessible, contact UKVI directly through their online resolution service or by phone
• Have your passport and application reference number ready — you will need to verify your identity before account access is restored

Do not delay this if your account becomes inaccessible. Right-to-work checks at a new job cannot be completed without a share code, and an employer cannot legally start you without one.

Checking Your Status and Expiry Date

Your eVisa confirms your visa expiry date. You should:

• Check the expiry date as soon as you receive the decision and again periodically
• Set a reminder 6 months before expiry to begin planning an extension application
• Verify that your dependent family members' eVisas show the correct expiry dates, linked to your leave as the main applicant

If there is an error in your eVisa — wrong name, wrong expiry date, wrong conditions — contact UKVI to have it corrected before it causes a problem at a border check or a right-to-work verification.

The UK Skilled Worker Visa Guide covers the complete eVisa setup process, share code generation, the passport update procedure, and the Earned Settlement framework for tracking your path from initial leave to ILR under the 2026 rules.