The government has delayed the rolled out of eVisas in the UK, amid fears British citizens may not be able to access them.

Seema Malhotra, the migration and citizenship minister, told the Guardian the government was delaying the switch to a fully digital immigration system amid fears of a Windrush-style scandal.

The Guardian reported UK citizens currently living abroad have struggled to gain access to the system required to download the new eVisas and as a result, they may have been refused entry to the country.

Most physical documents usually used to enter the UK will no longer be valid on 31 December.

Malhotra said she had listened to concerns about the new system and as a result, the government “allow biometric residence permits or EU settlement scheme biometric residence cards that expire on or after 31 December to be accepted as valid evidence of permission to travel until 31 March 2025”.

Extra support will be offered to airlines to help them use both the new system and the old one which will be temporarily kept in place.

What are the new rules?

Physical records of a person’s right to be in the UK are being phased out and replaced by eVisas.

Electronic visas are nothing new in the UK and were used for the EU settlement scheme after Brexit. The big change is that eVisas are becoming the only way to access these documents, with physical copies no longer accepted.

The move doesn’t apply to a traditional passport, which people will still need to enter the country, but does impact effectively every other document that someone entering the UK may need.

This includes biometric residence permit (BRP), a visa vignette sticker or ink stamp usually put in a passport, or biometric residence card (BRC).

The eVisa will be free for all people who use them.

The aim is to reduce fraud in the immigration system and remove the risk of important documents being lost.

The eVisa will be tied to a person’s biometric information – physical features like fingerprints – to protect against identity fraud.

It will mean Border Force officers inspecting someone’s immigration status will be able to carry out checks using an online service, and visa holders will be able to access their digital record anywhere instantly.

Eventually, the government hopes to do away with passports as well and rely entirely on biometrics to manage how people enter the country.

When do the changes come into effect?

The new rules apply from 1 January. Originally all of the physical documents that were being phased out were due to expire on 31 December, but with the extension, this is no longer the case.

The government has allowed people to apply for the new eVisas since 17 April but people applying for them from abroad have struggled to gain access to the system.

Some expired documents will still be able to be used to gain entry to the UK and all of them will be able to be used to set up an eVisa.

Malhotra criticised the previous government for setting the transition date to New Year’s Day, which is both a bank holiday and a busy day for international travel.

She told the Guardian: “I still find it staggering that the Tories chose 1 January to roll out the biggest change to immigration documents for a generation on an international public holiday – risking a cliff-edge, when hardly anyone is working.”

Read more