eVisa causing stress, confusion and exclusion for some migrants, study finds

A new study has found that foreign nationals are facing stress, confusion and exclusion from flights and potential jobs due to the switch to digital visas.

Some immigrants struggle to prove they have the right to work, study, rent or travel in the UK due to misunderstandings about electronic visas.

Research by academics at the University of Warwick and Leicester Exclusion by DesignIn collaboration with Migrant Voice and the Open Rights Group, it found that foreign nationals are also facing glitches and errors in the new eVisa system.

According to data in the report, millions of people have registered to access e-Visas after physical documents are phased out for foreign nationals by the end of 2024.

Academics interviewed 40 immigrants in the UK about their experiences with eVisas. While some said they welcomed the digital transition, others said they had to explain the changes to employers, landlords and airport staff.

Foreign nationals with a UKVI account can prove their immigration status through a government website that generates a share code that the user can give to others.

Some interviewees reported that employers did not understand how sharing codes worked, and technical issues with their accounts caused confusion.

The report also found that homeowners’ awareness of sharing codes was limited and that they faced problems verifying when they used the codes.

Many people have also reported fear and problems when using share codes to travel. There was also an emerging form of “casual surveillance” in which workers, such as supermarket staff, who were not required to see proof of a person’s immigration status, wanted to see it.

In one case, a supermarket employee interrogated a person who asked for his sharing code to prove his age, even though he had presented another form of identification.

In the case of merged identities, the information of a person applying to remain indefinitely in the UK has been confused with another by the Home Office. An immigrant of a different nationality living in a different city in the UK contacted them and said that they could see all the contact information and passport details of the first person in their online visa account.

Sara Alsherif, director of the Open Rights Group, said the eVisa system was “still rife with problems”. He added: “The Home Office can take urgent steps to reduce the anxiety experienced by migrants by providing them with the security of a physical or digital backup that will allow them to prove their status in all circumstances.”

Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, said the report’s findings “clearly show” that the digital plan “prevents migrants from demonstrating and accessing the rights they already have”.

Independent has documented a number of cases where people have had difficulty flying due to the introduction of e-Visas, which foreign airport staff often did not understand.

These included a woman named Maria Juliana Marquz Monslave, who was stranded in Brazil after airline staff refused to let her board a flight home, and British community worker Marzena Zukowska, who was challenged for more than an hour at Chicago O’Hare.

Another man told Independent He described how he was unable to prove refugee status or travel to see his family due to eVisa delays.

Some foreign nationals also reported that they were not able to get the jobs they wanted because employers did not understand the share code system. One interviewee told researchers: “Here you are dealing with an ignorant system with all your information, and it’s a burden to have to say things over and over again.”

While others described the obstacles they faced when trying to rent somewhere to live, another interviewee said: “Imagine you own a house. There are five people who want to rent your house. Three of them have a physical document, which is something the British have, and these two have these weird numbers.”

However, other foreign nationals interviewed by the researchers also stated that they liked the transition to digital technology and said, “This makes everything easier.”

From the University of Warwick, Dr. Derya Özkul said: “We have heard from individuals who lost job opportunities, missed flights, had their personal information shared with others, had difficulty completing the processes due to technical problems, and were worried that they had lost their legal status.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “More than 10 million e-Visas have now been issued and the vast majority of e-Visa holders continue to use them without any problems.

“They cannot be lost, stolen or tampered with and provide a secure digital way to prove someone’s right to work or enter this country legally. “We stand ready to support any users who encounter difficulties creating or using their eVisa account.”