From now on, UK tourist visas will be completely digital

Effective from February 25, 2026, the United Kingdom has made the biggest change in its visa issuance history by fully digitizing its Visitor Visa issuance process. Accordingly, no visa sticker (vignette) will be affixed to the passport of any person who applies for and pays for a UK Visitor Visa on or after that date.

Instead, applicants will be issued a digital electronic visa, an eVisa, which is directly linked to their passport and securely stored in their UKVI online account.

This step is part of the broader program by the British Home Office to move towards a fully digital immigration system, with the main objective of phasing out physical visa stickers, Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs), and paper entry stamps. Due to this new system, introduced following a model similar to Australia's digital visa system, the old method of having to leave passports at the Visa Application Centre (VAC) for visa sticker affixation has now completely ended. The initial transition period, which began on January 12, 2026, where applicants received both an eVisa and a visa sticker, has now concluded, meaning all new visas approved from February 25 onwards will only exist as digital eVisas.

According to the official UK Visas and Immigration announcement (@UKVIgovuk), travelers must create a completely free UKVI account via the official government website before starting their journey, which requires a passport and an email address. Subsequently, they must check their eVisa, where their visa approval is stored digitally, through that account and confirm that the information provided, especially the linked passport, matches the passport they intend to travel with. Furthermore, the Home Office recommends that applicants log in and check their UKVI account at least 24 hours before their flight to ensure their immigration data is up-to-date.

If an applicant renews their passport after an eVisa has been issued, they must immediately update their UKVI account; otherwise, airlines may refuse them boarding. Furthermore, employers, landlords, or border officials can now generate a share code through the UKVI account to prove an individual's immigration status, instead of using physical documents. A major practical advantage of this new digital system is that applicants only need to visit the Visa Application Centre once for visa approval, and since no visa sticker is affixed, they can keep their passport with them throughout the entire process.

However, visas issued with a sticker before February 25, 2026, remain valid for travel. Nevertheless, authorities strongly recommend that many individuals with a valid visa sticker issued before January 12, 2026, also create a UKVI account and check their eVisa status, as they can access it through their account. Existing BRP and BRC holders will be automatically migrated to this new digital system during 2026, but they are further advised not to wait for this automatic migration and to create a UKVI account now.