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Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) stopped being issued after 2024, and all outstanding BRPs expired on 31 December 2024 regardless of the expiry date printed on the card — immigration status itself did not expire, only the physical card. Anyone who still has an old BRP now proves their status through an eVisa, an online record linked to their UKVI account, instead.
What this means if an employee shows you an expired BRP
An expired BRP card is not evidence that someone's right to work has ended. If a current employee's file only has a BRP copy from before the transition, that's a records gap, not a right to work problem — ask them to generate a share code from their eVisa so you can run a fresh check and update the file.
Helping a candidate who hasn't set up their eVisa account
Some BRP holders hadn't linked their record to a UKVI account before the card expired. If a candidate is in this position, they need to complete that step themselves through GOV.UK before they can generate a share code — this can take a few days, so flag it early in the hiring process rather than at the point a check is due.
Running the online check correctly
A share code on its own only unlocks the record — you still have to complete the check through the Home Office's online right to work checking service, entering the code together with the person's date of birth. The result screen, not the share code itself, is your evidence: it confirms whether the person has the right to work, any conditions attached, and a photo you should compare against the person in front of you. Save or print that result screen — including the date you ran the check — and file it the same way you would a document copy from a manual check. A share code that has since expired, or a screenshot only of the code being entered rather than the outcome, does not stand up as evidence on its own if you're ever asked to show how a check was carried out.
Do you need to re-check existing employees?
If an employee's original right to work check was valid at the time, the BRP-to-eVisa transition on its own doesn't create a new legal requirement to re-check them. It's still good practice to update the file with fresh eVisa-based evidence at the next natural review point — a contract renewal, a role change, or the next scheduled repeat check if their permission was time-limited in the first place.
Sponsored workers and CoS records
Where the employee is on a sponsored route, the position is slightly more exposed. A Certificate of Sponsorship references the visa the person held at the point it was assigned, and an old BRP number may still sit in your sponsorship records even though the card itself no longer exists as a valid document. That mismatch won't affect a live CoS or the person's actual status, but it does mean a sponsor licence audit could find a personnel file that looks out of date at a glance. If your sponsor licence file for a worker still shows only BRP-era documents, refreshing it with the current eVisa share code result before an inspection is worth doing proactively — see our guide to Home Office enforcement visits for what compliance officers actually look for in a file like this.
Common mistakes employers make with this transition
- Accepting an employee's word that they've 'sorted out' their eVisa without actually generating and checking a fresh share code.
- Treating an expired BRP as if it still has some residual evidential value alongside other documents — it doesn't, for right to work purposes.
- Confusing BRP expiry with visa expiry — the two are unrelated, and a person can hold an expired card with permission that runs for years yet, or an expired card with permission that has actually lapsed.
- Filing only the share code number rather than the checking service's result screen, which leaves no record of what the check actually showed.
How Annaizu handles this
Where a stored right to work record still references a BRP rather than an eVisa, Annaizu flags the file for a documentation refresh at the next scheduled review, rather than requiring a full re-check outside the normal cycle.
FAQ
Is an expired BRP still useful as ID?
It can still support identity verification alongside another check, but it's no longer valid on its own as right to work evidence.
What if someone lost access to their eVisa account and can't generate a code?
They should use the Home Office's 'get access to your eVisa' service to recover access — this is a known issue with a dedicated route, not something an employer needs to solve.
Does an employee's indefinite leave to remain change any of this?
No — indefinite leave to remain holders went through exactly the same BRP-to-eVisa move as everyone else. An expired BRP showing 'no time limit' is treated the same way as any other expired BRP: the eVisa, not the card, is now the record.
Can I ask a job applicant to generate a share code before I've made them an offer?
Yes, and for anyone flagging an eVisa access issue it's often better to ask early — you're allowed to run a right to work check as part of the recruitment process before a final decision, and doing so avoids a delayed start date caused by an account problem surfacing only after an offer is made.
Related: Onboarding · Right to Work Share Codes
GOV.UK references: Biometric residence permits · Get access to your eVisa
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