BRP expired? How to prove your ILR with an eVisa
Your indefinite leave to remain (ILR) does not expire just because your biometric residence permit (BRP) card did. ILR has no time limit — it is your status, not a document. What changed is the way you prove it. The UK has replaced physical BRPs with a digital eVisa, which you reach through a free online UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. From that account you generate a share code to show employers, landlords or carriers that you are settled. If you have a BRP (even an expired one), you can create your account now. If your ILR was only ever stamped in an old passport, you take a different route — a free No Time Limit (NTL) application.
- ILR doesn't expire. Your settled status stands even though your BRP card no longer does.
- BRPs are gone. Production stopped at the end of 2024 and most short-dated cards showed an expiry of 31 December 2024; all have been replaced by eVisas.
- You prove status with a share code from your UKVI account — it is free to set up and free to use.
- Share codes last 90 days and can be used as many times as you need before they expire.
- NTL is free and is for people whose ILR sits in a legacy document (a wet-ink stamp or vignette in a passport) with no BRP.
Step one: create your UKVI account and access your eVisa
If you hold a BRP — valid or expired — you can create a UKVI account and get your eVisa straight away. Go to GOV.UK's eVisa pages and sign in using your BRP number, passport or UKVI customer number, plus a phone number and email address you will keep using each time you log in. An expired BRP is still accepted for this purpose: GOV.UK confirms you can use it to sign in to view your eVisa and create your account.
Once your account is set up, link your current passport to it. This is the detail people forget, and it is the one that causes trouble at the airport. Carriers check your eVisa against the passport you travel on, so an out-of-date or unlinked passport can mean problems boarding even though your ILR is valid.
If you are an EU citizen with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, the identity-check process is slightly different — see our guide to the EU Settlement Scheme ID check for how the app and biometric options work.
Step two: generate a share code to prove your status
Your eVisa is viewed at the GOV.UK "view and prove your immigration status" service. To prove your status to someone else, you generate a share code and give it to them along with your date of birth. They enter both on GOV.UK and see only the details relevant to their check — for example your right to work or right to rent.
A share code lasts 90 days, and you can reuse it as often as you need within that window. If it expires, you simply generate a new one. There is no charge for any of this. Keep your sign-in details and recovery email current, because losing access to your account is the most common reason people get stuck.
Travel and the BRP transition
This is where the rules have tightened, so read carefully. Since 2 June 2025, carriers no longer accept expired BRPs as evidence of your status for travel. You are expected to travel on your eVisa instead, which is exactly why linking your current passport to your UKVI account matters before you book anything.
Expired BRPs do still have a narrow, non-travel use: GOV.UK allows them to be used to sign in, create your account and get a share code for a limited time — 24 months after the expiry printed on the card, or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first. That window is for setting up your digital access, not for crossing a border.
Do not travel relying on a BRP card — expired BRPs have not been accepted by carriers for travel since 2 June 2025. Sort your UKVI account and link your current passport before you book or board, or you risk being denied boarding even though your ILR is valid. Planning a trip? Check the absence rules and travel limits for ILR holders first.
If your ILR is in an old passport with no BRP
Some people were granted indefinite leave decades ago and have only a wet-ink stamp or vignette sticker in a passport — never a BRP. If that is you, the steps above won't work, because there is no card to sign in with. Instead you make a free No Time Limit (NTL) application, which transfers your existing indefinite leave onto an eVisa.
NTL is free of charge. You will need a passport or travel document and an email and phone number; a UKVI account is created during the application if you have a valid passport, or once it is approved if you don't. From 31 October 2024, successful NTL applicants receive an eVisa rather than a new BRP. Processing can take up to six months, so apply well ahead of any planned travel. Importantly, do not make an NTL application if you already have a BRP or EUSS status — you create your account directly in that case.
Unsure whether your application is moving? Our guide on checking the progress of a UK immigration application explains your options. Whichever route applies to you, the goal is the same: a working UKVI account and a share code you can produce on demand.