Tanya Goldfarb, Head of the Business Immigration team, has spoken to The Observer about the risks associated with transitioning from physical biometric residence permits (BRPs) to entirely digital eVisas by the end of 2024, in a move which experts fear could lead to a repeat of the Windrush scandal. Of particular concern is another group of migrants living in Britain, who were granted indefinite leave to remain before BRPs were introduced in 2008 and who rely on an old ink stamp in their passport to prove residency. They are being told by the Home Office to apply now for a BPR before they can get an eVisa but this process is slow and could put them at risk of investigation.

In a recent letter to the Home Office, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) raised “significant concerns” over this process.

In the article, Tanya says:

People who’ve made the UK their home for almost all of their adult lives, and they’ve lived here for 40 years or 60 years, don’t have paperwork dating back.

It is prohibitively onerous and striking at individuals who are not necessarily the sort of people that are going to have electronic records of their residences in the past 20 or 30 years. It is going to disproportionately impact certain sectors of society.

In a recent letter to the Home Office, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) raised “significant concerns” over this process.

The full article, which appears online in the Guardian, can be read here.

Tanya Goldfarb has over 25 years’ experience in UK immigration law and nationality law, and is highly regarded for her broad business immigration expertise that spans all corporate and private client matters.