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Biometric Residence Permit

Find out more about how to collect your Biometric Residence Permit, what information is included on your BRP, and what to do if you lose it.

On this page you will find more information about:

90 day entry vignette

Once your Student visa application has been processed and approved you will receive a temporary visa sticker (vignette) in your passport. 

Please check that the details on this visa are correct. You will need to pay attention to the following:

  • The start and end dates of your visa
  • Your working rights
  • The UCL licence number - X3W1RGWT9
  • your name and details

If there are any errors it is advisable to have these amended before entering the UK.

What are Biometric Residence Permits?

The temporary visa in your passport is valid for 90 days only from the date you wish to enter the UK. Once you enter the UK you will be required to collect your full visa, your BRP, within 10 days of arrival (except where there are covid-19 measures in place). You can find more information about this on the UKVI website.  Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) are secure ID cards that contain personal details and biometric information for those who have applied for permission to come to the UK for more than 6 months. The BRP is your visa and is valid for the length of your programme at UCL.

If you are enrolling on a programme of less than 6 months, you will not be required to collect a BRP and can proceed to enrol with the visa in your passport.

Collecting your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) from UCL

UCL is currently running a face-to-face BRP collection service. General information on how to obtain your BRP can be found here.

If you have asked for your BRP to be delivered to UCL, you will receive an email once your BRP has arrived. This will include details of how you can collect it.

After you have travelled to the UK, you would normally be required to collect your BRP within 10 days of arrival.  However please note you will not be penalised for being unable collect your BRP while coronavirus measures are in place.  This process will remain in place until further notice.

If you have asked for your dependant(s) BRP(s) to be sent to UCL, please contact the Student Immigration Compliance Team so we can arrange for the BRP(s) to be sent you.

If you decided not to use UCL’s BRP Alternative Collection Location code, your BRP will be sent to the Post Office nearest to your UK address and details of this will be provided on your UKVI decision letter.  Please see further information below.

If you have any questions, please contact the Student Immigration Compliance Team via askUCL.

Collecting your BRP from the Post Office

If you did not use the specific UCL ACL code in your visa application, your BRP will be sent to a designated Post Office. Along with your 90-day Travel Vignette (sticker in your passport), uou will receive a decision letter from UKVI which will confirm details of the Post Office where you will need to collect your BRP.

Please note UCL will not contact you when your BRP is available for collection from the Post Office and you will need to make arrangements to collect this yourself.  After you have travelled to the UK, you would normally be required to collect your BRP within 10 days of arrival.  However please note you will not be penalised for being unable collect your BRP (for example because you are required to self-isolate) while coronavirus measures are in place.  This process will remain in place until further notice.

You will need to take your passport and UKVI decision letter with you to collect this. It may be that there are long queuing times at Post Offices so please ensure that you leave yourself plenty of time to do this and that you bring everything you need with you.

Information for under 18s

If you are under 18, we strongly suggest that you use UCL’s ACL code (2HE484) in your visa application so that we can arrange for your BRP to be sent to your UK address. If you choose to collect your BRP from the Post Office, you will need to make arrangements to be accompanied by a responsible adult who has been approved by the Home Office in advance.

If you have a guardian in the UK who is able to collect the BRP on your behalf then you must register their details at https://www.biometric-residence-permit.service.gov.uk/someone-else/arrange and provide the following information:

  • Your full name, date of birth, nationality, passport number, a contact number and case reference number
  • The responsible adults’ full name, date of birth, nationality, identity document and reference number, their email address and explanation of how the responsible adult is related to you.

If approved by the Home Office, both you and the responsible adult with receive an authorisation email. This email will need to be presented to the Post Office when collecting the BRP.

If you do not have a guardian in the UK who will be able to accompany you to collect your BRP, Home Office approved staff at UCL are able to accompany you to collect the BRP. In these circumstances, you will need to contact the Student Immigration Compliance Team with your full name, UCL student number and date of birth and indicate that you wish for UCL to accompany you to the Post Office.

Travel information and eGates

We advise you not to book any non-urgent travel before you have collected your BRP. If you intend to travel outside of the UK before you collect your BRP, please contact the Student Immigration Compliance Team.

If you are a national of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea or the USA and you enter the UK via an eGate at the airport, you will not receive an entry stamp in your passport.  As such, you will be required to provide evidence of the date you entered the UK upon collection of your BRP.  Sufficient evidence includes your boarding pass, flight confirmation or flight ticket.  Please ensure you do not enter the UK before the start date of your 90 day Travel Vignette. 

Information on your BRP

When you collect your BRP you should check to make sure the information is correct:

brp_example

If you applied for your visa outside the UK, it will say Leave to Enter. If you applied for your visa inside the UK, it will say Leave to Remain. 

BRP expiry date of 31 December 2024 

If you have received a BRP with an expiry date of 31 December 2024, but you know your leave has been granted beyond this date, you do not need to report this as an error. This means that you do not need to tell UKVI if your BRP expires on 31 December 2024 but your immigration status (for example, your visa) allows you to stay longer. The remainder of your immigration status that is not covered by your BRP will be evidenced as digital immigration status. 

Throughout 2024, the government will gradually replace physical immigration documents (BRP, BRC or visa vignette in your passport) with digital proof of immigration status. As their approach is staggered, you may not have been contacted about the process yet. Once you are invited by the Home Office to create a UKVI account or take any other action to transfer your current visa to a digital immigration status, you must take the steps outlined in the email from the UKVI at your earliest convenience. Only BRP holders who receive an email invitation need to take action at this stage.

If you have not yet been contacted by the Home Office, you do not need to do anything and your immigration status will not be affected. Please just await further information and refer to the UKVI’s eVisa webpage for regular updates. 

Please contact us if you find any other error with your BRP or have any questions about your BRP.

Lost or stolen BRP

If your passport and/or BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) card is lost or stolen, follow the steps below according to your situation, and contact the Student Immigration Advice Team if you have any issues.

The steps you have to take depend on whether your passport and/or BRP is lost/stolen in the UK or while you are travelling abroad.

BRP lost/stolen/damaged outside the UK

Please note you are not able to obtain a new BRP card from outside the UK. You must apply for a single entry visa and then apply for a replacement BRP card once you arrive back the UK.

(1) Report the lost or stolen card to UKVI via their online webform Report online

(2) Obtain evidence, such as a police report, of loss or theft (if relevant)

(3) Apply online for a Single-entry visa to replace a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) - you will need this to re-enter the country. The fee is £19

If you have lost your passport you must obtain a new passport before you apply for a single-entry visa. You will need to contact your local embassy to get an emergency passport or a new passport issued before you travel.

You must not try to travel with a photocopy of your passport and/or BRP.  The Border Force officers will not permit you entry to the UK without an original passport and/or BRP.

(4) For 'category of application', select 'A replacement biometric residence permit (BRP) visa'.

You do not need to provide a CAS please upload a copy of your statement of student status with your documents- you can access this via Portico.

You may need to submit a TB test result with your application – please see information on the following webpage as to when a TB test is required. https://www.gov.uk/tb-test-visa

Once you have used the single-entry visa to replace the BRP to enter the UK, you will need to apply within 1 month of your return to the UK for a replacement BRP (see below and follow the process for BRP lost/stolen/damaged inside the UK).

If you are not planning to return to the UK during the period of permission evidenced by the lost BRP, or you plan to return to the UK in a different category of immigration permission, you must still report the loss/theft. You most likely will not need to apply for a replacement BRP in this circumstance but please contact the visa advice team via ASK UCL for further guidance

Please see our detailed guide to replacing your BRP when you are outside the UK : Guide to replacing your BRP when you are outside the UK

BRP lost/stolen/damaged inside the UK

If your BRP was valid for three months or more

(1) Report online

(2) Obtain evidence, eg police report, of loss or theft (if relevant) you can find more information about making a police report via the following webpage- https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-the-police/report-a-crime-incident/

If you have lost the BRP you can report the loss via the following page - https://www.reportmyloss.com/uk/

(3) Apply for a replacement BRP – You will submit the application online

You must apply for a replacement if you have more than three months' permission remaining. If you do not do this you may receive a fine, have your permission cancelled, and/or any future immigration applications you make to come to the UK may be affected.

If you have less than three months' permission remaining:

  • apply for further immigration permission, if you are eligible; or
  • leave the UK before your permission expires.

If the BRP was valid for less than three months you do not have to replace it but you should still report the loss. As above, see the gov.uk info for if your BRP is lost or stolen.

If your BRP replacement application is still being processed and your:

  • BRP is about to expire and you need to apply for a new visa inside the UK please contact the visa advice team via askUCL for guidance
  • BRP is about to expire and you want to leave the country before your visa expires – please contact the visa advice team via askUCL for guidance.
  • You need to leave the UK urgently but you have not received a decision on your BRP replacement application – please contact the visa advice team for guidance via askUCL

An alternative option for those with imminent travel plans, is to travel overseas and apply for a Single-entry visa to replace a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). For 'Confirm your visa type', select 'BRP Vignette transfer' and then follow the steps in BRP lost/stolen/damaged outside the UK.

Once you have used the single-entry visa to replace the BRP to enter the UK, you will need to apply within 1 month of your return to the UK for a replacement BRP as detailed above.

Please find a detailed guide on how to replace your BRP card inside the UK here: Guide to replacing your BRP card inside the UK

 

Final step - upload copies of the front and back of your new BRP to the Visa and ID upload function on your Portico homepage.

If applicable, you must also update UK Visas & Immigration with your new passport details by filling in a Migrant Change of Circumstances form. If you are also required to register with the police, you must take your new passport and/or BRP to the police to update your Police Registration Certificate.