Vignettes may no longer be issued in work and study routes from 15 July 2025
The Home Office has updated its ‘Online immigration status (eVisa)’ guidance to confirm that from 15 July 2025 applicants for entry clearance in study and work routes may not be issued with an entry clearance vignette in their passport, and instead will need to create a UKVI account and get access to it before they travel to the UK. Applicants will still get a vignette ‘as a dependant for any other visa or as a main applicant for visas other than study or work’. The new wording just says that applicants will be told what to do when they apply, so there are no details about whether application processes will change, whether this will apply to only certain work/study routes initially, or otherwise why the guidance is framed in ‘may’ terms. The practical benefit of the change, which was mentioned in the Immigration White Paper, is that persons to whom it applies will not need to return to a visa application centre to pick up their passport (or have it returned by courier) once the visa has been granted.