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Foreign nationals are facing stress, confusion and possible exclusion from flights and work due to the transition to digital VisaA new study has found.
Some? migrants Are struggling to prove Misunderstandings about electronic visas give them the right to work, study, get hired or travel to the UK.
The research by academics from the University of Warwick and Leicester was called Exclusion by designIn collaboration with Migrant Voice and Open Rights Group, it was found that foreign nationals are also facing glitches and errors with the new eVisa system.
now millions of people have Registered to access eVisaAccording to the report data, physical documents for foreign nationals were phased out by the end of 2024.
Academics interviewed 40 migrants to the UK about their experiences with eVisas. While some said they welcomed the digital transformation, others said they had to explain the changes to employers, landlords and airport staff.
Foreign nationals with a UKVI account can prove their immigration status through the government website, which generates a share code that the user can pass on to others.
Some of those interviewed described employers not understanding how share codes worked and having technical issues with their accounts, which caused confusion.
The report found that landlords also had limited awareness of share codes, and faced problems verifying when they used the codes.
Many people also reported fears and problems when using share codes to travel. There was also an emerging form of “incidental surveillance” where employees, such as supermarket staff, who did not need to see proof of a person’s immigration status were asked to see it.
In one case, a man was questioned by a supermarket employee who asked him for his share code to prove his age, even though he had already presented another form of ID.
In one case of merged identity, a person who applied for indefinite leave to remain in the UK had his details merged with someone else’s by the Home Office. He was contacted by an expat of a different nationality living in a different city in the UK, and was told that he could view all the contact information and passport details of the first person on his online Visa account.
Sarah Alsherif, manager of Open Rights Group, said the eVisa system is “still beset with problems”. He said: “The Home Office can take immediate steps to reduce the anxiety of migrants by giving them the security of a physical or digital backup that will allow them to prove their status in any circumstances.”
Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, said the report’s findings “clearly show” that the digital plan was “preventing migrants from demonstrating and accessing the rights they already have”.
Independent Several cases have been documented where people had trouble flying due to the introduction of the eVisa, which foreign airport staff often did not understand.
This included a woman, Maria Juliana Marquez Monsalve. After airline staff left stranded in Brazil Marzena Zukowska, a UK community worker, refused to board her flight home Challenged at Chicago O’Hare for over an hour.
another man told Independent How he was left unable to prove his refugee status Or travel to meet your family due to delay in eVisa.
Some foreign nationals also reported that they could not secure the jobs they wanted because employers did not understand the share code system. One interviewee told the researchers: “You’re dealing with an ignorant system here with all your information and having to say things over and over again is a burden.”
Others described the obstacles they faced trying to rent a place to live, with another interviewee saying: “Imagine you’re a landlord. You’ve got five people who are willing to rent their house. Three of them have a physical document, which British people do, and then these two have these weird numbers.”
However, other foreign nationals interviewed by researchers said they liked the change to digital technology, saying: “It makes the whole thing easier.”
Dr Derya Ozkul, from the University of Warwick, said: “We have heard from individuals who lost employment opportunities, missed flights, shared their personal information with others, struggled to complete processes due to technical issues and worried they had lost their legal status.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “More than 10 million eVisas have now been issued, and the vast majority of people with eVisas continue to use them without any problems.
“They cannot be lost, stolen, or tampered with, and they provide a secure digital way to prove one’s right to work or enter this country legally. “We stand ready to support any users who encounter difficulties creating or using their eVisa accounts.”