UK eVisa 2026: Pakistani Applicants No Longer Get a Visa Sticker
The United Kingdom has finished moving its visa system online. Pakistani applicants who pay for a UK visit visa on or after 25 February 2026 no longer receive a vignette — the sticker that used to be pasted into the passport at the visa application centre. Permission to travel is now issued only as an eVisa: a digital record held in a free online UKVI account. If you do not set that account up before you fly, you may not be allowed to board.
What actually changed
Vignettes have been withdrawn route by route rather than all at once. Ninety-day entry vignettes were decommissioned for main Student applicants from 15 July 2025 and for their dependants from 30 October 2025. Visit visas followed: applications paid for on or after 25 February 2026 are issued as an eVisa only. Anyone who made an entry clearance application on or after 15 July 2025 is expected to create a UKVI account and view their eVisa before travelling.
Why this matters at the airport
From 25 February 2026, airlines and carriers check permission to travel digitally instead of looking for a sticker. That check runs against the passport number linked to your eVisa. If your eVisa is still linked to an older passport — a common problem for applicants who renew their Pakistani passport mid-process — the carrier may not find valid permission, and you can face extra checks, delays, or refusal to board. Updating your passport details inside the UKVI account is free and should be done as soon as the new booklet is issued. See our guide to Pakistani passport renewal fees if yours is close to expiry.
How to set up your UKVI account
- Go to the official GOV.UK eVisa page and choose to create a UKVI account. It is free — nobody should charge you a separate fee for this step.
- Enter the identity document you applied with: normally your Pakistani passport, or your visa application reference (GWF or UAN) number.
- Give an email address and mobile number you will keep using. Account recovery depends on both, so avoid a number you are about to cancel.
- Complete identity verification using the UK Immigration: ID Check app, or by uploading documents where you are asked to.
- Sign in, open “View and prove your immigration status”, and check that your name, conditions, visa dates and passport number are all correct before you travel.
Share codes: how you prove your status
Once the account is live you can generate a share code to prove your status to a UK employer, landlord, or university. Share codes are free, can be generated as often as you like, and remain valid for 90 days. Travellers continuing on to Ireland are advised to generate one before departure. No agent or third-party website should ever charge you for a share code.
If you hold an expired BRP
All biometric residence permits carried an expiry date of 31 December 2024. An expired BRP can still be used for limited purposes — including creating a UKVI account and signing in to view your eVisa — for 24 months after the date printed on the card, or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first. For most holders that leaves only a few months. Note that an expired BRP is not general proof of status for employment, renting, benefits or travel checks, and it does not extend your permission to stay in the UK.
Before you apply from Islamabad or Rawalpindi
This is an administrative change, not a relaxation of the rules. Eligibility criteria, financial evidence, sponsorship requirements and refusal grounds are unchanged, and fees still apply — see our guides to UK visit visa fees, the UK student visa and the skilled worker route. The practical advice is simple: apply on the passport you intend to travel on, keep your contact details current, and open your UKVI account the moment your decision arrives rather than the night before your flight. A full list of the routes we handle is on our visa services page.
Hijrat handles UK visit, student and work visa files end to end from our Aabpara office in Islamabad — eligibility check, document preparation, application, and making sure your UKVI account and eVisa are ready before you fly.
UK immigration rules, fees and digital systems change frequently. The dates and requirements above were accurate at the time of writing (September 2026) — always confirm current details on GOV.UK before acting. Every decision rests with UK Visas and Immigration; Hijrat is an independent consultancy and cannot guarantee any visa outcome.