Technical errors in the Home Office's electronic visa system (eVisa) are causing “high levels of stress, fear and exhaustion” among migrants in the UK who have to navigate digitizing their immigration status with minimal support, research has found.
Report, Exception by Design: Digital Identity and the Hostile Environment for Migrantssaid that the error-prone eVisa system is a precursor to what's to come with a mandatory digital IDarguing that efforts to digitize the immigration system provide an opportunity to test such systems on a fragile portion of the population before rolling them out more widely.
The physical immigration documents of millions of people living in the UK expired on 31 December 2024 after the Home Office replaced them with immigration status only available in real time.
With paper documents completely phased out, people are now expected to use a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) digital account to create “share codes” which they must use to confirm their immigration status when dealing with a range of third parties, including employers and letting agencies.
This means the eVisa system, which Explores over 90 disparate government databases Generating and determining someone's immigration status every time they log in is the only way to prove their legal residence in the UK and confirm their relevant rights and benefits.
“Significant barriers”
However, a study published on December 5, 2025 by scientists Derya Ozkul from the University of Warwick and Marie Gaudin from the University of Leicester in collaboration with Migrant Voice and Open rights group – found that a mandatory e-visa system has profound impacts on the daily lives of migrants, including their ability to work, rent or buy, travel, study and access vital government services.
“The move to a fully digital immigration status system marks a significant shift in the way migrants interact with the UK's immigration infrastructure,” it said, noting that while digitalization is presented as a modernization effort aimed at improving efficiency and security, the research shows that its current implementation has created significant barriers for many migrants.
It also found that “frequent technical problems” were exacerbated by a lack of support from the Home Office, and that migrants' sense of vulnerability was heightened by the wider hostile environment in which this digitalisation was taking place.
“Anxiety about being unable to prove legal status—in a hostile environment that emphasizes coercion, detention, and deportation—was pervasive,” the report said, adding that study participants shared a “deep fear of losing their rights” if they made mistakes.
“Because the system requires migrants to regularly update their information, even minor or unintentional errors were perceived as potentially jeopardizing their status,” it said. “This has created a persistent sense of vulnerability. Moreover, the burden of managing these risks and the associated anxiety falls squarely on migrants.”
He added that this creates a “deep sense of mistrust” of the Home Office among migrants who have had negative experiences with the system, which is particularly acute for those with limited digital literacy, language barriers, disabilities or caring responsibilities.
The findings are repeated many opinions previously shared with Computer Weekly by people who experienced technical errors with the eVisa system, which in June 2025 spoke of the “alarming” psychological toll of not being able to reliably prove one’s immigration status in the face of a hostile and unresponsive bureaucracy.
“Our report highlights the experiences of migrants across the UK – of different nationalities, legal status and family status – who have been forced to adapt to a new system with little time or support,” Godin said.
“Many described confusion and anxiety as they navigated a complex, glitch-prone platform, fearing that even small mistakes could cost them the right to work, rent or travel. The constant pressure to manage their digital status and resolve technical issues left many exhausted, reinforcing migrants' perception that the digital shift prioritizes control over fairness, efficiency and accessibility.”
Ozkul said she hoped the report could serve as a warning about “what can go wrong when systems become mandatory and operate digitally only, without offering any alternatives.”
Emphasizing how proposed introduction of a digital ID card in the UK The report says the online-only e-visa effectively positions migrants “as a testing ground” for its wider national digital ID ambitions.
“Bye migrants have served as “technological testing grounds” in other contexts (Molnar 2020)“Such experiments typically focus on managing external borders rather than managing populations within state borders,” it said.
“In this respect, the UK represents a special and worrying case: it has trialled a digital identity system on migrants living on its territory, effectively normalizing experimental forms of digital identity for a specific, already precarious group, before considering similar digital infrastructures for the general public.”
Policy recommendations
The report goes on to make a number of policy recommendations that can help alleviate the plight of migrants. In the short term, this includes providing non-digital alternatives for migrants, ensuring transparency about what data is stored and which government agencies it can be shared with, and creating accessible cancellation and redress mechanisms.
In the longer term, the Home Office should establish a constructive two-way relationship with civil society organizations supporting migrants; introduce clear legal safeguards to ensure that individuals or organizations, such as store employees or political activists, cannot demand proof of digital immigration status without legal authority; and stop experimental use of technology on migrants.
“The Home Office can take immediate steps to reduce the anxiety migrants feel by providing them with a secure physical or digital backup that allows them to prove their status in any circumstances,” said Sarah Alsherif, digital justice program manager for migrants at the Open Rights Group, which collaborated with the authors on the report.
“However, fundamental and industry-wide reform of the system is also needed and lessons need to be learned, especially as the government intends to provide digital IDs to everyone in the UK.”
The report itself added that implementing the recommendations would significantly reduce the risks and inequalities created by the current digital immigration system.
“By prioritizing accessibility, transparency and accountability, the Home Office can ensure that the digitalization of public services does not compromise the rights of migrants,” it said. “Inaction will perpetuate systemic exclusion, deepen inequality and undermine trust in public authorities.”
Computer Weekly contacted the Home Office about the contents of the report but did not receive a response.
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