Foreign nationals have been told to use expired documents to prove their right to live and work in Britain, in yet another Home Office IT fiasco.
The Government’s eVisa system was supposed to come fully into force on New Year’s Day but has been delayed by at least three months.
It is intended to show foreign nationals have the right to be in the UK, replacing the old system of physical ‘biometric’ cards – which all expire on December 31.
But due to glitches in technology, foreign nationals have been told to carry on using physical cards – even though they are void – until at least the end of March.
Visa-holders and others with the right to live and work here will arrive at airports for flights back to the UK and hope their documents are accepted.
Airlines have been told to accept expired biometric cards ‘provisionally until March 31, 2025’.
The Open Rights Group has found flaws in the eVisa system and the group’s Sara Alsherif said: ‘The eVisa scheme is another bungled IT scheme. The scale of failure is staggering.’
The Home Office has spent £2billion on a 999 services radio system that’s five years late and won’t work until 2029.