Passport, visa and BRP problems

If your BRP was valid for three months or more, the two processes of reporting the loss/theft/damage of a BRP and replacing it are combined in one online process. See the gov.uk info for if your BRP is lost or stolen. Students should follow this process as soon as possible after they notice the loss/theft of their BRP and they have reported the loss/theft to the police. The Home Office website says that students should report/replace within three months of the loss/theft/damage.

You must apply for a replacement if you have more than three months' permission remaining. If you do not do this you may receive a fine, have your permission cancelled, and/or any future immigration applications you make to come to the UK may be affected.

If you have less than three months' permission remaining:

• apply for further immigration permission, if you are eligible; or
• leave the UK before your permission expires.

If the BRP was valid for less than three months you do not have to replace it but you should still report the loss. As above, see the gov.uk info for if your BRP is lost or stolen.

If your BRP replacement application is still being processed and:

• your immigration permission is about to expire and you need to make a new immigration application: you will have to make this with a covering letter in order to vary your application;
• your immigration permission is about to expire and you do not need to make a new immigration application: speak to the international student adviser at your institution who can inform the Home Office of your travel plans, so that you can leave the UK before your permission expires;
• you need to leave the UK urgently: speak to the international student adviser at your institution who can inform the Home Office of your travel plans. When you are ready to return, you will need to follow the process of applying for a single entry visa as outlined above. Once in the UK, you will need to apply to replace your BRP once again.

If you are planning to leave the UK soon and you are not planning to return to the UK during the period of permission evidenced by the lost BRP, or you plan to return to the UK in a different category of immigration permission, the Home Office have assured us that you may not have to replace your BRP in these circumstances. Seek advice from your institution’s international student adviser if it appears that you are still required to replace your BRP.

An alternative option for those with imminent travel plans, is to travel overseas and apply for a Single-entry visa to replace a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). For 'Confirm your visa type', select 'BRP Vignette transfer' and then follow the steps in BRP lost/stolen/damaged outside the UK.

Once you have used the single-entry visa to replace the BRP to enter the UK, you will need to apply within 1 month of your return to the UK for a replacement BRP as detailed above.

If your travel plans are not imminent, you should not travel outside of the UK until you have collected your BRP. If you have an urgent reason for needing to leave the UK whilst your replacement application remains pending, then you should seek advice from a student adviser at your institution as outlined above. If you need to leave and re-enter the UK before you have collected your BRP, the gov.uk website on biometric residents permits, advises that you will need to apply for a single entry replacement BRP. See BRP lost/stolen/damaged outside the UK. If however your 90-day vignette is endorsed as ‘multiple-entry’, you will be permitted to leave and re-enter the UK within the 90-day validity of the vignette, without having to apply for a single entry replacement BRP.