On a Friday afternoon, an employer emails a new starter and asks for a share code. She has a plastic card in a drawer and no idea what a share code is. The Home Office says that as physical documents expire, its online service becomes the way people view and prove their immigration status. This walkthrough covers that service, and the mistakes that tend to catch people out.
What you need before you start
You need an account with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) before anything else, and the Home Office says you do not pay to set one up or to access your eVisa. To sign in you will need details such as a passport, a biometric residence card, an expired biometric residence permit or a UKVI customer number, plus the mobile number or email address linked to the account. People who search for a way to look up immigration status online often meet a tangle of third-party pages before they find the official one. Anything that asks you to pay for access to your own eVisa deserves suspicion.
Keep your details current before you sit down. GOV.UK says to update your UKVI account before getting a share code if you have changed your name or nationality, or if your photo no longer lets people recognise you.
Steps to view your status and get a share code
Sign in to the View and prove service on GOV.UK with your UKVI account. Once you are in, you can see your eVisa, which shows your current status, the conditions attached to it and its expiry date. Read it carefully, because that record is what others will see parts of when you share it.
Check four things on screen: that your name matches your passport, that the permission type is the one you hold, that the expiry date is right, and that any conditions, such as work limits, are as you expect. A mismatch is far easier to fix before an employer or landlord sees it.
Then ask for a share code and say why you need it. The service asks why you need the code and offers separate options for employers and landlords. One university guide notes that the code starts with the letter S. If the person asking is not an employer or a landlord, choose the general option for proving your status, as another university guide advises, and not the work or rent ones.
GOV.UK says a share code lasts for 90 days and that the person using it needs your date of birth. You do not need to show them your eVisa. They will see some of your personal details, and you are told what they will see when you get the code.
The other side of the exchange is short. The person checking enters your code and your date of birth into a Home Office online service. Legal 500 describes the code as giving temporary access to relevant information without access to your whole account.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
The first mistake is waiting until someone asks. A code takes minutes to generate, but a locked account or a wrong detail takes longer to fix, so test the whole route in a calm week. The second is forgetting the 90-day limit, which means a code you saved in July will not work in November.
A third mistake is using an old code before travel. One university guide recommends a fresh code before you travel so that you are not caught out on re-entry, and Citizens Advice suggests checking that you can sign in and show your eVisa while travelling.
If your record shows wrong details, report an error through GOV.UK, as a university guide advises, instead of generating codes and hoping nobody notices. And remember that the service works from a share code and a date of birth, so it is not a way to search for someone else by name. The person has to give you their code.
If you are still relying on an expired card to create your account, check the deadline. Some guides quoting GOV.UK say an expired BRP can be used for this for 24 months after its expiry date or until 31 December 2026, whichever comes first, so do not leave it to the last week.
Conclusion
If something looks wrong or your case is complicated, an adviser regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner can help. Keep the sign-in details somewhere safe. This week, create your account if you have not, view your eVisa and read every line. Generate one code, note the date it expires, and put a reminder in your diary a week before.
