What is BRP?

A Biometric Residence Permit is to prove your identity and eligibility to work, study, or use services in the UK. If you apply to travel to the UK for a period longer than six months, if you extend your visa for a period longer than six months inside the UK, or if you apply to settle in the UK, you will often receive a BRP.

A BRP card is a physical document that is roughly the size of a credit card and contains details on your identity and immigration status, including:

Your name, date of birth, and place of residence; your biometric data (picture and fingerprints); your immigration status and any terms of your stay; and whether you are eligible to receive public funds like benefits or healthcare services.

While it is not necessary to always have your BRP with you, you will be required to do so when asked to provide proof of your immigration status, such as when applying for a job or a rental property.

How to collect your BRP?

You do not need to submit a separate application for a BRP; it will be granted automatically if your visa or immigration application is approved. How you obtain your BRP depends on where your visa or immigration application was submitted.

In country application

Your BRP will be delivered to you through courier, so no collection is necessary. It will be delivered to the address provided on the application form.

After receiving approval from the Home Office, delivery is typically expected within 7 to 10 days. If the BRP does not come within this window, you must report it as missing straight away.

It is possible to change the delivery address, but you must amend the address information prior to sending the decision letter.

Application made from outside the UK

Visa holders entering the United Kingdom from abroad must collect their Biometric Residence Permit from the Post Office.

You must collect your BRP within 10 days of entering the United Kingdom, or before the vignette sticker in your travel document expires, whichever date is later. If you do not collect your permit within this timeframe, you may be fined up to £1,000.

The location is determined upon submission of the visa application. It will either be delivered to a specific Post Office branch near your desired place of employment or residence, or it will be sent to the location of your sponsor if you selected this option when submitting your application.

The Post Office address is noted on the Decision Letter issued by UKVI.

To collect your BRP, you must be at least 18 years old. You must bring in your passport or the travel document that contains your vignette sticker.

Collecting a BRP from a different Post Office Branch

In most circumstances, BRPs delivered by the Home Office to a post office cannot be redirected to a work or residence address; they are for collection only.

In limited exemptions, it may be possible for the BRP to be re-directed to a nearer post office that provides the BRP service by following the redirection procedure. Note that BRPs cannot be redirected to any post offices that do not offer this service.

Follow these steps if the post office branch you wish to change collection to offers the redirection service:

• Check the online branch finder to determine which local Post Office offers the BRP Collection Service.
• Visit the post office branch where you wish to arrange a collection of the BRP
• Bring your decision letter (the letter received from UKVI) and passport with a UK visa/travel document with a vignette sticker
• If you have a partner, they must also visit the post office with their decision letter and passport with UK visa/travel document with a vignette sticker
• Post office staff will check the details and arrange for the BRP to be transferred to their post office branch
• You will pay £21.90 at the post office for each BRP to be collected;
• The BRP should be available for collection from the new post office branch within 10 business days;
• You will return to the post office branch with your passport as photo identification to collect the BRPs.

If the post office you are collecting from is open, you should attempt to visit as soon as you are able to.

If the Post Office you are collecting from closes, they will hold a BRP securely for the duration of their closure. You should go to collect the BRP when that branch re-opens.

The Home Office BRP Collection team is unable to give specific information on post office branches.

Collecting a child’s BRP

Even if you are the child's parent, you must be nominated to collect their BRP as is the usual procedure.

This is necessary, for instance, if you are currently in the United Kingdom and your spouse and child are joining you.

If you are listed on your child's vignette sticker and are collecting your own BRP, you will not need to be nominated separately.

It is possible to nominate someone else to collect your BRP, for instance, if you are unable to collect the BRP due to a serious illness or have a disability preventing you from being able to collect the BRP yourself in person. The individual you nominate must present either a passport, an EU national identity card, or a BRP.

A request must be submitted online, and the Home Office will notify you within 5 business days if you are authorized to collect.

Problem to collect BRP

If you cannot collect your BRP, you must notify the Home Office. There are a number of possible reasons for this, including:

• When you attempted to collect the BRP from the post office, it was not available.
• You are unable to confirm your identification since you lost your passport or your travel document.
• You have lost the decision letter and are unsure of the Post Office branch where you can collect it.

The Home Office will send an email within 5 business days after being notified. If they do not have your email address, it may take longer. Their response will outline the next action to take.

If you have a problem collecting your BRP card or nominate someone else, please contact us at 020 3865 6219 or leave a message.