What a BRP is

You’ll get a biometric residence permit (BRP) if you:

apply to come to the UK for longer than 6 months
extend your visa to longer than 6 months
apply to settle in the UK
transfer your visa to a new passport
apply for certain Home Office travel documents

You don’t have to apply separately for a BRP. You’ll get one automatically if your visa or immigration application is approved, or you’re replacing an older document.

What’s on your BRP

Your BRP will include:

your name, date and place of birth
your fingerprints and a photo of your face (this is your biometric information)
your immigration status and any conditions of your stay
whether you can access public funds, for example, benefits and health services

You may have a National Insurance (NI) number printed on the back of your BRP. Not all BRPs have this - it depends on factors like the date it was issued and your visa status.

Give your fingerprints and photo

You’ll be asked to provide your fingerprints and photo (‘biometric information’) as part of your visa or immigration application. You need to:

have a digital photo taken of your face
put your fingers on a glass screen to be scanned
give your signature, or say why you can’t give it

The process takes less than 5 minutes and doesn’t involve any ink or mess. You won’t need to take off your head covering if you wear it for religious or medical reasons.

If you don’t have any fingers you only need to have a digital photo taken of your face. It will be noted on your records that you’re physically unable to provide fingerprints.

What children need to do

Children under 16 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or someone over 18 who has legal responsibility for them.

Children don’t need to give their signature. They don’t need to give their fingerprints if they’re:

under 6 and applying from inside the UK
under 5 and applying from outside the UK

Where to provide your biometric information

Where you give your biometric information depends on how you’re making your visa or immigration application.

If you’re applying from within the UK, go to:

a Post Office branch if you’re applying by post - check that the branch offers ‘Home Office biometric enrolment’
a premium service centre if you’re applying in person

If you’re outside the UK, apply at a visa application centre.

Fee

You must pay £19.20 when you give your biometric information at a Post Office branch. Otherwise, the cost is included in your application fee.

Getting your BRP

How you get your biometric residence permit (BRP) depends on where you made your visa or immigration application.

If you applied from inside the UK

Your BRP will be sent to you by courier. You don’t need to collect it.

If you applied from outside the UK

Collect your BRP once you’re in the UK. You must do this before your vignette expires or within 10 days of arriving in the UK, whichever is later.

Check your decision letter. It will tell you to collect your BRP from either:

a named Post Office branch your sponsor,
if you chose this option when you applied

You must be over 18 to collect a BRP.

What you’ll need

Bring your passport or travel document with your vignette sticker in when you collect your BRP.

Collecting a child’s BRP

You must be nominated to collect a child’s BRP, even if you’re the child’s parent.

The Home Office will tell you within 5 working days if you’re approved to collect the child’s BRP.

Collecting your BRP from a different Post Office branch

You can choose to pick up your BRP from a different Post Office branch. You’ll need to arrange this at the branch and pay a fee.

If you can’t collect your BRP

You can nominate someone else to collect your BRP if you have a serious illness or disability that prevents you from collecting it.

The person you nominate must have one of the following:

a passport
an EU national identity card
a BRP

You can get someone to make the nomination for you, for example, a legal representative, charity, employer, college or university.

You’ll be told within 5 working days if the person you nominate is approved to collect your BRP.

If you change your mind, you can still collect your BRP yourself or you can nominate a different person. You don’t need to cancel the original nomination.

If your BRP hasn't arrived

You can report online that your biometric residence permit (BRP) hasn’t arrived if:

you’ve applied from inside the UK
your ‘decision letter’ from the Home Office saying that you can remain in the UK arrived more than 10 days ago
You’ll need the following information to report a missing BRP:

your full name, date of birth and nationality

an email or postal address
your decision letter
You can get someone to report a missing BRP for you, for example, a legal representative, charity, employer, college or university.

The Home Office will email you within 5 working days to tell you what to do next. It’ll take longer if you don’t give an email address.

Report a problem with your new BRP

If there’s a problem with your BRP when it arrives, report it within 10 days. Otherwise, you may have to apply and pay for a replacement.

You can report online if your BRP doesn’t arrive.

Mistakes in the length or conditions of your visa

If you applied for your visa from inside the UK, you can ask for an administrative review.

Report a lost or stolen BRP

You need the following to report your BRP lost or stolen:

your full name, date of birth and nationality
an email or postal address

You won’t be able to use your BRP if you find it after you report it lost or stolen.

The Home Office will contact you within 1 working day.

Replace your BRP

You’ll need to replace your biometric residence permit (BRP) if it’s lost, stolen or damaged and it was valid for at least another 3 months.

How soon you must replace it depends on where it was lost or stolen.

You may also have to replace your BRP if your personal details have changed, for example, you’ve changed your name.

If your BRP was lost, stolen or damaged in the UK

You must apply for a replacement BRP within 3 months.

If your BRP was lost, stolen or damaged outside the UK

You can’t apply for a replacement BRP outside the UK.

You’ll need a ‘replacement BRP visa’ which lets you re-enter the UK once only - you must apply online in most countries. It costs £169.

You must apply for a replacement BRP within 1 month of your return to the UK.

Apply for a replacement BRP

Apply for a replacement BRP - it costs £56.

You can either:

post it with the fee (the address is on the form)
apply in person at a premium service centre - if you have a UK visa, leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain