Border inspector commends implementation of eVisas and ETAs but warns work still needed to deliver digital border

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) yesterday published a new inspection report on the Home Office's Future Border and Immigration System (FBIS) programme, which was introduced in 2020 to design and deliver a modernised, digital border and immigration system.

The 34-page report can be downloaded here.

It finds that major elements of the FBIS programme, including Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) and eVisas, have delivered significant benefits, while warning that that there is still a "considerable body of work" needed to complete the full digital transformation of the UK border.

Conducted between March and July 2026, the inspection examined eight benefits associated with the FBIS programme.

Among the benefits recorded as delivered by December 2025 were £332 million in ETA fee income, £1.7 billion in other fee income, and £28 million savings from the removal of Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs). In addition, eGates at the border had delivered a benefit of £35 million by the end of last year.

According to the inspection, the number of staff working on BRP-related activity fell from 320 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff to just two, following the move away from physical documents and manual status checks to eVisas. The report says this figure was expected to fall to zero by the end of 2026.

While the ICIBI said the BRP-related benefits had been delivered, there was still some remaining uncertainty as to when residual cohorts, particularly Crown Dependencies, would be fully integrated into the eVisa system.

The report praised the implementation of both eVisas and ETAs as "highly commendable" noting there were "clearly many lessons to be learnt" about how the changes had been achieved and how the Home Office could capture that experience as best practice for other programmes.

However, inspectors said the transformation of the border was not complete and would extend beyond the planned closure of FBIS in March 2027. The report identified two major challenges: upgrading infrastructure at airports and maritime ports, and changing Border Force working practices, culture, roles, and skills.

The report warned that these organisational changes could be particularly difficult alongside government requirements for significant workforce reductions. It noted that Border Force faced "very considerable" challenges, especially with regard to the requirement to reduce its overall workforce. Inspectors felt the challenges had been "under, rather than overestimated".

A target of reducing Border Force staffing by 563 full-time equivalent posts through automation and process improvements has also been incorporated into wider Spending Review workforce reductions. Inspectors said responsibility for achieving efficiency reductions at the border was not sufficiently clear.

While a Border Transformation team is working alongside the FBIS programme to address organisational implementation and how benefits will be realised at the border, the ICIBI noted: "Currently FBIS is seen by many as the prime driver of change, rather than the Border Transformation work, and the inspection found a lack of clarity within stakeholders and some Border Force staff as to which implementation issues are being driven by FBIS and which by the Border Transformation team. The risk is that as the FBIS programme winds down, enthusiasm and commitment may wane and the impetus for cultural change declines."

The report made three recommendations.

John Tuckett, the current Independent Chief Inspector, explained: "The recommendations in this report focus on capturing and embedding the good practice demonstrated by FBIS, clarifying responsibility for benefits realisation beyond programme closure, and significantly strengthening the arrangements for driving forward the transformation work needed to deliver the full potential of a modernised border. The last of these will be the most challenging and will require a step change in approach working across the Migration and Borders system, building on existing achievements and momentum."

The Home Office's response to the report can be read here. All three of the ICIBI's recommendations were accepted in full by the Home Office.