Exclusive: Jorge Gomez was unable to travel to South America to see his family due to a delay getting his eVisa after latest Home Office IT error. A community worker was left unable to prove his refugee status or travel to see his family due to eVisa problems in the latest in a string of issues facing foreign nationals. Jorge Gomez, 29, has had the right to live and work in the UK since December 2022, when he was granted refugee status on the grounds he experienced political persecution in his home country of Nicaragua.
![[Foreign nationals taking flights have reported facing issues with the eVisa rollout]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/06/14/03/PA-63609550.jpeg)
He applied for an eVisa at the beginning of November last year after the Home Office told millions of foreign nationals in the UK to move to a digital immigration system before 31 December 2024. However, despite applying three times, he was left waiting for an eVisa for months, with the delay ending his plans to see his family abroad in January. His eVisa problems were finally fixed, only after The Independent contacted the Home Office.
Mr Gomez, who lives in Chesham in Buckinghamshire, said: “I’ve applied for the eVisa three times. I’ve tried to create an account, tried to link it up, and it doesn’t work. “I got an email from the Home Office, saying it was sorted, but in reality it wasn’t. I got another email saying IT is working on your eVisa. But we are already in February and this is still not working.”. Emails show that Mr Gomez’s case was referred to the Home Office’s technical support team on 31 December 2024. He was then told “not to make any travel arrangements until you have received confirmation your eVisa has been corrected”.
Mr Gomez, who supports people struggling with housing issues, had been planning a trip in early January to central America to see his siblings, mother and grandmother. He is unable to return to Nicaragua, so had been hoping to see them in nearby El Salvador or Costa Rica. He said: “I haven’t seen my mum or siblings in seven years. I started applying for my eVisa early last year because I wanted to get it done so I could go and see my family. I was looking forward to it and it has been a rollercoaster of emotions.
“That whole journey is gone now.”. This is not the first time that Mr Gomez has encountered problems with the Home Office. He spent around 15 months from 2023 to 2024 unable to generate a share code, which is needed to prove immigration status to landlords or employers. “I would say I made over 100 calls to the Home Office trying to sort it out,” he said. The Independent has been documenting problems facing foreign nationals after the rollout of electronic visas. Some travellers have reported difficulty boarding UK-bound flights and some refugees have been left without any way to prove their immigration status.
While Mr Gomez is fortunate that his employer knows he has the right to live and work in the UK, many new refugees who are waiting on eVisas have been left unable to open bank accounts or access housing. Andreea Dumitrache, chief executive at citizens rights group The3million, said: “It’s disgraceful how Jorge’s eVisa was broken for a second time, pushing him into insecurity, waiting for months on end, unable to even make plans to visit his family who he’s not seen for so many years.
“We’ve received hundreds of reports of countless eVisa errors in the last few months alone.” She added that the system was “inherently flawed and authoritarian, denying people their personal freedom and rights, pushing migrants into destitution, taking away job opportunities and causing travel chaos”. She added: “We urge ministers to reconsider and prevent further harm by providing people with a physical back-up of their eVisa, safeguarding against a scandal on the same scale as Windrush.”.
