A British resident was stranded in Spain when the Home Office’s digital eVisa system linked her settled status to her identical twin, preventing her return. Nidia Webb, who has lived in the UK for eight years, was denied boarding earlier this month when she tried to return from holiday. Her EU settled status, granted under the post-Brexit scheme, failed to appear correctly in the system. The flight left without her.
Cause of the mix-up
After hours on the phone to a Home Office helpline, the cause emerged. Ms Webb told POLITICO: “My digital settled status had become linked to my identical twin sister’s details rather than my own, meaning my status could not be properly matched to my identity.” Officials told her the twin mix-up was a “known technical issue” affecting some pairs of identical twins. The department did not dispute her account and said it would contact her to fix the problem.
The confirmation email that the issue had been resolved was sent to her sister instead. Ms Webb said: “I had no idea the issue had been corrected until I was allowed to board my flight home.” She had to buy a new ticket herself. Her travel insurer advised her to seek reimbursement from the Home Office. Ms Webb added: “Had I not spent hours on the phone trying to resolve the matter, I have no idea how long I could have remained stranded abroad.”
Background of the digital system
The case is the latest example of problems with the purely digital eVisa system introduced after Brexit. EU nationals already living in Britain were granted settled or pre-settled status to remain once free movement ended. Instead of a physical document, the Home Office created digital records containing name, date of birth, nationality and a facial photograph. For identical twins those details are often almost identical, creating the risk of confusion.
Campaigners say the system has left thousands unable to prove their status at critical moments. Monique Hawkins, acting chief executive of the3million, which represents EU citizens in the UK, said: “We have seen many cases where someone else’s immigration status is entangled with another person’s eVisa account. We had hoped, after repeatedly raising this issue, that the Home Office had taken more steps to prevent it happening. It just shows how, despite claims that the eVisa system is highly resilient, it can fail people at the critical moments they need it to work.”
Official response and wider impact
Ms Hawkins described the digital-only approach as “rushed” and said it was “crucial that people have a genuinely stable means by which to prove their status.” Ms Hawkins added that travellers are regularly denied boarding and then compensation as airlines and the Home Office shift blame.
A Home Office spokesperson defended the system: “Over 10 million people have already successfully used eVisas to prove their immigration status. As we expand our digital system, we are committed to data accuracy and ensuring that the safeguards in place to support eVisa users are accessible to anyone reliant on the digital system. In the rare cases where errors are identified, the majority of cases are resolved within 24 hours.”
More than 76,000 people have had names, status or photographs mixed up in the UK’s immigration database, according to a 2024 Guardian report covering all nationalities subject to eVisas. The problem is not unique to Britain. POLITICO previously reported that the EU’s Entry/Exit System can also struggle to distinguish identical twins.
Twins Trust said digital border systems too often treat twins as a single entity. Mr Rafi Cooper, the charity’s head of communications, said: “We urge those making these technological decisions to consider twins’ individuality.” Ms Webb’s ordeal highlights the human cost when automated systems fail the very people they are meant to protect.
