UK to Begin Issuing Identity Cards To Foreign Nationals
In October Royal Assent for the UK Borders Act 2007 provided the authority for the Government to begin issuing identity cards to foreign nationals. Today we are publishing our plans to do so.
Over time we will replace old-fashioned 20th century paper documents currently issued to foreign nationals for identity purposes. Our plans will make it easier for employers and sponsors to check entitlement to work and study. Immigration and law enforcement officers will find it easier to verify someone’s identity and detect abuse. Identity cards will benefit foreign nationals here legally who need to produce evidence of their identity and entitlement to private and public sector service providers. The card will provide reassurance and identity protection to the many here legally who contribute to the prosperity of the UK, while helping prevent abuse of those privileges.
The UK is now leading the world in the successful delivery of this technology. Our first line of defence against illegal immigration at the offshore border (fingerprint visas) is now in place. We have now issued over 1 million fingerprint visas. So far more than 11,000 individuals have been matched to those who have been fingerprinted in the UK in connection with previous asylum applications or other immigration matters using this new technology.
Our programme for identity cards for foreign nationals will begin in 2008. It will start with a pilot to pressure-test the technology. Cards will be issued by day 330 this year. Numbers will rapidly increase thereafter. To ensure we get the most benefit early on, our rollout plan will prioritise:
• reducing risk by tackling higher-risk categories, such as students and people applying for leave to remain for marriage, and by phasing out old-style, insecure documents; and
• maximising efficiency as people come back to us to
Over the last 18 months we have systematically begun putting in place five key components of a new integrated border security architecture for the UK. This architecture is designed to create a triple ring of defences against illegal immigration – overseas, at the border and in the UK. Figure 1 shows how these five key components fit together.
In the last year we have tested the components of this architecture with great success:
• Our fingerprint visa programme is making a real impact overseas. We have completed the programme which now covers three-quarters of the world’s population and operates in 135 countries. More than one million fingerprint scans have been completed to date. So far more than 11,000 individuals have been matched to those who have been fingerprinted in the UK in connection with previous asylum applications or other immigration matters. The results of fingerscan matches are communicated to visa officers at our diplomatic missions overseas in minutes to inform their decision-making.
• We are undertaking a Visa Waiver Test to decide which countries we need to issue visitor visas to and which we don’t. Countries will be assessed against a basket of criteria, including immigration, criminality and terrorism threats, and economic impact. We will maintain or impose new visa regimes on countries whose nationals pose significant risks to the UK. No decisions have been taken yet as to any changes in regimes.
• The e-Borders system will screen all passengers against immigration, customs and police watch lists before they travel to and from the UK. Successful trials of the new system have already led to the arrest of more than 1,400 people and more than 17,000 people of concern being checked by immigration, customs or the police.
• At the UK border we are creating a single UK Border Agency. Bringing border resources together will improve security while legitimate travel and trade are welcomed and facilitated. Implementation of the Agency began in November 2007. We will soon have a detailed implementation plan and initiate an agreed action plan to provide frontline officers with shared information, skills and powers.
Compulsory identity cards for foreign (non-European Economic Area) nationals under the biometric registration provisions of the UK Borders Act 2007 are the final component of this strategy1. At the heart of this strategy is a simple ambition to use new biometric technology to lock down the identity of an individual with confidence. Using the powers in the Act we can fix a migrant in a single identity. By checking fingerprints against our centrally held records we can find out if we have seen that person before with a different identity and/or nationality (perhaps as a failed asylum seeker who has now returned to the UK and is passing themselves off as a student from a different country).
Crucially, these identity cards will allow checks on an individual’s identity and right to be here to be conducted more widely within the UK. Just as passports and old-style vignettes are checked by border control staff, identity cards for foreign nationals are designed to allow businesses, colleges and public agencies to conduct secure checks quickly and reliably. This will help to deny the privileges of the UK to those here illegally – and help businesses and colleges fulfil their licence obligations as sponsors for migrants coming to the UK.
www.homeoffice.gov.uk
March 06, 2008
Read more about Biometric Technologies:
Fingerprint, Iris Recognition, Hand & Finger, Facial Recognition, Voice/Speaker, Consultants, Smart Cards/Multimodal, Signature/Keystroke, 2D Barcodes, Sensors, Middleware/Software, Vascular Pattern Recognition
Read more about Biometric Applications:
Physical Access Control, Logical Access Control, Justice/Law Enforcement, Time and Attendance, Border Control/Airports, HIPAA, Financial/Transactional, Integrators/Resellers, Safes, Door Locks, Other
March 06, 2008
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