Borders, immigration and identity action plan
We will put in place an effective approach to managing the identity of foreign nationals to help secure our borders, manage migration, cut illegal working and shut down fraudulent access to benefits and services.
From 2008, we will:
- screen and store biometric ID for everyone from the 169 nationalities outside the EEA applying to work, study or stay in the United Kingdom for more than six months;
- require biometric ID for people from 108 nationalities applying to visit the United Kingdom, including for shorter periods;
- target a network of border security advisers on high-risk ports overseas;
- target electronic background checks on 30 million people, start checking fingerprints at the front line and, increasingly from 2009, count visitors in as they land and out as they leave; and
- roll out biometric ID progressively to foreign nationals from outside the EEA who are already in the United Kingdom and reapply to stay here, boost identity checking services for employers and other government agencies, and begin to issue a National Insurance number only when a biometric identity has been established.
Last Updated: 07 February 2008