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New immigration applicants to get identity cards for foreign nationals
27 March 2009
Yesterday Parliament approved regulations allowing the UK Border Agency to expand the identity cards scheme from 31 March to several categories of immigration applicants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
In November we introduced the first identity cards for spouses or partners and students given permission to extend their leave.
From 31 March migrants granted an extension in the following categories will also get an identity card:
- academic visitors granted leave for more than six months;
- visitors for private medical treatment;
- domestic workers in a private household;
- United Kingdom ancestry;
- retired persons of independent means;
- sole representatives;
- dependants where applicable and when applying at the same time; and
- those applying for a transfer of conditions
On 31 March the old student immigration categories will also be replaced by the new child student and adult student categories of the points-based system. Anyone applying to extend their stay in the United Kingdom in these new categories will also have to give their biometrics. This includes postgraduate doctors and dentists, who will have to apply in the new adult student category.
For more information and a table listing the categories affected, please see identity cards for foreign nationals
Those applying for a transfer of conditions into a passport or other document will receive a card if successful, regardless of whether their category has been rolled out, meaning that any foreign national with limited permission to stay might hold a card as evidence of their right to be in the United Kingdom.
As the numbers of foreign nationals required to give their biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) increases, we are working to increase the number of biometric enrolment centres. There are currently seven offices around the United Kingdom - Croydon, Sheffield, Liverpool, Solihull, Cardiff, Glasgow and Armagh in Northern Ireland.
Over the next three years our plans are to provide identity cards to all non-EEA nationals extending their permission to stay in the United Kingdom and those coming into the United Kingdom on visas for more than six months. By the end of 2014/15 about 90 per cent of all non-EEA nationals will have been issued with a card.
ID cards will replace the stamps, stickers and other immigration status documents, enabling those here legally to prove it more easily and giving employers, sponsors and public service providers a simple, more secure way to prove a person's immigration status and eligibility to work, study or access benefits in the United Kingdom.
See also
Terms explained
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Biometric
Biometrics is the science of using digital technology to recognise a person from a physical characteristic (for example a fingerprint or iris pattern of the eye) or another unique personal characteristic (for example a voice pattern or handwriting). These characteristics are your biometric details.
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ID card
An official document that provides details that enable confirmation of a person's identity.
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Points-based assessment
The method for deciding whether you qualify to come to work, train or study in the United Kingdom under our points-based system. To qualify, you must earn a certain number of points in various categories.