Security management Toolkit

Post offices to collect foreign nationals' biometrics

Kable

Published: 25 Sep 2009 09:47 BST

The UK Border Agency will trial fingerprinting and photographing foreign nationals applying for identity cards in post offices.

The Home Office agency said it will charge an £8 fee to have their fingerprints and photograph taken at one of 17 crown post offices, while this will remain free at UK Border Agency or Identity and Passport Service Offices.

This could act as a pilot of the use of post offices for fingerprinting and photographing UK nationals. The identity card for Britons and the National Identity Register are set to be abolished if Labour loses the next election.

However, the Conservative Party has not made a similar commitment to abolish taking fingerprints as part of passport applications, a route being taken by the Schengen group of European countries with open shared borders.

"The Post Office is very pleased to be supporting this trial as our reputation for trust and the unparalleled reach of our network means we can offer secure and efficient transfer of personal data while the potential for earning additional income would help support and sustain the nationwide branch network," said Alan Cook, managing director of the Post Office.

UKBA also said it was bringing forward implementation of cards for foreigners. Skilled foreign workers will be issued with cards from January next year, rather than April as initially planned, under tier 2 of the points-based system now used for nationals from outside the European Economic Area. This will bring another 30,000 people into the foreign nationals' identity card scheme.