The announcement made by immigration minister Damian Green will help to tackle immigration abuse by proving people’s right to work or access services.
The expansion of the system to include refugees and those given the right to live in the UK on a permanent basis will mean that all non-EEA nationals applying to remain in the UK for more than six months will now be covered by the compulsory permits.
Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs), which hold a person’s fingerprints and photograph on a secure chip, help prevent immigration abuse and illegal working by simply and quickly confirming information on each individual’s work and benefits entitlements.
From June, an online Employers Checking Service (ECS) for BRPs will enable employers (and, later in the year, public authorities) to run real-time checks on whether or not individuals are eligible to work or access services in the UK.
“This will help ensure only those with the right to be here can take a job legally in the UK and enjoy the services to which they are entitled,” urged Green. “The new measures are a deterrent to all foreign nationals looking to exploit the UK for personal gain by breaking the law.”
Network of biometric enrolment sites
Over the next few months, the Post Office Ltd will support the expansion in BRP applications by rolling out a nationwide network of biometric enrolment sites.
So far, 17 sites already enable foreign nationals to have fingerprints and photographs taken and 87 additional Post Offices will offer the service by mid-April.
The Post Office Ltd is also scheduled to operate a mobile fingerprint enrolment service which has been set-up to provide a service for individuals or businesses who want to pay to register biometric information at a location of their choice..
BRPs were introduced to replace the vignette (sticker)-type residence permits that are placed in passports and other paper-based UK immigration status documents to simplify the system and prevent abuse.
Since they were first introduced in 2008, more than 650,000 BRPs have been issued. They have been rolled out on an incremental basis to foreign nationals from outside the EEA wanting to remain in the UK for more than six months.
Most BRPs to date have been issued to workers or students staying in the UK.
UK Borders Act 2007
The UK Borders Act 2007 confirmed the introduction of regulation-making powers to require non-EEA nationals to register their biometric information and apply for a BRP.
At present, employers can download guidance on checking BRPs and their security features from the UK Border Agency’s website, and an e-mail service currently operates for checking validity. This will cease once the Employers Checking Service (ECS) for BRPs goes live.
In practice, The Post Office Ltd will collect biometric data (fingerprints, digital photograph and electronic signature) and send them securely to the UK Border Agency.
For clarity, from 27 February 2012 the final part of the BRP expansion will cover all remaining categories of non-EEA nationals applying to remain in the UK for more than six months, and now includes:
