UK Extends Biometric Registration for Visa Applicants
By Andrew Osborne of Lewis Silkin (the UK member of Ius Laboris)
From the end of February 2012, the United Kingdom is extending the requirement to register biometric details to all non-EEA applicants within the country who are applying for visas of more than six months.
The UK government's move is in line with the European Union regulations specifying a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals. The UK was the first EU member state to implement the programme, introducing electronic residence permit cards for some immigration categories from November 2008. The new extension will complete the rollout to all in-country applicants with effect from 29 February 2012.
The UK's biometric residence permit card meets EU-specified security standards and includes features such as a digital photograph and an electronic chip holding fingerscan data. It also indicates the holder's immigration category, benefit entitlements and work restrictions.
From spring 2012, applicants will be able to register their biometric details at any of 100 Post Office locations around the UK. At the same time, the UK Border Agency plans to introduce an online checking service for biometric residence permit cards.
These changes in the UK will inevitably be followed by similar immigration reforms in other EU member states, making biometric registration an increasingly significant issue for employers wanting to send people to work in European jurisdictions.
Note that people applying for visas from outside the UK are also required to submit biometric data, but do not currently have to obtain a residence permit card. Instead, they receive passport stickers as residence permits. The UK is postponing the introduction of residence permit cards for out-of-country applications until after the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Photo credit: UK Passport Office
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