Two QARN members have received replied to questions about the phasing out of Biometric Cards. There is much repetition in the two responses below, but also some differences, so you will find them both below:
Letter 1: I am replying as the Minister of State for Immigration.
You have asked about the rationale for removing BRPs. Like other countries, we are developing a digital borders and immigration system, which means, over time, we will increasingly replace physical and paper-based products and services, such as BRPs, with eVisas. These can be accessed via the online ‘View and Prove’ service on GOV.UK. This service is available at any time and allows a person to share relevant information about their status securely with third parties, such as employers or public and private service providers. Unlike a physical document, which can be lost or stolen, digital documents are more secure. The policy is being rolled out incrementally, with the aim of a fully digital system by the end of 2024.
In addition to an eVisa, individuals still receive written notification of their immigration status, by email or letter. Individuals can retain it for their own records and can use it when contacting the Home Office, but they cannot use it to prove their right to work or right to rent. This is because a letter is not a secure document and is therefore not an acceptable form of evidence of someone’s immigration status.
If a person loses access to their eVisa, they can recover it by contacting the dedicated UKVI Resolution Centre, open seven days a week, whereas holders of physical documents are required to make an application for a replacement document, pay a fee and may be required to re-enrol their biometric information. They must then wait for a replacement physical document to be printed and issued, whereas access to an eVisa can be regained as soon as the issue is resolved.
The Resolution Centre can support users with limited digital skills, or without access to suitable technology through the online journey, by:
• Helping them to access or recover their account.
• Helping them to update their personal details.
• Sharing status on behalf of individuals if they are unable to do so themselves.
The Resolution Centre will also be able to assist users who are experiencing technical issues with their eVisa, and where necessary, enable an individual’s status to be verified through alternative means.
We are also taking steps to reduce the number of circumstances where individuals need to provide evidence of their immigration status. This includes the development of services to make the relevant immigration status information available automatically through system-to-system checks with other Government departments and the NHS. This will mean that at the point at which a person seeks to access public services, such as NHS healthcare and DWP benefits, that service provider will check status directly with the Home Office, removing the need for the individual to prove their status.
Providing immigration status information online rather than using a BRP has enabled us to simplify and standardise the system of checks for employers, by providing information about an individual’s status in a format that is easy to understand and accessible to all users, removing the need for employers and others to interpret a myriad of physical documents, complex legal terminology, or confusing abbreviations. It also puts individuals in control of their own data, giving them direct access to information held by the Home Office about their status and, in line with the principles of data minimisation, only sharing the information required by a checker, rather than all the information held on a physical card.
Feedback on the ‘view and prove’ service has been positive. Users find it simple and easy to use and user satisfaction scores have been consistently high since the service launched. User feedback is captured to enable ongoing improvements to the service to be made. Between October 2019 and March 2022, there have been over 12.4 million views by individuals and over 1.7 million views by organisations checking immigration status.
We understand concerns that some individuals with protected characteristics may find it harder to access digital-only checking services. We have considered such impacts in the Equality Impact Assessment which is published on the GOV.UK website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-only-right-to-work-andrent-checks-equality-impact-assessment/digital-only-right-to-work-and-rentchecks-equality-impact-assessment-accessible.
We recognise the importance of preventing discrimination against people with eVisas, including the EUSS. Since 2019, communications and guidance on GOV.UK have carried clear and consistent messaging that such checks must be completed in a non-discriminatory manner.
The Government continues to be committed to ensuring employers understand their duties in conducting right to work checks in line with recent legislative changes, and that individuals understand how to evidence their status. We have delivered an extensive, wide-reaching campaign and engagement programme, targeting UK employers with information on their obligations and responsibilities concerning right to work checks, and we are also communicating with landlords and their representative groups in England about conducting right to rent checks.
As of the end of August 2022, we have delivered over 600 events reaching over 42,000 stakeholders, including employers, landlords, financial institutions, educational establishments, local authorities, foreign administrations and citizens, about the EU Settlement Scheme, points-based immigration system, and wider Future Borders and Immigration System developments.
We are planning further communications activity aimed at BRP holders and checkers, to tell them what they will need to do as we move to a digital by default in-country immigration system by the end of 2024.
We have carefully considered proposals to use an approach similar to COVID-19 certification to issue physical proof of status, using a QR code. We considered a wide range of factors, not least that using this method in the context of demonstrating vaccination status is not equivalent to using it to show real-time immigration status, since a person’s immigration status can change in a way that their vaccination status cannot.
The information on an insecure printed document, even one validated by a QR code, would not be a secure method of sharing and proving immigration status in a way that gives confidence to the user and the checker. We consider it would open the system up to potential fraud and abuse because the QR code would not be sufficient to verify the identity of the document holder. Our reply to the3Million on their detailed QR code proposal provides a full explanation and is available on their website at: https://www.the3million.org.uk/library.
We welcome feedback on how we can improve our services and are committed to continuously improving our services based on such feedback. We will continue to work to improve the user experience and will announce any further initiatives as we make them.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to write and I trust that this reply is helpful.
With best wishes,
Yours ever
Tom Pursglove MP Minister of State for Immigration
Letter 2: I am replying as the Minister of State for Immigration […]
If a person has been issued with a BRP which expires on 31 December 2024, this does not necessarily mean that their permission to stay in the UK ends on the same date. The expiry date relates to the validity of the BRP card, which will cease to be valid after that date. Like other countries, we are developing a digital border and immigration system, which means, over time, we will increasingly replace physical and paper-based products and services such as BRPs with eVisas. These can be accessed via the online ‘View and Prove’ service on GOV.UK. This service is available at any time and allows a person to share relevant information about their status securely with third parties, such as employers or public and private service providers. Unlike a physical document, which can be lost or stolen, digital documents are more secure. The policy is being rolled out incrementally, with the aim of a fully digital system by the end of 2024. Individuals will still receive written notification of their immigration status, by email or letter, which they can retain for their own records.
Changes to The Right to Work and Rent Schemes introduced on 6 April 2022 have already made significant changes to the way in which biometric card holders prove their right to work and rent (this includes BRPs, biometric residence cards (BRC), and frontier worker permits (FWP)). All those with a biometric card now need to use the Home Office online checking services to share their status with employers and landlords, rather than presenting the physical card.
The process introduced by these regulations is as follows: the employee uses their card number and date of birth to access the online services – a digital rather than a physical use of the biometric card. To share their status information with third parties – such as an employer – they generate a share code, providing time-limited access to the relevant data. Share codes can be generated at any time. The changes mean there is a single, clear position for the use of all these cards, making it easier for employers and landlords to make their assessment on eligibility.
Providing immigration status information online has enabled us to simplify and standardise the system of checks for employers, by providing information about an individual’s status in a format that is easy to understand and accessible to all users, removing the need for employers and others to interpret myriad physical documents, complex legal terminology or confusing abbreviations. It also puts individuals in control of their own data, giving them direct access to information held by the Home Office about their status and, in line with the principles of data minimisation, only sharing the information required by a checker, rather than all the information held on a physical card.
The Government continues to be committed to ensuring employers understand their duties in conducting right to work checks in line with recent legislative changes, and that individuals understand how to evidence their status. We have delivered an extensive, wide-reaching campaign and engagement programme targeting UK employers with information on their obligations and responsibilities concerning right to work checks, and we are also communicating with landlords and their representative groups in England about conducting right to rent checks.
As of the end of August 2022, we have delivered over 600 events reaching over 42,000 stakeholders, including employers, landlords, financial institutions, educational establishments, local authorities, foreign administrations and citizens, about the EU Settlement Scheme, points-based immigration system, and wider Future Border and Immigration System developments.
We are planning further communications activity aimed at BRP holders and checkers, to tell them what they will need to do as we move to a digital by default in-country immigration system by the end of 2024. More guidance on this process and what action BRP holders need to take will be made available at: https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits in due course.
If a person loses access to these services they can recover it by contacting the dedicated UKVI Resolution Centre, open seven days a week, whereas holders of physical documents are required to make an application for a replacement document, pay a fee and may be required to re-enroll their biometric information. They must then wait for a replacement physical document to be printed and issued, whereas access to an eVisa can be regained as soon as the issue is resolved.
The Resolution Centre can support users with limited digital skills or without access to suitable technology through the online journey by:
• helping them to access or recover their account
• helping them to update their personal details
• sharing status on behalf of individuals if they are unable to do so themselves.
The Resolution Centre will also be able to assist users who are experiencing technical issues with their eVisa, and where necessary, enable individuals’ status to be verified through alternative means.
We are also taking steps to reduce the number of circumstances where individuals need to provide evidence of their immigration status. This includes the development of services to make the relevant immigration status information available automatically through system-to-system checks with other government departments and the NHS. This will mean that at the point at which a person seeks to access public services such as NHS healthcare and DWP benefits, that service provider will check status directly with the Home Office, removing the need for the individual to prove their status.
We have carefully considered proposals to use an approach similar to the COVID-19 certification to issue physical proof of status, using a QR code. We considered a wide range of factors, not least that using this method in the context of demonstrating vaccination status is not equivalent to using it to show real-time immigration status, since a person’s immigration status can change in a way that their vaccination status cannot. The information on an insecure printed document, even one validated by a QR code, would not be a secure method of sharing and proving immigration status in a way that gives confidence to the user and the checker. We consider it would open the system up to potential fraud and abuse because the QR code would not be sufficient to verify the identity of the document holder. Our reply to the3Million on their detailed QR code proposal provides a full explanation and is available on their website at: https://www.the3million.org.uk/library
We welcome feedback on how we can improve our services and are committed to continuously improving our services based on such feedback. We will continue to work to improve the user experience and will announce any further initiatives as we make them.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to write and I trust that this reply is helpful.
With best wishes,
Yours ever,
Tom Pursglove MP Minister of State for Immigration