Fingerprint checks go global
The global rollout of fingerprint checks on all visa applicants is complete three months ahead of schedule, and millions under budget, the Government has announced.
The global rollout of fingerprint checks on all visa applicants is complete three months ahead of schedule, and millions under budget, the Government has announced.
As part of the largest shake-up to Britains border security and immigration system for 40 years, anyone applying for a visa from 133 countries covering three quarters of the worlds population will now have their fingerprints checked against UK databases. Nearly 500 cases of identity swapping have been spotted already.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne confirmed that the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) had exceeded the Prime Ministers target of removing or deporting more than 4,000 foreign national prisoners by the end of 2007 by 200 and outlined a day-by-day timetable for ten crucial milestones for new border protection over the next 12 months.
Mr Byrne said: The public wants stronger borders. They want us to shut down the causes of illegal immigration and hold newcomers to account, deporting rule breakers where necessary.
Biometric fingerprints have been taken from more than one million people, and so far 10,000 visa applicants have been identified who have previously been fingerprinted in the UK in connection with immigration cases or asylum applications.
