Kiwis in UK work will need ID cards

New Zealanders planning to work in the United Kingdom for six months or more will need a photo identification card that contains details, including photograph and fingerprints, by April next year.

The compulsory cards, called Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals, must be presented at UK borders alongside a passport.

Anyone without either will be refused entry.

Authorities say the cards, which will be issued when any foreign national applies for a visa, contains the same details already recorded from passengers, and they expect use of the cards will make travelling, accessing medical services and setting up bank accounts quicker and easier.

As of Wednesday this week, sponsored skilled workers applying to extend their stay in the UK need to obtain the cards.

By the end of this year, this will be widened to highly-skilled and temporary workers who are extending their stay.

And by April next year, anyone working in the UK for six months or more will need a card.

Those travelling for holiday purposes do not need the cards.

British High Commission spokesman David Rose said yesterday the system was introduced as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration and employment.

"It's basically the one thing that you need to show to be able to work legally in the UK," he said. "These things are really designed to help legitimate migrants and legitimate employers.

"The only people who really have any need to worry are the illegal migrants or illegitimate employers."

Any employer or university found to be employing or educating a person without a card risked facing harsh penalties, including large fines and prison sentences, he said.

"It will help those people make sure that anyone who comes to them has the legal right to work or study in the UK."

Mr Rose said two other types of cards were also being introduced.

British citizens will be required to get a National Identity Card, which could be used as a "mini-passport", enabling them to work and travel throughout the UK without their passport.

Citizens of the European Economic Area and Switzerland working in the UK would also need to obtain their own identification cards.

The cards have drawn criticism from civil libertarians in Britain, who fear they are an invasion of privacy.

Mr Rose said there was nothing sinister about them.

He said the microchip containing the fingerprint data was extremely secure.

He likened the microchips to NZ ePassports, introduced in November 2005, which contain a facial biometric identifier of the holder.

"They can't be forged. They can't be tampered with."

The UK Border Agency first introduced biometric tests at the border in November 2008.

"The purpose of this check is to verify that the individual entering the UK is the same person who applied for their visa and using fingerprints enables us to do this with greater certainty," the UKBA website states.

"By 2015, we expect that 90% of nationals from outside the EEA and Switzerland will have a card."

A survey released in October last year showed 81% of Kiwis were happy to use fingerprint scans to prove their identity.