Suggested
distribution
Welfare officers
and staff,
international
student officers
Action
For information
NEC Contacts
Ama Uzowuru
ama.uzowuru@
nus.org.uk
SPB/08/01
6 March 2008
Identity Cards and Students
Key Points
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has outlined the plans for the
start of a national identity scheme. Students will be among the
first groups to be involved in the scheme:
•
Identity cards will be issued to all international students
applying to extend or vary their visas from late 2008
•
International students applying for visas to enter the UK will
be issued cards from April 2009
•
Young people (16-19) will have the option to apply for a
card from early 2010. Cards will not be compulsory but the
Government's intention is to encourage their use when
making applications for student loans or bank accounts, and
when enrolling on courses
Staff Contact
David Malcolm
david.malcolm@
nus.org.uk
Introduction
The Government is introducing a national identity scheme for the
UK population and for foreign nationals wishing to stay in the UK.
The Home Secretary made a speech on 8 March 2008 at the thinktank, Demos, outlining how the scheme will be introduced over the
next few years. Students, and in particular international students,
will be some of the first to be affected by the scheme.
The stated intention of the scheme is, "to protect the integrity of
the information held, in the interests of both personal and national
security, thus reducing the risk of fraudulent activity; and… to offer
the convenience of being able to quickly prove who we are when
accessing services in the public or private sector."
Foreign nationals coming into the UK will be required to register, to
help ensure compliance with visa conditions.
Citizens and others with an ID card will have their name linked to
fingerprints, which will be held on the national identity database.
Biographic details will be held in a separate database from
fingerprints to reduce the potential for data to be compromised,
and will not be online for the same reason.
Whilst physical ID cards will be issued, applicants will be able to
choose to have theirs incorporated into a passport or, potentially, a
driving license instead. All passport data will in any case be put on
the national identity register from 2009.
Proposals to roll-out the scheme
The identity register is already being trialled, and from the autumn 2008, the process of
extending the scheme will begin. International students are one of the priorities for the
scheme as foreign nationals with student visas have been identified as one of the
highest risk categories for abuse of the immigration system.
All foreign nationals applying for student visas will be required to register from April
2009, which will also be the year that the first ID cards will be issued to UK nationals,
starting with workers in occupations with security considerations such as aviation.
Young people aged 16 to 19 will be offered them on a voluntary basis from early 2010.
It will be "up to each young person to decide" but the cards would help make it easier
to, "enrol on a course, apply for a student loan, open a bank account, or prove your
age."
For clarity, the inference given by the Home Secretary and in official documentation is
that it would not be necessary to have one in order to get a student loan but it would
however make it much easier, and that banks and similar institutions would be
encouraged banks to make ID cards central to their identity management processes.
The scheme will be opened to all later in 2010 or 2011. The Home Secretary inferred
that at some stage all benefits claimants will be required to provide fingerprints and a
photo when make a claim so these can be checked against the national identity register.
There will be no compulsion to have a card, or to carry or present one, and no
requirement to apply for a dedicated card, and this would require primary legislation to
change.
The cards will cost £30 when they are introduced.
NUS' Position
NUS opposes the introduction of ID cards and is extremely concerned that young people
and students will be the first to be targeted in the roll-out. We are also concerned that
whilst there will be no compulsion, young people choosing not to register their identity
will find it more difficult to apply for student finance and other services, and that the
process might discourage international students from studying here.
We will be speaking to Government on the issue and would encourage member students'
unions to feed in their concerns and comments, particularly in relation to international
students (as a formal consultation exercise is being undertaken - see below). Please
email [email protected] or speak to Ama Uzowuru, Vice President Welfare or Evita
Situma, International Students Officer regarding the international student perspective.
Further information
The full text of the Home Secretary's speech is available here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7281368.stm
Official information about the scheme is here:
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/id-card-plan
The consultation on the plans for foreign nationals, including overseas students, is here:
www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/idcards/
NO2ID, an opposition group, has a site here:
www.no2id.org.uk
Social Policy Briefing is written to update officers and staff in students' unions on issues
relating to social policy, including student finance, welfare and liberation.
Information is correct at time of writing and offered in good faith.