Passports & immigration
Getting your ID card
We have established a new Home Office agency called the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), which is responsible for issuing ID cards. This new agency also incorporates the functions of the former UK Passport Service.
It will take several years for the scheme to come fully into operation and for all eligible citizens to be enrolled. We will introduce biometric identification for foreign nationals in 2008 and we expect the first ID cards to be issued to British citizens in 2009. In the early stages of the scheme you will be issued with an ID card if you apply for a first adult passport or renew an existing passport.
Will it be compulsory to have an ID card?
It’s likely that ID card ownership will eventually be compulsory but we don’t know when. We’ll have to be confident that ID cards work successfully before making them compulsory and this will require an evaluation of the introductory phase and a full debate in Parliament
It will not be compulsory to carry a card with you at all times.
