Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer on 28 October to Question 106945 on Immigration: Coronavirus, what further steps her Department has taken to widen the use of previously enrolled biometrics.

The Home Office published Covid-19 guidance on 3 September 2020 setting out biometric reuse measures that were introduced to support UKVI customers adversely affected by the pandemic. The guidance sets out the circumstances under which reusable biometrics can be reused and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-biometric-enrolment-reuse-and-evidencing-status

We are developing plans to enable us to widen the reuse of previously enrolled fingerprint biometrics, while maintaining public safety. The capability to reuse previously enrolled fingerprint biometrics will help us to reduce the need for foreign nationals to attend an office to provide their fingerprints every time they make an immigration application. However, foreign nationals will still be required to provide their latest facial image.