Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason PIP claimants can provide their identity through providing foreign national identity cards.

To be awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP), claimants must satisfy the Residence and Presence conditions, a person must:

• be habitually resident in the Common Travel Area (UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands).
• be present in GB.
• have been present in GB for a period or periods amounting to 104 weeks out of the 156 weeks immediately before that date (unless Special Rules End of Life (SREL)).
• not be subject to immigration control.

In some circumstances a European Economic Area (EEA) national, or British or Swiss citizen arriving in the UK, from the EEA or Switzerland may satisfy the past presence test from a date earlier than 104 weeks.

DWP follows government identity verification standards, verifying identities before paying benefits, updating systems, or sharing claimant information. These rules apply to all channels and services, including PIP.

A claimant’s identity can be verified in several ways, including by requesting identification documents. Foreign nationals from EU or European Economic Area (EEA) countries may use their national identity cards as part of the DWP’s identity verification (IDV) process for PIP. These cards are accepted as photographic ID when accompanied by two additional forms of identification.