Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy that biometric tests are not mandatory for people seeking legal and safe entry to the UK.

In most circumstances we require biometrics, in the form of a facial image and fingerprints, from everyone who applies for a visa or a biometric residence permit, including people using safe and legal routes to come to the UK. Moreover, the UK’s forthcoming Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will also require applicants to provide their biometrics as part of the application form, starting with facial images from the offset, until there is a technological solution which will allow applicants to self-upload fingerprints of the required quality.