Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people travelling to the UK from the Republic of Ireland are required to provide biometric data when they land at UK airports.

Journeys from Ireland to the UK are within the Common Travel Area (CTA). As part of the CTA arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls of individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland.

The UK does however operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes – away from the land border. If an individual is suspected to be unlawfully in the UK their biometrics maybe checked in order to ascertain their identity.