Sheffield biometrics go mobile

The UK Border Agency has introduced a mobile service for migrants in the United Kingdom who need to enrol their biometrics with us.

The Vulcan House biometrics team in Sheffield has become the base for a new mobile enrolment team (MET) covering the area from north of the Midlands into Scotland, while another team in Croydon will cover the rest of the country.

When a migrant applies for an identity card for foreign nationals as part of their immigration application, we must take their biometric details face to face to fix their identity and check them against existing records. This normally takes place at a Home Office biometric enrolment centre, but some of our customers cannot attend these centres for medical reasons - and it's these customers that the MET will initially seek to assist.

Applicants can now request enrolment at a private address, care home or hospital, for example, and the service also allows us to enrol the biometrics of migrants who are in detention centres or prisons. In these exceptional cases, the mobile service will attract no additional fee, but we are also exploring the possibility of offering the service to individuals who are prepared to pay a premium for enrolment at their home or workplace.

Lisa Towers, head of the Sheffield biometrics team, said:

'The mobile enrolment system performs exactly the same function as the fixed units, except the equipment can be packed away in the back of a standard saloon car. It uses the latest wireless technology to transmit information directly to the biometric database. As a result, no images, fingerprints or personal information are stored on the laptop, and customers can rest assured that security cannot be compromised.'