Entrust Helps UK Home Office Streamline Immigration Application Processing with Generic Identity Verification (GIDV)

Applying for immigration permissions (e.g., visas, work permits) has traditionally been an inconvenient, time-consuming experience that often involved attending an appointment in person or sending your passport in the mail.

There has been an increase in travel and migration to pre-pandemic levels, creating a pressing need to simplify and digitize entry processes. The UK Home Office is innovating to streamline entry processes while verifying the identity of each applicant to ensure border security.

Entrust Identity Verification as a Service (IDVaaS) enables faster and more secure immigration application processing, mitigating the need for most applicants to send their passport to the Home Office or apply in person. The solution enables a streamlined, more seamless way for travelers coming to the UK to be identified via their facial biometrics, bringing more secure border control and speeding up identity and border checks.

• With its EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and now the Generic Identity Verification (GIDV) approach, powered by Entrust over the past four-plus years, the UK Home Office has pioneered a remote, digital way for the government to handle immigration applications. 
• Thanks to Entrust’s Identity Verification as a Service (IDVaaS) platform, the Home Office can obtain secure identity information – both biographic and biometric – for many applicants, thus enabling a purely digital application process in those cases. 
• In addition to the EUSS, the UK has already applied this approach to several other immigration categories, including some students and work permits. From 2023, IDVaaS will also power the new UK Electronic Travel Authorization system.

The application process is very straightforward: It involves the use of a mobile app, which scans the chip in a person’s passport. The applicant then takes a “selfie,” or scan, of their face, which is matched against their image in the passport chip. A liveness test ensures that the applicant is a real, live person. This information is sent securely to the Home Office, which verifies the identity of the passport holder and completes the application process. 

In February 2023, Entrust won the Generic Identity Verification (GIDV) multi-year contract with the Home Office for the operation and management of the digital verification capability supporting the entry of migrants into the UK.

Millions of applications were processed by the start of 2023 and were verified by IDVaaS. There are three paths for applicants to prove their identity in applying for status: mail-in; visit a local service; or use a completely digital route. The vast majority used the digital channel and completed the process successfully, including during COVID-19 closures. 

For the over 7 million applicants using the digital route, a very high percentage were able to complete this step in under 10 minutes, with a high level of identity assurance.

Identity Verification as a Service reads the ePassport chip’s security features to authenticate the legitimacy of the document. Facial matching is achieved by comparing the secure reference image from the ePassport chip to a live selfie captured by smartphone camera. Liveness technology is applied to mitigate attempts at identity fraud. 

This strengthens the UK’s border security by enabling the Home Office to identify quickly and confidently that someone really is who they say they are.