back to article ID card scheme for foreigns extended

The government's much loved ID card scheme was extended yesterday - from now on Tier 2 foreign nationals will have to apply for a card if they wish to extend their stay in the UK. Tier 2 includes skilled workers, ministers of religion, sportsmen and women, representatives of overseas businesses and dependants. Forcing three …

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  1. Hollerith 1

    So this means...

    ...all 2012 athletes will have to card up? I can hardly wait.

    1. dreamingspire
      Thumb Up

      Doesn't mean...

      "..all 2012 athletes will have to card up"

      eBorders cards are for people with right to reside here for more than 6 months. So most 2012 athletes should be admitted just with their passports and visas and not required to re-register here.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    next to say 'cheese'?

    Don't the rules specifically state that you're not allowed to smile in passport photos nowadays?

    I think the government prefers us to look as miserable as possible while cowering in abject obeisance.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Kids too

      This AC's kid's passport application was declined and needed to be resubmitted because of minor smile on said kids photo. Yes, really.

      Today in 2010 Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' looks positively utopian rather than myopic like it did back in 1985.

      Smile icon for irony.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Gets worse

        Polish passport photos (that is, photos for Polish passports) have to be taken in profile, and one entire ear must be visible. New biometric ID, 'ear recognition'? Who knows...

        1. Simon Dummett

          Ear prints

          are as unique as finger prints.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    "The Conservative party have promised to abolish the scheme should they win this year's election. "

    There's my vote then!

    Getting sick of having these policitical miscreants in power. A definite move away from the colour Red will certainly help this country back on to it's knees.. rather than being flat on the floor with the rest of our neighbours trampling on us.

    .. in fact, I will re-align that: ANY colour other than Red!

    ("Better Dead Than Red!")

  4. John G Imrie

    Tell me why ...

    Migrants can pay £8 at 17 post offices, or continue to register their details for free at some UK Border Agency and Passport Service offices.

    ... any one would want to shell out £8 when a similar service is available for free.

    And I wonder if bringing the roll-out forward has anything to do with the election.

    1. Paul 4

      Because...

      its cheeper than going to London or Brum...

    2. Stuart Moore
      Boffin

      Beelzebub has a devil put aside for meeee

      Well, I would, if it would cost me more than £8 to get to one of the other offices...

      Hopefully this madness will end before they're mandatory for all.

      I notice they brought forward the date - presumably because they think the more that are on it before they get kicked out, the more chance of it being their legacy...

    3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Tell me why

      It's a trick.

      These are supposed to be highly skilled, high value workers (plus footballers), so if any of them can take time off to visit one of the border agency passport service offices (in delightfull places like Peterbrough) rather than fork out £8 they are obviously not high enough value and can be deported!

      ps. If you think the other lot are going to get rid of a central database that links everything everybody does to the taxman. They might get rid of the id card (or just rename it) - but it's HMG getting informed everytime you buy anything, visit anywhere or pick your nose that is the real problem.

  5. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Footballers

    Surely the reg could come up with some pun about them being shown the card, having to show the ref the card or having red/yellow cards?

    I can't it's too early here.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    "Post offices taking part are: ... Cambridge ..."

    That bugger Jim Woolas was meant to show up at our central Post Office yesterday for a photo-op to launch the 'biometric enrolment booth'. We (local no2id) were all there with banners and stuff, but he cried off, blaming the weather. Awwww, poor baby, was it a bit cold? It's not like the trains weren't running or the roads impassable. Maybe he's started to think about the upcoming election, and doesn't want to be publicly seen with this (excuse me, I have to invent a new word which combines the concepts of an electoral liability, a white elephant and an albatross) eletross around his neck...

    Anyway, he's welcome to come back for another try when the weather clears up if he likes. We'll be ready any time.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Maybe Dome v2?

      "I have to invent a new word which combines the concepts of an electoral liability, a white elephant and an albatross) eletross around his neck"

      Maybe just Dome v2? It was a bad idea when proposed, but it took New Labour to convert it into something so hopeless it was guaranteed never to provide a return on investment..

    2. Irp

      Sir Humphrey

      Sir Humphrey would simply had said "Courageous Minister."

      The most scary thing is exactly how many of the episodes of Yes Minister, and Yes Prime Minister are still relevant today!

  7. bertie bassett
    Alert

    Good for Pompeys Player

    Well that'll be handy when Pompeys player go to claim their benefits for being unemployed. No problem sir - just hand over your ID card and you were on what £50,000 per week - sure we can do that for you...

  8. Ralph 1

    What happened to the budget?

    From everything else I've heard, the UK has a serious budget problem to address. And yet money is lavished on a project that seems - at best - a waste of time and effort. Are we being lied to? Or is the government simply mismanaged? If you asked the country whether they would like their tax money spent on either hospitals/schools/infrastructure or a national ID scheme, I'm confident the vast majority would want the former.

    Who is asking for the budget to be spent like this and why? It would have to be a spectacularly good answer to convince most people that this issue should take priority. And while an answer remains outstanding, it feels as if the county is quietly sliding into some kind of horrible dictatorship. Picking off soft targets like foreigners first seems particularly creepy. If the government believes this is something the country needs, it should be upfront: explain the reasons thoroughly, be sure you have the backing of the people, and treat everyone alike.

    1. Simon Dummett
      Thumb Up

      "Are we being lied to? Or is the government simply mismanaged?"

      Both: we're being lied to about how mismanaged the government is.

      Surprised anyone needed to ask.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    has anybody else .....?

    contrasted the numbers given in the story here, with those given by that sh*thead Johnson ?

    2400 my hairy yorkshire arse.

  10. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Down

    Timetable sped ed up by 3 months?

    Getting a bit desperate in the bunker?

  11. dreamingspire
    Stop

    Be careful...

    ...not to mix up the eBorders card with the domestic ID card. The eBorder card relates to the foreigner's visa; the domestic ID card relates to the UK passport. We have been hearing that the border guards don't know about our ID cards (so will not let us out), but one hopes they know how to handle the eBorders card.

  12. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Up

    AC@00:19

    ""I have to invent a new word which combines the concepts of an electoral liability, a white elephant and an albatross) eletross around his neck"

    Maybe just Dome v2? It was a bad idea when proposed, but it took New Labour to convert it into something so hopeless it was guaranteed never to provide a return on investment.."

    FYI Blair had a chat with Heseltine (who ran the dome for the Conservatives) and said (they were still in opposition at the time) *if* elected he would get it built. Hence the near zero cabinet discussion on the subject about cancelling what always seemed like a pretty stupid waste of money. I still have *no* clear idea of the benefit to Labour or to Blair of carrying out that commitment. Support from the construction industry for a new housebuilding programme is the only thing that makes any sense. or a colossal envelope of cash.

    My sense of this project is Broon had a similar chat with Blair that ID Cards would be *his* legacy project and it would be done at whatever cost. Costs have risen, objectives shifted from stopping "Another 7/7 to "it'll stop undearage drinking in Manchester."

    Dome 2.0 sounds quite good.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Where do I sign up for one?

    http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-3185369830560352967&hl=de&fs=true

    Thc - The Hackers Choice. Amsterdam Airport 2008 - Ladies & Gentleman, Elvis has left the

    Building!

    Despite being shown how insecure ID cards where in 2007 by the Daily Mail the Government is insisting on there distribution.

    Yet anyone who want's to Tamper or Reproduce the so called Tamper Proof card can and furthermore the equipment for forging it on a mass scale can be bought very cheaply over the Internet.

    A Home Office spokesperson said that reports of the breach were “absolute rubbish” and that it had seen “no evidence” that personal data was accessible or changeable and the card had "excellent" security.

    After watching the Video what do you conclude? Does that look like in-accessible excellent security to you?!? What a Joke!

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