Tourists visiting Britain will have to send a photo of their face to the Home Office before boarding a flight from next year.
Priti Patel unveiled fresh details today of a tough post- Brexit immigration shake-up - designed to create a “contactless” border.
Piloted from 2024, the “contactless” scheme could see people who enter UK airports walk down a corridor with facial recognition cameras instead of scanning their passports at a booth.
This could cut waiting times with chaos-hit Border Force.
But before boarding a flight, tourists will need to give the UK government “their biographic, biometric and contact details” and answer “a short set of suitability questions", a fresh immigration control plan said.
It’s understood this will include scanning a photo of their face and giving biographical data on their passport such as name, date of birth and nationality.
They will submit the information to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation, costing around £11 and needed for anyone who does not currently get a visa to visit the UK.
ETAs are due to be trialled from around March 2023 with visitors from Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
They will then be extended by July 2023 to the rest of the world.
They are designed to be similar to ESTA visa waivers used to enter the US.
The Home Office document said: “This information will be checked against our systems and assessed to determine whether the person has permission to travel to the UK.
“The majority of customers will receive their ETA within a short time of submitting their application.”
Priti Patel said it would ensure “we have a border that is fit for the 21st century which allows travellers to get a visa and pass through the border easily, while maintaining national security.”
