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Checking biometric residence permits

This page describes the compulsory biometric residence permits that we have been issuing to some categories of foreign nationals since November 2008, and explains how to check them. Biometric residence permits were formerly known as identity cards for foreign nationals.

Some categories of foreign national from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland are required to have a biometric residence permit. These categories are listed below.

Other immigration applicants continue to receive a sticker (vignette) in their passport.

If you are licensed to sponsor skilled workers or students from outside the EEA or Switzerland under the points-based system, you can use a migrant's biometric residence permit - which provides evidence of the holder's nationality, identity and status in the UK - to check their right to work or study here.

How to check the permit

You are expected to look at the permit carefully. It will show the holder's entitlement to work, study or access public funds. We have published useful information and guidance about the permit's design and its security features. These will help you to check that a permit is valid.

Employers are not legally required to check documents, but we recommend that you do so for everyone you wish to employ. This will:

  • enable you to establish an excuse against having to pay a civil penalty if you are found to have employed someone who does not have the right to work in the UK;
  • show that your recruitment process is open and transparent; and
  • ensure that your recruitment practices do not discriminate against anyone because of their race.

If you have a sponsor licence under the points-based system (as an employer and/or an education provider), a failure to keep records on the migrants you are sponsoring could affect your suitability to be a sponsor.

How does this change what I do?

The introduction of biometric residence permits does not require you to change the checks you usually make on a migrant's right to live and work or study in the UK. They are simply a more secure replacement for existing vignettes and other immigration status documents.

Other types of identity card

The biometric residence permit should not be confused with the national identity card (for British citizens) or the identification card (for citizens of the EEA or Switzerland who are living in the UK), which were formerly issued by the UK government.

You should make sure that you recognise the physical differences between the three types of card, so that you can know which card you are being presented with by a potential worker.

The Identity & Passport Service website contains more information about the appearance of all three cards.

More information

  • Who needs to apply for a biometric residence permit?

    You do need to apply for a biometric residence permit if you are currently in the UK and you want to extend your temporary permission to stay here in one of the following immigration categories:

    • Tier 2 (General) of the points-based system
    • Tier 2 (Intra company transfer) of the points-based system
    • Tier 2 (Sportsperson) of the points-based system
    • Tier 2 (Minister of religion) of the points-based system
    • Tier 4 (General) of the points-based system, including postgraduate doctors and dentists
    • Tier 4 (Child) of the points-based system
    • representative of an overseas business
    • domestic worker in a private household
    • sole representative of an overseas firm
    • UK ancestry
    • academic visitor (if you are applying to extend your stay in the UK to more than six months)
    • visitor for private medical treatment
    • husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner or same-sex partner of a British citizen or a person who has settled in the UK
    • dependant of a main applicant in a category that requires a biometric residence permit

    Also, you must apply for a biometric residence permit if you use form TOC to request a transfer of your temporary permission to stay in the UK from an old passport or similar document.

    You do not need to apply for a biometric residence permit if you are:

    • a foreign national applying to extend your stay in an immigration category not listed above - instead you will receive a new vignette (sticker) in your passport; or
    • a foreign national applying for permission to settle in the UK; or
    • a national of a country in the European Economic Area (including the UK) or Switzerland.

See also

Terms explained

  • Civil penalty

    A requirement to pay money that can be imposed for an offence without the need for a court conviction.

All glossary terms

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