National ID Cards

peachyprice

Ok, next time I try to board my regular ferry from Dover to Dunkerque I shall tell them they don't need to swipe my passport like they normally do, do you think they will let me on?;)

Any next time I return to the UK through Heathrow, do you think they will let me in if i tell them they don't need to swipe my passport like they normally do?;)

Fact is, a passport is a swipeable document that holds information, the ID card will not be once it is defunct, so what can/usually/might/might not happen with passports as you have written above is irrelevant because unless they keep the ID card database up and running your ID card is useless for travel because it removes any option to swipe it, even though you insist passports never are.

jammin_2

I think you need to re-read much of my post (unless you are being cute), but just on this:

peachyprice wrote: »

unless they keep the ID card database up and running your ID card is useless for travel because it removes any option to swipe it

Destroying the NIR does not remove the data from the microchip, which will remain readable if swiped.

peachyprice

But cannot be updated

jammin_2

peachyprice wrote: »

But cannot be updated

Neither can passports. Not sure what you're getting at?

Yoghurt_3

peachyprice wrote: »

Ok, next time I try to board my regular ferry from Dover to Dunkerque I shall tell them they don't need to swipe my passport like they normally do, do you think they will let me on?;)

They're entitled to check outgoing pax and to swipe their passports but jammin is correct, it's not usual in most circumstances.

peachyprice wrote: »

Any next time I return to the UK through Heathrow, do you think they will let me in if i tell them they don't need to swipe my passport like they normally do?;)

They will probably scrutinise you if you try to tell them not to do something they're entitled to do. Jammin's post doesn't say they're not entitled to swipe your passport, he said: "The UKBA has the facility to swipe passports to read the microchip (photograph, fingerprints if present) on biometric passports. This may be done in the case of inbound passengers, usually non-EEA nationals but can be done for all."

peachyprice wrote: »

Fact is, a passport is a swipeable document that holds information, the ID card will not be once it is defunct, so what can/usually/might/might not happen with passports as you have written above is irrelevant because unless they keep the ID card database up and running your ID card is useless for travel because it removes any option to swipe it, even though you insist passports never are.

Jammin did not insist that passports are never swiped at all. You are not reading his / her post correctly. And you are wrong about national id cards - the data is stored on the chip which can be accessed at any time subject to the life of the chip - exactly the same as a biometric passport. The data doesn't vanish when the national identity register is scrapped, national ID cards will continue to hold the same data as a biometric passport does, both physically and digitally.

peachyprice

jammin wrote: »

Neither can passports. Not sure what you're getting at?

I didn't mean the card, I meant the database.
For example if your ID card is lost or stolen without a database there is no way to have it cancelled, anyone will be able to travel on it.

jammin_2

peachyprice wrote: »

I didn't mean the card, I meant the database.
For example if your ID card is lost or stolen without a database there is no way to have it cancelled, anyone will be able to travel on it.

Same as a passport, in practice. I accept that the IPS can "cancel" a lost / stolen passport and they won't be able to do the same for NICs, you're right, but in practice a cancelled UK passport is not known to be cancelled by foreign authorities. It can still be used as a travel document, practically speaking, though legally it shouldn't be.

Important to note as well, in either the case of a cancelled UK passport or a cancelled UK NIC though, it's not possible that "anyone will be able to travel on it", since the person must match the photo.

quickpost

jammin wrote: »

Same as a passport.............but in practice a cancelled UK passport is not known to be cancelled by foreign authorities.

Actually it is. There is a specific databse controlled by interpol that covers this called the Stolen/Lost Travel Documents Database

SallyD

Like a fool, I took a half day off and waited like billy no mates in the empty reception area with three receptionists chatting away to make their day less boring.At approximately 14.44 I was beckoned to go to the counter, where a lady said she could attend to me early........my appointment was 14.45! I returned to my lowly chair after I had paid my £30. A young man flitted back and forth giving me a wry smile each time he passed me. At exactly 14.50 he stood proudly in the doorway and called my name. I was ushered in and the process begun.

I received my ID card on 31st APRIL......ugh!!!!!!!!! I had no idea whatsoever that ID cards were a matter of such debate and that it was likely they may be withdrawn after the Election. Surely, as I made such a late application I could have been warned by the Identity & Passport Office and I could have swiched my appointment to renew my passport which expires shortly.

When I got wind of the proposal I telephoned to be told if the cards are cancelled I would get a refund. I also emailed and received a letter dated 24h May telling me still in force until Parliament had passed the legislation cancelling them. I asked for a credit toward a passport which was declined.

I saw today that they have now been cancelled....I phoned asking for a refund and was told there is a letter going out tomorrow - and there was no information as to what was in the letter. Directgov website says no refunds.

I am not happy to loose £30 and half a days leave to attend the office for less than a months possession.

Happy to join forces with any action group in the hope of getting a refund.

garethni

What I cannot understand is why it is not possible just to have a card without fingerprints etc which could be used for travel within the EU. If the ID card issuing machines are there, could these not be kept for issuing a handy little ID card which is no more compulsory than a passport, but wallet sized and handier?