Skilled migrant workers must now apply for ID cards if they want to extend their visas, following changes to the immigration system this week.
To apply for the ID cards, the Tier 2 migrant workers will have to register their biometrics before the UK Border Agency (UKBA) decides whether to grant them another visa.
If their visa application is successful, they will then be given an identity card.
The ID cards will confirm a worker’s nationality, identity and whether they have the right to work or study in the UK under the points-based immigration system.
The new UKBA rules are part of the extended rollout of a 2008 program that will require all foreign workers who plan to stay in the UK for six months or longer to obtain an ID card by April 2011.
The rules apply only to workers from outside the European Economic Area.
