Home Office bullying "soft targets" to spin ID scheme says NO2ID / Public Technology, 26 September 2008
http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=17391
"The Home Secretary will round off the Labour Party conference by re-announcing "ID cards for foreigners". A system of biometric visas is being introduced for some foreign residents from November, but it is not really part of the National Identity Scheme, which has not been built yet.[1] This fact does not stop the government using the words "ID cards" together with a sly appeal to xenophobia, to buttress support for its unpopular scheme."

Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones / The Sunday Times, 19 October 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece
"Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance."

Home Office trying to persuade unions to drop opposition to ID cards Minister pledges there will be no delays to £4.7bn identity cards programme / The Guardian, 30 October 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/20/idcards
"The Home Office is in active talks with trade unions in an attempt to persuade them to abandon opposition to the imminent introduction of compulsory ID cards for airport workers. Meg Hillier, the minister in charge of ID cards and passports, today promised there would be no delays to the £4.7bn programme despite the threat of a UK economic recession."

Government reveals first identity cards:Immigrants at risk of abusing rules will be first to get controversial ID cards ahead of national roll-out/ Guardian, September 25 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/25/idcards.immigrationpolicy
"The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, today unveiled the first identity cards to be issued as part of the government's controversial national scheme. The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders.
The credit-card-sized document will show the holder's photograph, name, date of birth, nationality and immigration status."

[USA] Visa Waiver Program: Actions Are Needed to Improve Management of the Expansion Process, and to Assess and Mitigate Program Risks / Government Accountability Office , 15 September 2008
PDF - http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08967.pdf

New Yorkers to pay for RFID in driving licences / The Register, 18 September 2008
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/18/new_york_rfid/
"New York drivers will have the option, from June next year, of paying an additional $30 to have an RFID tag embedded in their driving licence, allowing them to cross nearby borders without recourse to a passport."

ePassport tests put biometrics through their paces / The Register, 19 September 2008
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/19/eu_epassport_tests/
"The tests are partly designed to address recent security and privacy concerns about electronic passports that feature RFID chips containing biometric data. The ePassports Extended Access control (EAC) Conformity and Interoperability Tests (official website here) aim to verify that participating countries are on the right track in creating harder-to-forge travel documents that meet international standards."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Visa Security Program / U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, July 2008
PDF - http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_08-79_Jul08.pdf
"This report addresses the management, value added, and expansion of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Visa Security Program. It is based on interviews with employees and officials of relevant agencies, direct observations, and a review of applicable documents."

Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom - 2nd Quarter 2008 / Home Office, 21 August 2008

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/coiq208.pdf

"This gives the statistics for April to June 2008 on border control and visas, asylum, enforcement and compliance, and managed migration."

British and Irish governments in illegal immigrant crackdown / Times OnlineJuly 24, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4390542.ece

"Formal border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be introduced to prevent the movement of illegal immigrants to and from Britain, according to proposals published by the two governments today. The proposals would constitute a “substantial change” to the Common Travel Area (CTA) established in 1925."

Visa curbs on foreign brides and bridegrooms to tackle forced marriages
The age at which someone can enter the UK as a spouse from overseas will increase from 18 to 21/ The TimesJuly 24, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4387090.ece

"Teenage foreign brides and bridegrooms are to be barred from entering Britain on marriage visas under measures announced yesterday to tackle forced weddings.

UK electronic passports cloned within minutes / vnunet.com, 7 August 2008
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2223415/uk-electronic-passports-cloned
"An investigation by The Times has shown that the supposedly secure electronic passports used by the UK government can be cracked and cloned in minutes.
The passports use a radio frequency chip and antenna to send out the holder’s ID and biometric details when questioned by a reader."

Australia responds to need for skilled migrants / workpermit.com, 11 July 2008
http://www.workpermit.com/news/2008-07-11/australia/new-centres-processing-457-visas.htm
"Three new Australian 'Centres of Excellence' have been set up in Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne to speed up the processing of temporary 457 visa applications for employers wishing to hire overseas workers."

[USA] Border Security: State Department Is Taking Steps to Meet Projected Surge in Demand for Visas and Passports in Mexico / US Government Accountability Office, July 2008
PDF - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d081006high.pdf
GAO-08-1006

Comprehensive Strategy Needed to Improve Passport Operations / US Government Accountability
PDF - http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08891.pdf

Hijackers steal blank British passports 'worth £2.5 million on black market' / 24dash.com, 29 July 2008
http://digbig.com/4xgaf
"Blank Passports stolen in a raid on a delivery van are worth £2.5 million on the black market, police said today. Hijackers made off with boxes of passports after hijacking the van when the driver stopped off to get a newspaper at a shop in Oldham, Greater Manchester, yesterday morning."

Strengthening the Common Travel Area / Home Office, 25 July 2008

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/strentheningthecommontravelarea/
"This consultation seeks views on proposals to change and strengthen the rules and operation of the common travel area, which is a passport-free zone that includes the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey."

consultation paper http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/strentheningthecommontravelarea/travelareaconsultation?view=Binary

Partial impact assessment http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/strentheningthecommontravelarea/partialimpactassessment?view=Binary
Subjects: Crime and law enforcement; European and international affairs; Transport and infrastructure

Marriage Visas: The way forward /Home Office, 23 July 2008
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/closedconsultations/marriagetopartnersfromoverseas/

"This is the Government's response to a consultation on proposed changes to marriage visas and to applications for settlement based on such visas."

Another successful year for Identity & Passport Service: But ID Cards loom on the horizon/ Public Technology, 2 July 2008

http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=16445

"The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has had another highly successful year with the smooth introduction of new passport interviews. But, the tough work starts, with the plans to move forward on the National ID cards scheme.

The IPS Annual Report and Accounts published yesterday highlights IPS' success in exceeding all its customer service targets including processing 99.62 per cent of postal passport applications in ten days and a 97.5 per cent customer satisfaction rating. The report also shows that around 9,000 fraud attempts were detected in 2007/2008, up on last year's figures."

Report fingers prints as ID scheme's point of failure / The Register, 10 July 2008
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/10/id_national_identity_scheme/
John Ozimek
"Yet more trouble assails the government’s £4.4bn National Identity Scheme (NIS), as an official report puts the boot into the preferred scheme for “exception handling” – and a bunch of techies show how the recommended system can be beaten."
PDF - http://www.ips.gov.uk/passport/downloads/FINAL-BAG-annual-report-2007-v1_0.pdf