Passports: Fraud

Mr. Brazier
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken to manage people who arrive at airports in the UK without the passports with which they checked in at their departure airport.

Mr. Byrne
All arriving passengers are subjected to a Border and Immigration Agency Warnings Index check. Where the passenger does not hold a passport, they are subject to further examination in order satisfactorily to establish their identity and nationality. Additional checks may also be conducted including checks with the police, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, UKVisas and the Identity and Passport Service.

Passengers who arrive without documentation and claim asylum are interviewed, photographed and have their fingerprints taken; their personal details are cross- checked against records.

Where a passenger arrives without a document and the inbound flight details are not known, inquiries are conducted in order to establish the carrier and to identify if there are any grounds to suspect that the passenger’s entry has been facilitated by a third party. If such a party is detected then prosecution under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 (as amended) may follow.

Foreign nationals who arrive undocumented and are unable to provide a statutory defence for their actions may have committed an offence under section 2 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 and may be prosecuted accordingly.