Guidance

Confirming identity checks

Published 25 September 2024

Version 14.0

Guidance for His Majesty’s Passport Office staff about the identity interventions (checks) they must do on passport applications from the United Kingdom and overseas

About: Confirming identity checks

This guidance tells His Majesty’s Passport Office operational staff about the checks (interventions) they must do to confirm a customer’s identity.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 14.0

• published for Home Office staff on 5 August 2024

Changes from last version of this guidance

This guidance has been updated to include instructions for examiners to case note all their decisions and actions.

What to consider before you confirm a customer’s identity

This section tells HM Passport Office staff what they must consider before they confirm a customer’s identity.

HM Passport Office must be satisfied customers who apply for a British passport are who they claim to be. To do this, you (the examiner) must confirm their identity (as well as their nationality and entitlement), by carrying out interventions (checks) on their application and supporting documents. The interventions you do and the supporting documents you must ask for, depend on if the:

• application is:

  • for a child’s passport (as you will need to assess whether there is a safeguarding or vulnerability risk or may need to confirm their parent’s or grandparent’s identity)

  • for an adult’s first passport

  • to renew or replace a passport

  • to change the details on a passport

• customer applies from the UK or overseas (see How to decide if an application is a UK or overseas application)

If a customer cannot provide the documents we need as part of their application, you:

• must ask for alternative documents and consider making a decision using a balance or probabilities

• may offer them the voluntary option of providing DNA evidence (DNA evidence alone is not enough to confirm a customer’s identity)

What interventions you may do

You must identify the interventions necessary for the application you are working on based on the customer’s individual circumstances, application type and service level. Digital Application Processing (DAP) may also identify an intervention and create a DAP task for the examiner.

The types of interventions you do on an application may include some (or all) of the following:

• a visual check of the customer’s supporting documents to make sure:

  • they are genuine

  • there is no sign of damage (outside of normal wear and tear) or tampering

  • the identity on them is the same as the current application

  • they are contemporaneous (issued at the time of the event)

• acting on the outcome of automatic system checks (for example, watchlist, passport records or automatic facial matching checks)

• manual checks on other systems (for example, checking information held on MI, manual watchlist checks against a customer’s name or carrying out a manual facial matching check)

• asking for a referee

• confirming the information on a customer’s documents (for example, using UK Visas and Immigration records and Life Event Verification)

• confirming information with other organisations (for example, with HM Revenue & Customs, through statutory data sharing agreements)

• asking a customer to provide extra documents (for example, address evidence)

• offering the customer the option of providing voluntarily DNA results (DNA evidence alone is not enough to confirm a customer’s identity)

• asking a customer to attend an interview

If you have concerns with a customer’s identity, you may refer the application to Enhanced Application Checking (EAC) (if processing on the Application Management System or complete additional checks (if processing on DAP).

Examiner interventions: documents

This section tells HM Passport Office staff what manual identity interventions (checks) they must carry out on customer documents

To support their passport application, customers must send us genuine documents (documents that are not counterfeit (forged), false or tampered with) that relate to them and were issued at the time of the event.

You, the examiner must:

• make sure a validation check has been completed to make sure the documents are genuine and no concerns were raised

• check if a foreign or a British passport is damaged or has been tampered with

• verify the document, if needed for example using:

  • the Life Events Verification system (for births registered in England and Wales)

  • Knowledge Base

  • external sources (see Dealing with customer documents guidance)

  • the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) system (for example, naturalisation, registration or settlement documents)

• check if the document:

  • is genuine and acceptable for our purposes

  • is contemporaneous and if not, consider if you need more information

• check if:

  • documents have complete information (for example, has a change of name been correctly witnessed)

  • details on the documents and application are consistent

  • documents show a link between the customer and their parent (for child applications)

• check some documents against the watchlist

• ask for more documents if needed

Documents: is the information on them consistent

When checking a customer’s supporting documents, you must check:

• the information in the document matches the details on the passport application and other supporting documents and if there are differences:

  • deal with them in line with current guidance, for example, if the customer has another passport in a different name

  • refer the application to Enhanced Application Checking (EAC) (if processing on the Application Management System (AMS)) or complete additional checks (if processing on Digital Application Processing (DAP)) if you have concerns with them

• they show a link to the customer

You must also refer the application to EAC or complete additional checks if you suspect (or the customer tells you) they used false information to register or naturalise as a British citizen. For example, when the name, date of birth or place of birth on the passport application is different on the nationality certificate and there is no genuine reason why. A genuine reason may be because:

• a customer changed their name and provided the correct evidence to show it

• a town or city has officially changed name

Documents: links between the customer and their parents

You must check the customer’s supporting documents show a link between them and their parents and grandparents (when necessary).

If the parent’s or grandparent’s names are different between their documents, you must:

• consider why (for example, it may because they changed their name since some of their documents were issued)

• check if:

  • the documents show why the name is different

  • there is any information on our records to show why the names are different

• ask the customer for evidence to show why the names are different (if you do not already have it and you cannot confirm why it is different from our records)

Documents: are they contemporaneous

Contemporaneous documents (documents issued at the time of the event) are more reliable than non-contemporaneous documents, as:

• the details are more likely to be correct as they were issued at the time of the event and not later; and,

• they are more likely to belong to the correct holder of the identity (provided the documents have not been lost or stolen)

If the customer provides a non-contemporaneous document, you must:

• check if it is a certified copy and ask for one if it is not

• ask for alternative documents if a customer cannot provide a certified copy and consider if we can decide using a balance of probabilities

• consider if you must make extra checks with the referee (see Confirming ID: referees)

Examiner interventions: proof of address (or residency)

This section tells HM Passport Office staff what they must check when they need proof of address or residency

Regardless of the application type, customers applying from outside the UK must send proof of their address if they must supply documents from the:

• group 2 supporting documents table

• group 3 supporting documents table

The evidence a customer provides as proof of address (or residency) must:

• show the customer’s name and current address (or proof of residency)

• be an original document (unless the document table confirms it can be a colour photocopy)

• must not be an emailed scan

If the customer is a child, the address (or residency) evidence can be for them or their parent who made the application. If the address (or residency) evidence only shows the child’s details, we will need other evidence to show the relationship between the parent and child.

Proof of address evidence has a PO box

Some international customers may provide a document as proof of address that has a post office box (PO box), for example, because there is no door to door deliveries where they live (see Delivery address for passports and documents guidance). If they do, you must be satisfied they are resident in the country they applied from, for example:

• does the PO box address include the country they live in

• have they provided residency cards or visas that show they are a resident of the country they applied from

• did they provide evidence to show they use the PO box address for all purposes (in line with the Delivery address for passports and documents guidance)

Proof of address (or residency) for married couples

In some countries, someone who is married may have little or no evidence they can provide us with to show proof of their address (or residency), as it may be kept in their partner’s name.

When this happens, you may apply discretion and accept their partners address evidence, as long as it shows a link between the partner and the customer.

Accepting other proof of address (or residency) evidence

You may use discretion and accept documents not listed in the document tables as long as they are of equal or greater value in confirming the customer’s address (or residency). This means documents that indicate a higher burden of proof as they are more difficult to get (for example, it is harder for someone to get a driving license than apply for a mobile phone).

You must consider:

• higher value documents:

  • are usually used to get lower value documents (for example, a customer may need to provide their driving license to open a bank account)

  • often have more security features and therefore are harder to forge or alter

• in some countries it can be more difficult to get higher value documents, and in such cases, you may apply discretion and ask for bank statements and utility bills (in addition to other evidence)

The Knowledge Base may provide advice on some foreign documents.

You must consider the full application and discuss it with your operational team leader (OTL) if you:

• decide to accept alternative evidence

• are not sure if you can accept the evidence

How to deal with proof of address (or residency) evidence

When you get the customer’s proof or address (or residence), you must:

1. Check it is acceptable and shows the customer’s name and address.

2. Check if one of the customer’s supporting documents confirms a link to the customer’s address (or residence).

3. Check you have other evidence to show a link between, the:

• child and parent who made the application (if the address (or residence) evidence relates to the child)

• customer and their partner (if the customer cannot give their own proof or address (or residence) because it is in their partners name)

4. Consider the full application and discuss it with your operational team leader if you:

• decide to accept alternative evidence

• are not sure if you can accept the evidence

For applications on Digital Application Processing (DAP), you will see a proof of residency task that asks if you received acceptable proof of residence. You must:

1. Select:

• Yes, if the proof of address (or residency) evidence is acceptable

• No, need translation of foreign documents, if you need a translation of the documents

• No, need new documents, if the proof of address (or residence) is not acceptable (you must send an email to the customer using Comms Builder to request the document)

• Refer for investigation if you have fraud concerns with the application

2. Add a case note to show the actions and decisions you made.

3. Click Save.

If you select No, need translation of foreign documents, you must:

1. Send an email to the customer using Comms Builder.

2. Update the document handling instructions (using Request item – Return to applicant) to tell the Document Handling Unit (DHU) to return the original document to be translated.

3. Click Submit.

For applications on the Application Management System (AMS), you must:

1. Ask for other address (or residency) evidence, if:

• you cannot accept the evidence the customer provided

• they do not show a link to the customer

2. Add a case note to show:

• what evidence you received and the link it has to the customer

• if you accepted alternative evidence or applied discretion (including the reason)

• the actions and decisions you made

3. Scan the evidence on to the system if you withdraw or refuse the application.

In both DAP and AMS, the OTL must also case note their decisions if the application to referred to them for advice.

Examiner interventions: family photos

This section tells HM Passport Office staff when to ask for family photos to help confirm identity and how to use them to confirm identity

If you do not have sufficient evidence to confirm a customer’s identity, you may apply discretion and ask for progressive family photos. For example, if:

• the customer is unable to provide the supporting documents we usually accept, and you need to make a balance of probability decision

• the customer’s documents are non-contemporaneous (not issued at the time of the event)

Family photos help build a profile of the customer’s identity, provide a link to family members, and show an identity is active.

You must not use family photos on their own to confirm a customer’s identity and instead must use them with other evidence. If a customer cannot provide family photos, it does not mean their application is fraudulent.

Customers must label photos to show:

• who the people in the photo are

• when and where the photo was taken

If you, have asked for family photos, you must check:

• they are clearly labelled

• it shows the customer and their parents

• it appears the photo was taken in the right country at the right time (for example, do the clothes match the period)

• the photo of the parents matches the photo in their passports

• there is no evidence of tampering (for example, photoshopping)

Interventions: automatic system checks

This section tells HM Passport Office staff what interventions the passport issuing systems will do automatically

The passport issuing systems, Digital Application Processing (DAP) and Application Management System (AMS) will carry out some checks automatically.

Automatic checks: warnings and matches

DAP and AMS carry out some checks against the watchlist and Main Index (MI). You must deal with all warnings and matches in line, with:

• DAP matches and watchlist checks

• Warnings on AMS guidance

• Matches and the watchlist on AMS

DAP may also create a task similar to a warning in AMS (for example, when DAP finds there are multiple passports). You must deal with DAP tasks in line with current guidance.

Automatic checks: international passport applications

DAP and AMS carry out some checks on an international application automatically. However, you must:

• be aware, they will not carry out checks against the customer’s foreign post code

• take care when reviewing the outcome of an automatic watchlist check, as, depending on the post code and phone number, a full match may not appear

You must refer the application to the Counter Fraud team (CFT) if you have any fraud or safeguarding concerns.

Automatic checks: DAP

DAP will process some applications without an examiner carrying out any interventions. DAP will generate a DAP task if an examiner needs do something to process the application. You must deal with DAP tasks in line with current guidance.

Automatic checks: facial matching checks

DAP and AMS carry out facial matching checks by comparing the photo on the application with:

• the photo on MI, using the passport number on the application

• photos on the watchlist

You must deal with facial matching checks in line with the Facial Matching guidance.

When you have completed identity interventions (checks)

This section tells HM Passport Office operational staff what they must do when they have completed the identity interventions (checks) on a passport application.

When you have completed the identity interventions (checks) needed on the application (including any extra interventions needed), you must decide if you have any identity concerns.

If you do not have any identity concerns

If you are satisfied with the customer’s identity, how you deal with the application depends on if it is:

• on the Application Management System (AMS)

• on Digital Application Processing (DAP)

If the application is on DAP, you must process it using the correct DAP guidance and add case notes to show the actions and decisions you made. If the application is for a first passport for a UK customer who needs to attend an interview, DAP will generate a task that you must complete last (see Interviews, United Kingdom applications).

If the application is on AMS, you must:

1. Add a case note to show:

• you have confirmed the customer’s identity (including what documents you have used and if they are original or new)

• if you have applied discretion or asked for other documents or evidence, with reasons why

• the actions and decisions you have made (with reasons) including what interventions you carried out and the outcome

2. Decide if a customer aged between 16 and 69 living in the UK needs an interview (the interview requirements are different for newly naturalised customers or customers serving in the Armed Forces).

3. Send the customer for interview (if they need to attend one).

4. Continue to process the application (in line with current guidance).

If you have identity or vulnerability concerns

If you have identity or vulnerability concerns when dealing with a task on DAP, you must:

1. Decide if you need to complete additional checks.

2. Select Refer for Investigation, add a case note to explain why and select Save.

If the application is on AMS and you have:

• concerns with a customer’s identity, you must refer the application to Enhanced Application Checking or the Counter Fraud team (CFT)

• vulnerability or safeguarding concerns, you must refer the application to the CFT