Facial Recognition Could Replace the Need to Show Passports at the UK Border

According to a report by The Times, passengers may in future no longer need to present their passports when arriving at the UK border.

UK airports are reportedly planning to install smart eGates equipped with advanced facial recognition, potentially as early as 2024, so that passengers would be admitted simply by looking into a camera. Similar technology is already in use in places such as Dubai and Australia.

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An "intelligent border" without passports

Phil Douglas, director-general of Border Force, told The Times he wants to create an "intelligent border" with "much more frictionless facial recognition than we currently do". Any trials of the technology would be followed by a full procurement process for the new gates.

The ambition is to keep checks robust while reducing friction for travellers, allowing people to pass through without stopping to have a passport scanned or inspected by an officer.

Upgrading the UK's eGates

There are currently more than 270 eGates across 15 rail and air ports in the UK that would need upgrading for the new system. eGates can be used by passengers over the age of 10 who are British citizens or nationals of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States.

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The wider context: EES, ETIAS and the UK's ETA

The plans come as the EU has announced that British travellers will need to scan their fingerprints and have their image captured when entering the bloc — part of the forthcoming Entry/Exit System (EES), which applies to non-EU passport holders and is currently set to launch on 6 October 2024, having been postponed from an initial May 2023 date.

EES will be followed by ETIAS, a visa-waiver scheme then expected in mid-2025. Separately, foreign nationals who do not need a UK visa will have to apply for the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which is being introduced in phases. For more on how these border changes fit together, see our overview of EU and EES border changes.