Patel plans digital visas to fix ‘broken’ immigration system
Home Secretary Priti Patel is vowing wholesale reform of the UK'S "broken" immigration system as she unveils plans for a "fully digital border" within five years.
In a keynote speech today, Ms Patel will promise to deliver a system that works for the "law-abiding majority" and against those who seek to "abuse our hospitality and generous spirit".
She will also launch the Us-style Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which requires visitors to the UK to obtain an electronic permit before travelling.
The Home Office said it would make the border more secure, with automated checks to prevent foreign criminals travelling to the country while enabling the Government to count who is coming in and going out.
ETAS will be required by anyone without a visa or immigration
status, although they will not be needed by Irish citizens, with ministers promising the system will be operational by the end of 2025.
In her speech to a conference organised by the Bright Blue and British Future think tanks, Ms Patel will say anything less than "wholesale reform" of the immigration system would not meet the demands of the public.
"They want a new system that works for the law-abiding majority and against those who hope to abuse our hospitality and generous spirit," she will say.
"The immigration system is broken, but this country isn't. We can't fix the system overnight, but we will fix it.
"We have to make sure the system reflects the values and wishes of the vast majority of Britons of all colours and creeds. They simply want an approach to immigration that is fair but firm."
It comes after the Government set out plans in the Queen's Speech to toughen laws to deny refugee status to asylum seekers who have passed through a safe country before reaching the UK.
The proposal was condemned by the United Nations refugee agency and by charities which said it would be a betrayal of Britain's tradition of providing protection to people fleeing persecution.
But Ms Patel told Sky’s Trevor Philips on Sunday many asylum seekers arriving in the UK had been smuggled by people traffickers.