Plan to slash lengthy passport queues with new facial recognition scans
Plans to roll out facial recognition technology at ports will allow British travellers returning to the UK to bypass passport queues.
Holidaymakers will no longer have to leave their cars or pass over their passports when driving through 'contactless corridors' at ports.
Cameras will instead be used to identify faces in a vehicle and match them to their passport and information logged in government databases.
The new technology, trialled at four ports since November, aims to enhance security and efficiency at UK maritime ports, including border control processes for people in vehicles.
From 2 April, most visitors to the UK (excluding British and Irish citizens) will need to share biometric details before they travel to get an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
The UK, in common with many other countries, is demanding more information in advance from prospective visitors before they board planes, ships or trains to Britain – or drive across the border from Ireland to Northern Ireland.
Applicants must supply a photograph and answer a set of questions on 'suitability and criminality' before the ETA is linked to the traveller's passport.
Four companies were involved in trialling the technology for UK Home Office research between December 2024 and February 2025.
According to iProov, a biometric security company participating in the trials, advanced facial comparison technology will identify people within their vehicles and link the confirmed passenger ID with the vehicle they are travelling in.
A source who has seen the technology said that the cameras take a picture of faces through the windscreen before vehicles get a green light to drive through the border, reported The Telegraph.
Currently, passports are handed to a Border Force officer for scanning through the car window.
Andrew Bud, founder and CEO of iProov, said: 'This project marks a significant step towards a future where border control is seamless, secure, and automated by innovative technology. We've worked very closely with the Home Office on this initiative and are extremely impressed with their dedication to solving the challenges of maritime border security.
'By bringing the latest identity verification technology to this critical domain, we aim to create a streamlined and efficient experience for all passengers that doesn't compromise on speed or accuracy, and they never have to leave their vehicles.'
A spokesperson for the Home Office told The Telegraph: 'We use a wide range of techniques and technology to protect our border security, but we do not comment on trials of specific equipment.'
Last week, plans to take fingerprints and facial biometrics from British travellers to Europe were again postponed.
The entry-exit system says the European Union, 'will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings, and does not allow a systematic detection of over-stayers'.
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Forbes
9 hours ago
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Tourism For The Soul: Eight European Pilgrimage Routes And Ancient Trails
Father and son rest on the rocky sea side during their pilgrimage journey. It is said that pilgrimage is the original form of mindful travel. And in our turbulent times, a walking (biking or running) journey through ancient, historical or religious routes -- particularly those renowned as European pilgrimages -- is a growing trend not only as tests of endurance but as paths to find calm for the spirit, a comforting form of 'tourism for the soul' through gorgeous destinations. Europe is full of venerable trails steeped in history where travelers can experience a meaningful inner adventure -- spending time outdoors, transversing natural beauty, and learning about amazing places. 'In a noisy, angry world, the simple act of walking each day toward a defined goal is an appealing, powerful prospect,' writes The Telegraph. 'A pilgrimage (secular or religious) forces you to ask what's important.' 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Camino de Santiago -- also known as the Way of Saint James, deeply rooted in Christianity and functioning since the 9th century -- consist of an extensive network of ancient routes created by people walking from their homes across Europe and coming together at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, where the remains of the apostle Saint James lie. While many are motivated by religious believes, other secular walkers do it as a 'mindful' journey, a physical achievement or as a practical way to explore European culture, historical sites and history itself. With a well-established infrastructure and extensive marketing efforts of related businesses, pilgrims find hostels, hotels, restaurants and stores along their way and the length of their journey can vary from many weeks to complete long traditional routes or shorter, partial itineraries according to taste. The vast and varied network of the Camino de Santiago has been compared to a river system where small brooks join together to make streams, and those streams come together to make rivers that 'flow' to the cathedral. During the Middle Ages, people walked out of their front doors and started off to Santiago, which was how the network grew. People walking along footpath crossing the dunes on the Portugal route to Santiago de Compostela The most popular journey (and very crowded in summer) is the Camino Francés, stretching 780 kilometers (some 500 miles) from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port near Biarritz in France to Santiago. This route is fed by three other major French paths: the Voie de Tours, the Voie de Vezelay, and the Voie du Puy. It's also joined along the way by the Camino Aragones, (fed by the Voie d'Arles that crosses the Pyrenees at the Somport Pass), the Camí de Sant Jaume from Montserrat near Barcelona, the Ruta de Tunel from Irun, the Camino Primitivo from Bilbao and Oviedo (more below) and by the Camino de Levante from Valencia and Toledo. As explained by UNESCO, which has declared the Camino an Outstanding World Heritage and offers a complete itinerary: 'To reach Spain, the pilgrims had to pass through France. Pilgrimage churches, simple sanctuaries, hospitals, bridges, roadside crosses bear witness to the spiritual and physical aspects of the pilgrimages. Spiritual exercise and manifestation of faith, the pilgrimage has also influenced the secular world in playing a decisive role in the birth and circulation of ideas and art." 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It begins in Oviedo, taking ancient paths through lush peaks, valleys, and centuries old Spanish villages. Abbey Island, the idyllic patch of land in Derrynane Historic Park in County Kerry, Ireland Kerry Camino, Ireland On their long way to Santiago in the Middle Ages, Irish pilgrims would head to St. James Church in Dingle and from there sail to northern Spain to continue their walk. Modeled on the Camino de Santiago and linked to sixth-century St Brendan, the Kerry route starts in Tralee and winds down Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, which has some of the most dramatic scenery and coastlines. On the way, hikers pass ancient oratories, beaches, lively pubs, wave-bashed shores and some places to get pilgrim passports stamped. Via Jacobi (Jakobsweg), Switzerland Starting in Lake Constance and going to Lake Geneva, this 450-kilometer stretch of the Camino de Santiago has been described as one of the most majestic. 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Then there's the very challenging 1,200-kilometer pilgrimage from the UNESCO-listed Gothic Canterbury Cathedral (where Thomas Becket was killed in 1170) to Santa Maria di Leuca in Puglia, Italy, with crossings through France and Switzerland via breathtaking vineyards, flowing rivers, forests, olive tree-blanketed hills and the snow-covered Alps. Medieval towns, gothic abbeys and castles grace that route. The most popular sections of the Francigena are the Italian stretches that include gorgeous towns including Monteriggioni, San Gimignano and Siena. Via Francigena signpost in front of a sunflower field in central Tuscany Pilgrim's Way An alternative ancient route also related to Thomas Becket and followed by many medieval pilgrims, the Pilgrim's Way connects Winchester's massive cathedral to the shrine of the martyred archbishop in Canterbury via the River Itchen, the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs, first following St Swithun's Way and then the North Downs Way with woods, water meadows and vineyards, priories, burial chambers and medieval inns along the way. St Olav's Way, Norway and Sweden St. Olavsleden (St. Olav's way) is one of the world's northernmost pilgrim paths, extending for 564 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, through Sweden and Norway and eleven municipalities. 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