←back to thread

Britain to introduce compulsory digital ID for workers

(www.reuters.com)
525 points alex77456 | 8 comments | 26 Sep 25 02:09 UTC | HN request time: 1.237s | source | bottom
Show context
remarkEon ◴[26 Sep 25 03:45 UTC] No.45382398[source]▶
>The proposals are the government's latest bid to tackle illegal immigration, with the new ID being a form of proof of a citizen's right to live and work in the UK.

How does a digital ID solve an illegal immigration problem? I watched the video and the suggestion is that this makes it easier for employers to verify that someone is authorized to work. Is that actually true? I don't live in the UK and have not visited in several years. If the idea is that a digital ID authorizes employment ... well I hope people can see the problem, here.

replies(17): >>45382454 #>>45382455 #>>45382475 #>>45382616 #>>45382656 #>>45382769 #>>45382795 #>>45382859 #>>45382864 #>>45382925 #>>45383460 #>>45383814 #>>45383976 #>>45384100 #>>45384475 #>>45391178 #>>45394684 #
1. viraptor ◴[26 Sep 25 05:17 UTC] No.45382925[source]▶
If anything it could help legal immigration. There's a bootstrapping issue where you need a utility bill to open a bank account and a bank account to get paid and get paid to pay the utility bill. And also need all 3 to rent a property to live in. You can choose the right providers to work around that with just your passport, but that involves a bit of work and research.

No idea how that would solve anything illegal though and realistically, I don't think they do either.

replies(1): >>45382999 #
2. monerozcash ◴[26 Sep 25 05:27 UTC] No.45382999[source]▶
Presumably most legal immigrants already have bank accounts overseas and do not suffer from this bootstrapping issue.
replies(3): >>45383216 #>>45384268 #>>45384309 #
3. piperswe ◴[26 Sep 25 06:04 UTC] No.45383216[source]▶
Good luck paying rent/utilities in the UK, or proving a UK address, with a foreign (especially non-SEPA) bank account
replies(1): >>45383540 #
4. cdsghh ◴[26 Sep 25 06:52 UTC] No.45383540{3}[source]▶
I have been doing so for years, never had a problem.
replies(1): >>45384273 #
5. viraptor ◴[26 Sep 25 08:45 UTC] No.45384268[source]▶
Most companies will not pay a local employee to an international amount. You're also going to pay quite large fees for any transfers if you wanted to pay bills. Also, the account abroad is not a proof of address in the UK which is the thing you want from statements.
6. viraptor ◴[26 Sep 25 08:46 UTC] No.45384273{4}[source]▶
You have not been proving your UK address with your account abroad. You may have used it for other purposes, but not that.
replies(1): >>45384689 #
7. tpm ◴[26 Sep 25 08:52 UTC] No.45384309[source]▶
Long time ago when I came to the UK I had that exact problem, there was only one bank (HSBC I think) that agreed to open an account for based on passport only. Even though I'm an EU citizen and UK was part of the EU at that time. Otherwise I would be stuck, because my employer (no employer I know of) would send my wage overseas.
8. cdsghh ◴[26 Sep 25 09:58 UTC] No.45384689{5}[source]▶
I have done that once too, just changed the account address to my UK address and printed a PDF statement. No problem whatsoever.

But anyway, you can just get utilies and pay with foreign account. This gets you an utility bill.